Founded in 1877, Banco de Costa Rica (BCR) is the second-largest state-owned bank in Costa Rica. Today, BCR provides a broad range of financial services, including retail banking.
Looking to protect its staff, buildings and financial assets, BCR has set upon a major project that will see its 4,500 employees, in 278 offices across Costa Rica, protected by an integrated hybrid CCTV and alarm system. The fundamental characteristic of the project is its implementation over unshielded twisted-pair (UTP) structured cabling networks, which will allow the use of legacy equipment to be integrated into a scheme that paves the way for migration to security solutions based entirely on this transmission media.
Network Video Technologies (NVT) UTP CCTV video transmission equipment plays a fundamental role in the hybrid solution, enabling both legacy and new systems to be combined, delivering high-quality real-time video over large distances; to help ensure a measured and rapid response by the bank to any alarm scenario.
One of the most important government financial institutions in Costa Rica, BCR was previously protected by a CCTV system based on coax cable and using monochrome cameras. Consequently, one of the aims of the bank's directors in implementing the new solution was to unify all of its systems to operate over UTP networks.
Protection on multiple fronts
The new solution will encompass the bank's 278 branches, public offices and administrative buildings across Costa Rica, 450 buildings in total.
Randall Ruiz Parajeles, the Bank's Director of Electronic Security explains about the project roll out: "At the moment 80% of the bank's buildings are covered, thanks to the installation of NVT video transmission equipment. Our aim was to improve video signal quality, eliminate interference noise, and most importantly, using NVT technology we will be greatly extending the video transmission distances without suffering video quality losses, which is what happens with coax."
From coaxial to hybrid systems
Banco de Costa Rica has always had a surveillance system, the purpose of which was to protect the security of visitors to each of the bank's offices, as well as their money. These consisted of analogue recording systems and standard-resolution monochrome cameras, with transmission via coaxial cables.
