Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | July 2008 48 Casino Security like Nextiva helps personnel effectively identify the relevant footage for the specific event, allowing operators to make sense of the situation. Ace of diamonds “Instead of your staff trying to monitor a thousand CCTV cameras at once, and not actually seeing anything useful, our systems will look for the problem automatically and then identify the relevant footage on the relevant video—the one you really care about,” says Mr Meretz. “More importantly, Verint systems are designed for gaming operations. The system is very intuitive and user friendly.” “The system of video analytics that we use means analysing the behaviour of the pictures. The casino operator can define any ‘rules’ by which they would like the system to work and trigger alerts. The rule can, for example, be to analyse for an event such as someone entering a room which is a restricted area. If anyone should enter the room, the alarm will come up and alert the client so that they can react. “A rule can also be, for example, getting the system to alert clients when someone picks up an object or leaves an object behind. In a very crowded environment, this may be harder to do but we have experience in deploying Nextiva analytics in such environments,”he adds. The Nextiva video analytics portfolio includes camera tampering detection, perimeter intrusion, loitering detection, unattended objects, secure area monitoring and more. Casinos are relying on video analytics more and more to be the extra set of eyes needed to monitor all casino activities. Gambling with time Creating and maintaining a security system that addresses the varying needs of a casino can be overwhelming. Casinos need to be able to leverage their technology investments in real-time in order to address events as they occur. This can only be accomplished with what Verint calls “collaborative situational awareness”. In cases where pre-programming your security system is not appropriate, reactive interrogation comes into play. “This is when you know something has happened, but you don’t know exactly when and you want to react quickly,” says Mr Meretz. “Say somebody took a laptop from someone’s hotel room or meeting room. Securitypersonnel need toscan thecollected data to pinpoint that exact incident and review the type. If a casino’s using analogue technology, they will have to fast forward 24 hours of tape,”he explains. “It might take up to 10 hours—maybe fivehours if they are reallyworkingefficiently. With Nextiva analytics,users can define a rule after the event and find the relevant footage in seconds.” Analogue versus digital Casino operators are at differing stages when it comes to upgrading their security data systems from analogue to digital. The advantage of Verint’s technology is that its powerful hardware and software can interface with existing equipment and compress analogue data. “Our solution immediately jumps analogue to an Internet Protocol (IP) system. This gives us the capability to do analytics in real time,” Mr Meretz explains. “Once you transform to IP, you need to prove to clients that the technology has the same quality of video available from analogue systems and that there’s no security-critical delay in being able to review and act on what the images are telling you.” High rollers Because casinos require detailed coverage and the image quality must be high in terms of sharpness and colour, cameras used to capture those images must be of the highest quality.“Nextiva IP cameras feature low lux sensitivity [offering enhanced illumination in low-light conditions], dual-stream MPEG4/M JPEG video, noise reduction, SSL-based authentication [Secure Sockets Layer, the leading security protocol on the Internet], and performance up to 4CIF [Four Times Common Intermediate Format offering 704x576 pixels], plus 30 FPS [frames per second], ensuring high video quality,” said Mr Meretz. Pulling the slots “The legacy of some of the casinos where decisions about architecture were made six or seven years ago means they have analogue video and/or matrix systems. These systems are not as scalable and the costs are higher accordingly. “Digital technology is maturing and we can compress voice and video data more and more,” added Mr Meretz. “That means the storage costs are lower, so instead of just sampling what you capture, you can capture everything and then interrogate it and analyse it in real time.” The trends are changing and many casinos are migrating from their outdated analogue systems to new integrated IP video solutions. “Having an analogue based system means having seven or eight year old technology.That’s like having a VCR at home instead of a DVD player,” explains Mr Meretz. What about those people who think digital security technology amounts to a snoopers’ charter? “All casinos are increasingly thinking about how to improve their security management,” says Mr Meretz. “Security among your own employees is just as important as maintaining security among the customers.” Worth the gamble? “The security and surveillance demands of the gaming industry are changing rapidly, while regulations and standards are becoming more stringent in an effort to better protect the casino, its patrons and personnel,” explains Mr Meretz. “Factors such as gaming regulations, alcohol regulations, state and central government regulations, and even internal company policies can change the design of a casino’s overall security system. Deploying the right solution is critical to the well-being and economic growth of each casino operation.” Ady Meretz, president of Verint Systems’ Asia Pacific operations

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