Sharad Gulla
For IDFC, the focus is always on expanding and adding branches, creating space and providing a healthy and safe working environment to the employee and contractor staff working at the bank premises.
A Centralised Monitoring System (CMS) is a control centre connected to all electronic security systems in the retail branches. These individual systems (CCTV, fire alarm, intruder alarm) in each retail space are connected to an intelligent communication box that collects relevant data from the systems on a local level. Any alarm is immediately communicated to the CMS. The software at CMS deduces the alarm, and if relevant, notifies authorities. The operator then acts as per the SOP, which displays individual steps to be acted upon. “Our dependency on man guards has reduced drastically, while monitoring has become more robust. CMS has a fixed operational cost compared to the ever-increasing guarding costs and better control on the health and safety of the branch,” explains Gulla.
Effective spatial planning always remained a challenge with the CRES team as the hiring of teams depended on the business growth. The team worked to redesign the existing space to meet increasing business requirements. Additional seats were added, keeping in mind all regulatory requirements, and the teams were realigned so that respective business teams can be allotted seats in the same bay to facilitate productivity. This saved cost at many ends – rental, IT, facility, transport, electricity, cafeteria, etc, to name a few.
