Iowa Casino Goes All-In on IP Video Surveillance
The WinnaVegas Casino Resort recently pushed its chips into a major facilities expansion. It raised the stakes, gambling on the ability to integrate an existing analog surveillance system with new networked cameras and VMS – and won big.
The WinnaVegas Casino Resort has gone back to familiar friends when expanding its security solutions.
IP Cameras Cover All Angles
Another key factor from Twaddle’s perspective is that NAV is a longtime American Dynamics collaborator, a brand he has put his faith in since WinnaVegas’ surveillance system shifted from the VCR days to DVRs. When NAV and Twaddle performed a previous surveillance upgrade several years back, American Dynamics’ Intellex DVRs were implemented. This time around, as WinnaVegas moved to an IP camera solution for the facility’s new areas, the specification was for American Dynamics’ new VideoEdge hybrid NVRs, which were brought online in the casino’s security operations center.
NAV specified VideoEdge NVRs for the speed and power the resort casino’s sizable operations demanded. The units enable multiple video streams for live, record, alarm bump and metadata collection. They also feature Smart Search, which uses motion data collected with video while it is recorded, as opposed to running time-consuming searches against archived video, to expedite video review and event findings by staff. Six 30TB servers were deployed for video storage, with one designated as a failover for archival purposes in case the system loses power or communication.
Next: What to Know About Switching to a 4K Video Surveillance System
The NVRs are just one portion of the networked equation. With main directives being to continue using existing analog cameras but add IP cameras for the expansion, NAV utilized American Dynamics’ victor Unified Client in conjunction with the addition of more than 100 of the company’s Illustra Pro IP pan/tilt/zoom (p/t/z) dome, mini-dome and compact mini-dome cameras. The victor system is designed to handle high throughput of high-definition and megapixel cameras, according to Tyco Security Products, and can manage real-time alarms and events and leverag
e video, audio, motion, metadata and other features for a complete view of the facility.
Camera implementation varied by area and application, with different settings dictating resolution, lens and fixed versus p/t/z, according to Branda and Twaddle. Fixed cameras can focus better on cash-exchange areas and entry/exit “choke points,” for instance, while p/t/z is better served for more expansive areas where they can be moved to follow activity. The Illustra Pro IP p/t/z model can move into position as fast as 512° per second.
You can see whether a guy’s wearing a gray shirt or a purple shirt, or if it’s a man or a woman in some of those less critical areas, but if you need to see if it’s Abraham Lincoln or someone else on those bills you’re going to need 1080p.
“Depending on area, if it’s over a gaming table or slot machines, any money-handling areas, you want high-resolution cameras there; lenses vary from ceiling height. Strategically you want p/t/z in certain areas where you need a controllable camera so you can follow people,” says Branda, who adds that he also likes the Illustra IP cameras for their low latency.
Twaddle explains that lower-resolution camera models are suitable in areas where you don’t need exacting identification, but higher-resolution is critical when the security staff needs detailed accuracy. “You can see whether a guy’s wearing a gray shirt or a purple shirt, or if it’s a man or a woman in some of those less critical areas, but if you need to see if it’s Abraham Lincoln or someone else on those bills you’re going to need 1080p,” he says.
Easily Managed Video Management
The installation itself went rather smoothly, according to Twaddle, who began pulling wire for the cameras from the get-go as part of his responsibility in handling the physical labor. From a networking and programming standpoint, however, the project’s biggest speedbump came when Twaddle was informed by the higher-ups that the timeline for completion was being moved up significantly and needed to be done before the resort casino’s annual multiday RiverFest, which brings in big crowds for music acts such as Smokey Robinson, .38 Special, Merle Haggard and the like.
“I called Rich [Branda] and Larry [Wanvig] and fortunately they were both together, they’d just gotten off a plane in California,” Twaddle recounts. “I said, ‘Sorry, I don’t need anybody to come out here and network the equipment for me in three weeks – I need them in three days.’ I apologized, but I think they just about fainted. But guess what? They did it.”
Twaddle highlights Tyco Security Products’ unsung hero of the project, computer and IP specialist Dirk Demar, playing a clutch role. “He’s probably one of the smartest people I’ve ever met. He flew out to our site and got us up and running. We beat our deadline by 12 hours.”
The ease-of-use factor that Twaddle and the WinnaVegas team wanted was readily apparent after he and another WinnaVegas security operator attended a weeklong American Dynamics training in Florida following the installation. His takeaway, which he says was swiftly conveyed and ingrained while training the security team back at the casino thereafter, was that anyone with pretty basic knowledge of how to operate a computer could manage the user-friendly victor system.
One aspect of the video management system (VMS) Twaddle and his security operators appreciate, he says, is the ability to set up alarm conditions onscreen that trigger when people walk into certain areas they are not supposed to and similar breaches. He’s also particularly impressed with the speed and real-time capabilities of the networked video solution, especially as someone who has witnessed the evolution of surveillance technology in his 23 years at WinnaVegas.
“Back in the days of VCRs, if something happened – a customer complaint about cards being misdealt or a call from a dealer or pit boss – we’d have to tell them we’d call back in 10-15 minutes depending on how busy we were, and then we’d rewind/ fast forward, rewind/fast forward, review and call back,” he says. “They call now, and we can usually answer their question while we’re on the phone.”
The effectiveness and efficiencies spurred by the new video system are only going to grow in time. Twaddle notes that as the older analog cameras stop working they can now be easily replaced by IP models and incorporated into the networked VMS. Branda mentions that another phase will migrate the Intellex devices to VideoEdge across the board; this in addition to whatever else WinnaVegas may wish to add to its resort as gambling revenues continue to grow like corn stalks. In any case, the systems integrator will be ready and awaiting Twaddle’s call.
“It’s a long-term relationship with them. I got to see where they started and where they’re at today, which is pretty cool,” says Branda. “And there’s still a pretty big roadmap for them.”
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