Pacom: Customized Security Solutions to Increase Banking Efficiency

The banking and financial industry is undergoing a continuous transformation to conform to the ever-changing standards and regulations around the world. At the same time, they are looking for ways to simultaneously enhance security and save costs. “This is driving the need for customization,” says Steve Barton, MD of Pacom Systems. Bridging these ends, Pacom—a provider of security communications over IP networks and developer of integrated enterprise security solutions—delivers a high degree of customization through its system based on open standards. Since its inception, the company specializes in assisting organizations to safeguard their initial investment and delivering end-to-end integrated solutions for financial organizations.

“The traditional banking picture is more of hardware and physical boxes, but gradually it’s moving toward a virtual environment with data security and uptime being the major concern,” Barton says. Pacom’s products address key concerns such as compliance, message security, load sharing, encryption, network utilization and prioritization. Based on their interactions with customers for more than three decades, the company has developed a unique ‘dual flash’ capability, which enables secured broadcast changes to remote panels. Each Pacom panel is fitted with two memory chips, one being active and the other operating in a standby mode, which ensures that it remains online during any software update.

“Our core value proposition is to utilize the existing data network for security management and operations, and perform functions centrally,” cites Barton. Pacom’s remote management capabilities minimize the need for site visits, eliminating the operational costs. These capabilities include changing PIN codes, access control administration and card printing, video alarm verification and broadcast configuration alteration. Pacom’s Graphical Management System (GMS), a modular client-server application for multi-site organizations, provides full security system control. “The Pacom GMS solution is built around three electronic security ‘pillars’—access control, intrusion detection and video surveillance—to boost customer satisfaction,” Barton says. The company also is capable of transferring partial or full security responsibility to a third-party, providing organizations with choices about how to manage their facilities.

Pacom offers significant amount of integration to the banking sector, which at times are non-security related. In the case of a bank’s branches, the company can perform people counting and link the security system to the Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system, equating to significant cost savings.