Pretoria-based AGIC Technologies has developed an application to control and manage cash from the company’s Tellersafes through cash in transit and ultimately to the bank. The solution employs the Rlog modem from Clever Devices and Designs, which monitors activities and events originating from the Tellersafe and transmits them via GPRS to the Rlog server and ultimately to the MISVanilla backend.
The Rlog communication device uses GPRS and can be set up easily with lower costs than those of a fixed line. The communication operates 24/7 and the stored procedures in the Rlog SQL server determine how the information is handled. Service-specific information can be filtered and directed to the service department. The critical financial information is treated with all the securities the banking environment demands. Communication information is available to the server administrator who can see the basic setup of the modem, whether the modems are communicating and what the signal strength is.
The AGIC Tellersafe has been developed with multiple layers of security and safety features. All of the safes from the small T50 to the large T500 have the same fundamental functionality: every action made is transmitted via the Rlog to the Rlog Server and then on to an SQL server where it is drawn out to MISVanilla, which in turn presents the information in a format customised to a specific customer’s requirements. To ensure security, non-financial information vital for the service department is transmitted only to the service division. The MISVanilla application was developed as a control centre tool to monitor the activity and events originating from the Tellersafe products.
The Tellersafe reports a large variety of events in real-time via the GSM network to a centralised communication and application server. This centralised control can exist inside or outside of firewalled zones and these events are viewed using MISVanilla, which runs on the customer’s system inside a browser. In order to accommodate the range of events and their meaning and value to a variety of users – typically cash in transit, the depositor, the safe maintenance department and the bank – the application has been created around a user profile. Each user has access to those events and conditions in which they have an interest and these events will be prioritised depending on the level of importance to the user.
MISVanilla is intended to operate in a control centre environment where 24/7 monitoring takes place. The user-allocated events are displayed near real-time (user adjustable) on a priority basis. It is possible for the user with a click of a button to remove those events that have been noted or attended to, so that only the latest and most current event is displayed. Each event can also be forwarded automatically via text message or e-mail as they occur, to allow for priority escalation and remote monitoring. These functions can be enabled or disabled by the user at their discretion. MISVanilla was developed to create a generic system that can be adjusted to suit the end user. The customer’s look and feel, the format of information, the layout and report requirements can all be customised to meet individual needs.
The application allows for the creation of unlimited user profiles; Service, Cash in transit, Cash depot, Bank and Cash depositor are common examples. Events from the Tellersafe are assigned to profiles such as these and when a new user is added to the system they can be linked to one of the defined profiles or a profile can be uniquely configured per event for the customer concerned. Each user is also linked to individual safes and system permissions, such as authority to add new users for example.
The Silverlight model, a tool from Microsoft, was chosen because it offers an ultra-thin client running in a browser, which allows for server push and not only client request as with most browser applications. In an environment with a need for real-time data display, it is necessary to continually update the client window with the latest data. In a traditional browser application this would require a post back from the client requesting the latest data and a response from the server. Each of these requests and responses would require the user interface to be moved over the net, resulting in much larger volumes of data moving between the client’s browser and the web server.
AGIC is currently in talks with local banks as well as an international group that will be distributing the end to end solution.
For more information contact Gavin de Steur, AGIC Technologies, +27 (0)12 803 2408, Clever Devices and Designs, +27 (0)12 667 4124, [email protected], www.cleverdevices.co.za
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