Resource One Credit Union is a member-owned, not-for-profit financial cooperative spanning Texas’ Dallas and Harris Counties. Since 1936, it has continuously expanded its products, services and innovative digital capabilities while still maintaining its core business values. Today, Resource One serves over 65,000 members and manages more than $500 million in assets.

Ajay Joseph, Systems Engineer, is part of a three-person IT team managing technology that serves and protects 150 employees across 13 sites, including 11 branch locations and 2 administrative buildings. Here, he speaks to how the institution integrated bank security to reduce total cost of ownership, while modernizing the end-user experience.

The Challenge

Their legacy camera and alarm systems came from two separate providers with 5 key challenges:

1. When an alarm was tripped, there was no way to video verify if the threat was real. 

2. Cameras were unreliable and produced low-quality images.

3. Physical hard drives needed to be serviced by third-party vendors.

4. The total cost of maintenance for end-of-life technology was substantial.

5. Employees had to remember alarm keycodes and carry physical keys to access buildings.

The tipping point came when the poor video quality made it impossible to identify an individual following an incident. As a growing financial institution, it was necessary to bring its security infrastructure into the modern age. 

“We looked at what we spent with our previous vendor for an analog system with technology from the mid-2000s, and it was almost $600,000 over the next 10 years [amortized]. We recognized that we had to move to a cloud-based system and all of the technological advantages that come with it.”

Verkada’s Solution: A Unified Bank Security System with 12% Lower TCO

“Verkada equips us with the technology we need to keep people and assets safe, while simplifying ownership to reduce total costs by 12%.”

With Verkada, Resource One has all of its physical security tools (video security, access control, alarms, and professional monitoring) integrated behind a single pane of glass. With a straightforward pricing model protected by a 10-year warranty, the organization no longer has to worry about server maintenance and unpredictable costs. With Verkada, Resource One is able to:

1. Video verify and respond quickly to any incident.

2. Gain a unified view across ATMs, parking lots and branch sites.

3. Protect and regulate transactions to help maintain compliance with PCI standards.

4. Reduce total cost of ownership by simplifying management.

5. Modernize physical security and stay effortlessly up-to-date.

Manual processes – such as alarm response flows and lockdown procedures – are automated to speed up emergency response during critical moments when every second counts. “In an emergency, we have a pre-set response flow that triggers automatically and everything we need at the click of a button.”

Automated Emergency Response with an Integrated Alarms Solution

Resource One’s incident response strategy was put to the test when it became the target of a lone intruder who made his way into the facility after smashing open the door. The entire incident was captured in high-definition video and an alarm was immediately triggered. The event was video-verified by Verkada's UL-listed professional monitoring service who carried out Resource One's pre-configured response flow – including police dispatch. 

“Verkada immediately raised the Alarm. The branch manager was alerted right away, reviewed the footage, and gave the monitoring agent permission to dispatch the police immediately.”

Events from any Verkada device – including door controllers, cameras, and sensors – can be configured as an alarm trigger for review by a professional monitoring agent. If there is a visible threat, agents will immediately contact the branch manager and the police upon video verification.

Alarm triggers and response flows are easily customizable from Command. In this instance, Ajay has enabled the monitoring agent to dispatch the police whenever a visible threat (such as a break in) is detected – even if the emergency contacts are unable to respond after hours. By automating emergency response protocols, Resource One stays protected against threats around-the-clock.

Ease of Management from One Intuitive Platform

“The Verkada platform gives us all the information we need at the click of a button. All products work in tandem – it takes seconds to respond to alerts, investigate events, and share evidence.”

Resource One manages security across all locations from a centralized cloud-based platform, Verkada Command, easily accessible from a mobile app or web-based browser. Because devices tie seamlessly together behind one intuitive dashboard, Resource One can address any security concern in a matter of clicks. With automated notifications sent to his mobile device, Ajay can pinpoint the exact site and context behind a security event in seconds. 

“We get alerts sent to our phone with the 15-20 second clip we need straight away. From Command, I can review any activity that’s happened overnight and make sure everything is as it’s supposed to be. It’s convenient, secure, and gives us much-improved visibility and coverage of our branches."

Proactive Security with Actionable Insights

“We set up alerts for Vehicles and People of Interest so we’re immediately alerted if a repeat offender comes back.”

With predictive analytics powered by AI, Resource One takes an efficient and proactive approach to security. Edge-based capabilities – including license plate recognition and Face Match – turn out meaningful results in seconds. Resource One can effectively detect, investigate, and respond to incidents faster with fewer resources. “Speed is important to us. The longer it takes to gather and understand details of an incident, the greater the threat becomes. The integration of access control, alarms, and video security saves us hours on investigation each time. With Verkada, we can find, view, and share events in seconds.”

The multi-site credit union also uses the hybrid cloud CM41-S Split Camera to validate routine transactions and analyze suspicious activity, with the intention of helping prevent fraud and protect cardholder data in compliance with PCI standards. “With a hybrid cloud solution, I no longer have to think about the retention of physical hard drives, because we have on-device storage for 90 days and unlimited cloud archiving. We don’t need to pay for someone to physically maintain that infrastructure across our sites, either.”

Configurable Emergency Response Tools

Bank employees are equipped with wireless panic buttons to quickly call for help from anywhere. The silent alarms are paired with cameras to provide real-time visibility into an employee’s environment and initiate an automated response flow - including police dispatch and lockdown.

“From a security point of view, Verkada gives us the ability to detect, verify, and respond to threats immediately. We had an incident where somebody was loitering around the front door of a branch in the middle of the night, which triggered an alert. The police were able to quickly attend and address the situation before it could potentially escalate.”

Activity across any Verkada product can be easily configured as an alarm trigger. For Resource One, this eliminates the need to install separate intrusion sensors. “Motion detection is built in, so any camera can be leveraged as an alarm trigger. We can easily configure alarm settings directly from Command. It’s defeated the need for separate motion sensors because the cameras can do it all.”

Seamlessly Integrated Mobile Access Control

Employee entrances are secured by Verkada Access Control, with door schedules set around hours of operation. Branch managers also have the ability to secure their respective branches in one tap from a web browser, mobile device, or panic button. 

All employees have the Verkada Pass app installed on their devices, which acts as a digital keycard with Bluetooth enabled to unlock doors via their smartphone. Different levels of access are provisioned to different user groups based on roles and responsibilities, while SCIM integrations user provisioning.

“We’ve increased convenience for our employees while making our facilities more secure. They no longer need to worry about remembering keycodes or losing physical keys.”

Looking Ahead: Understanding Occupancy Trends

From emergency response to the cost of overhead, Resource One has reduced the infrastructure and processes required to protect locations at scale. For the next steps, Resource One will leverage Verkada’s occupancy insights to enhance business operations.

“We now have full occupancy insight to understand the busiest times of day, so we can optimize staffing and service. As Verkada continues to update with new features, I imagine we’ll find new ways to enhance our operations and move Resource One forward.”

To learn more about Verkada for Financial Institutions, visit verkada.com/solutions/banks