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eViper starts to snake around the world
A new version of a tried-and-tested G4S track and trace system is now available globally
The impressive performance of G4S Cyprus in replacing the island’s pounds with euros on the first day of this year owes much to the introduction of the Group’s new software-based eViper track and trace system that follows all cash movements, from the vaults to customer delivery.It played a vital role at the new G4S purpose-built, state-of-the-art, category A cash-holding facility which has a 2,000 square metre underground holding facility.
The eViper system is a web-based version of the very successful Viper which G4S Cash Services has been operating in the UK for the past decade.
Following G4S Cash Service’s decision to adapt the system for a global market, G4S Cyprus volunteered to be the first company outside the UK to test and implement eViper.
As the only security company providing cash services on the island G4S Cyprus was responsible for counting, packing and delivering all euros to the banks, which account for 90 per cent of its cash transportation business, as well as collecting all the previous currency.
“The need for a system like eViper was clearly evident,” John Arghyrou, G4S Cyprus managing director explains, “but we had only two months to introduce, implement and be trained on the vault holding version of the software.
“With considerable support from Group and especially Penny Elliott, programme manager, and Sue Blakeley, implementation manager, G4S Cyprus partially implemented the eViper system in our cash centre at the end of October, to assist with handling euro storage and distribution.
“Using just a small element of the eViper system we were able to accurately report on the quantity of euro notes we held on behalf of many financial institutions in Cyprus.”
It is envisaged that all the capabilities and functions of eViper, which include planning of routes and scheduling of vehicles and crews, will become fully operational in Cyprus by the end of July.
So what makes the new system special and where else is it likely to be introduced?
Technological developments over the past 10 years, particularly the growth of the internet, have enabled G4S to transform the tried and tested UK Viper track and trace system into a more user-friendly web-based version, with the same functionality as the original but adaptable to the global market.The sophisticated eViper system takes over from the moment a container has been filled, using barcodes, scanners and bluetooth printers to monitor the delivery and collection processes as well as speeding up the handover of cash containers to customers. The recorded value of each container allows accurate monitoring of vehicle, vault and department holdings, ensuring that insurance limits are not exceeded.
It took two years to roll out the original computerised Viper system to all G4S’s 68 UK cash branches starting in 1996, with each one running the system on its own computer server. It was a great advance. Previously, the checking and handover procedures for cash containers were done manually – a method that is still widely used by security companies around the world.
Viper changed that by automating the system in a way that was different to the conventional track and trace systems used by courier and parcel delivery companies. This was essential, given the value of the containers’ contents.
The new global eViper system takes advanatge of the latest technological advances, having a single server, currently based in the UK, which G4S operating companies can access securely over the internet via a Windows-based interface.
The system involves taking information from a customer contract to create a template for each job, then calculating a route and the cash requirements on a daily basis.
“It knows that a container gets made up in a particular department, is transferred into the vaults and is then moved into a vehicle and delivered by the crew to the customer,” explains Sue Blakeley. “At any point in the process it knows the next step of its task. There’s also a time stamp and a handover of responsibility every time that container moves from one person or one department to another.”
This results in faster hand-overs, greater accuracy and a speedier response to customer queries. A container’s movements, from the moment it was created to the point at which it is “killed” at the end of the process, can be viewed by inserting its unique barcode number into the system and viewing its history. Once used on the system the barcode number can never be used again.
eViper includes a built-in audit trail and the system can be adapted to different languages. Crew members carry hand-held devices whose software records progress and hand-overs, issuing printed receipts via a bluetooth printer attached to their belt.
Following hard on the heels of Cyprus, G4S Canada is already using the system on all of its night trips and hand-held operations, as well as on work created in its cash processing rooms, and further elements of eViper are being phased in.
Sweden is under way with its pilot, South Africa has completed feasibility studies and expects to start introducing the system in June, and Greece and northern Europe have also expressed interest.
It clearly has advantages for G4S cash operations in many countries as well as benefits for their customers. Perhaps one of the most significant unsung qualities of eViper is that it requires security compliance and best practice from all customers.
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eViper starts to snake around the world
