By Ashley Willis
LAS VEGAS — Jerry's Nugget Casino has swapped its analog cameras for an IP surveillance system to provide forensic-quality video monitoring to its gaming area.
A Las Vegas hallmark since 1964, Jerry's Nugget offers various gaming options, live stage entertainment and dining facilities. When video management solution (VMS) provider TimeSight Systems heard about the casino's need for an upgrade, it contacted Las Vegas-based integrator Southwest Surveillance Systems (SWSS) for the job.
A key installation issue was that the Nevada State Gaming Commission certification standards called for cameras with a minimum frame rate of 30 frames per second (fps).
For the upgrade, the casino has replaced 220 analog cameras with 200 Basler IP Cameras. The Basler BIP2-1300c-dn IP megapixel camera with CCD sensors will monitor the gaming table and slot machine areas. Other cameras — the BIP2-640c-dn, which delivers 100 fps — will secure the casino's cage, where chips and tokens are exchanged and money is counted. The cameras also work in the casino's low-light setting, which is often a challenge for security cameras, Basler Marketing Specialist Nina Maass tells SSI.
Storage was another hurdle Jerry's Nugget had to get over. TimeSight's VLM system compresses all image data depending on its age and event severity. This reduces the storage requirement by 90 percent, the company says. The implementation of the new system will allow the casino to extend its video retention on table games 20 times over.
Jerry's Nugget General Manager Jeremy Stamis is delighted with his new security camera installation.
"We wanted truly forensic-quality video as well as extended retention to protect our business against all types of loss," he says. "With the new system, we now get an amazingly high level of detail and still save storage costs."
The installation was pretty straightforward because the casino used its in-house staff for most of the project, SWSS PM Bill Gledenning tells SSI.
"We had about two or three of our employees involved in this," he says. "We used our people to get the network configured and to program everything. Then we worked with the manufacturers to get everything fine-tuned. If it's needed, we will change camera lenses."
Roughly 95 percent of SWSS' business comes from the gaming sector, says Gledenning. With more than 25 years experience in gaming surveillance, the company provides training on surveillance procedures (i.e. cheating methods, and detection) on various table games.
For its part, Jerry's Nugget is quite pleased with the upgrade and plans to add more equipment down the road.
"The gaming sector is reawakening and investing in an aging security infrastructure that has long needed a refresh to deal with today's reality," says TimeSight CEO Charles Foley. "Today's IP-based technology can bring high-quality, actionable video combined with long-term protection for the establishment, as well as lower total cost of ownership now and in the future."
Ashley Willis is associate editor for SECURITY SALES & INTEGRATION. She can be reached at (310) 533-2419.