In The Cards
IP video surveillance technology protects Northern Europe’s biggest casino
- By Courtney Pedersen
- Mar 01, 2012
With thousands of guests daily visiting Casino Copenhagen,
money is always changing hands. And when money is the
focus, so is security. Both security and service are taken
very seriously at this casino, so managers have installed the
most advanced IP video surveillance platform to ensure the
safety of guests and employees.
There is plenty to keep track of at the facility, which was built as an extension
to the Hotel Radisson BLU Scandinavia and became Denmark’s first international
casino when it opened on New Year’s Eve in 1990. As of November 2009, it had
200 employees and thousands of visitors venturing to the site to try their luck with
poker chips, cards and slot machines, all of which make big demands on the management
to have a good overview for top service and security.
“First and foremost, just like all other casinos, we must conform to special laws
and regulations that make strict demands for security and internal procedures.
We furthermore want to provide the best possible service to our many customers,
which includes among other things a strong focus on security,” said Jesper
Frederiksen, surveillance manager at Casino Copenhagen. “For that reason, we
have chosen to work with the most advanced surveillance technology available on
the market.”
This technology is based on Milestone Systems’ IP video open-platform solution, XProtect Corporate. With just a
few clicks, an operator controls hundreds
of cameras at the same time,
viewing live or archived images from
different servers simultaneously. In addition,
the video material is easily exported
when the police want to use it
as evidence.
“Previously, we worked with analog
videotapes, but they were very timeconsuming,
especially if you wanted
historical overviews of the recordings,”
Frederiksen said. “With the IP video
solution, we can find precise sequences
from many different angles, scroll back
and forth quickly, synchronize time and
zoom in for close-ups.
“The issues often have to do with
who has put a chip on the table at a certain
time and for a particular amount.
For example, we can scroll back
through the images from two cameras
and angles at the same time to see video
details of a hand at a table with the person
that hand belongs to.”
Human Insight is an Important Parameter
If a dealer wants to resolve a disagreement
between two players, he requests
the pit boss to check the surveillance on
a monitor near the playing area. Video
images are shown simultaneously in the
main control room, where security operators
control the surveillance centrally
and, via radio contact, click to show
the exact table or players to conclude
the matter in question.
Several operators have the daily
responsibility for surveillance of the
entire casino. In 2009, Casino Copenhagen
also took control of security
monitoring for the Hotel Radisson
BLU Scandinavia. The video surveillance
of the hotel, which was already
based on Milestone software, runs on
a separate server, and the cameras are
connected to the casino’s internal system
via a LAN cable. Today, the operators
also keep an eye on the hotel’s video
on a separate display from those for
the casino activities. The surveillance
incorporates indoor areas, the parking
lots and entrances.
“I have worked in this branch for
many years, so I know that technology
in itself is not enough,” Frederiksen
said. “The operators must also be
savvy about human behavior to know
exactly what kind of conduct to look
for. We are very attentive to educating
our operators, not just in the art of surveillance,
but we also train them in all
the games we offer—they have to know
them at least as well as our dealers.”
It is not just disagreements and complaints
about cheating that the video
surveillance helps to resolve; the images
are also used to ensure that all internal
procedures are upheld. Recordings are
used by the police as evidence. Such
footage has already helped the police a
number of times, which is just as much
due to the camera coverage as it is to
the training and experience of the casino’s
operators.
Big Demands on Capacityand Quality
The Danish company Info-Connect, a
certified Milestone Partner, develops
and produces specialized software solutions
and has installed the IT networks
and surveillance system at Casino Copenhagen.
According to director Rasmus
Teilmann, it was imperative that
the servers and storage systems be able
to handle the huge capacity requirements
needed for such a comprehensive
video installation to function optimally.
This applies not just to casinos but to
any business using hundreds of cameras
running at full frame rate with top
image quality.
At the casino, more than 200 cameras
are connected to five servers, each
with a storage capacity of 10 TB. This
capability is critical for the video evidence
the facility archives because the
recordings from the gambling tables—
according to the law—must be saved
for 31 days, and images from the cash
transactions must be kept for 62 days.
Info-Connect has installed a 10 Gb
Ethernet network based on fiber-optic
cables that transmit all the images to
the five recording servers over which all
the camera outputs are shared. On each
server there is a redundant storage array
with 10 TB of storage, so the casino
can manage the legal requirements for
archiving recordings.
The system runs at full-frame rate
for live viewing and for all recordings
at the gambling tables and cash transaction
areas, but the frame rates are
reduced for the traditional areas of
surveillance such as the doorways. This
means that the manned surveillance is
seen live, at full speed, while the system
uses as little storage space as possible
and top video quality is maintained.
Technically, this is set up in separate
video data streams, where the live video
is shown as MPEG-4 or H.264. The
archived video images are stored as MJPEGs
at a frame rate determined for
individual cameras. Frame rates also
can be set to automatically speed up
on certain cameras based on rules that
trigger on certain events or occurrences,
such as motion in a certain area or
at a particular time.
The video is transmitted back to
the monitoring stations via the fiber
network. All the video encoders record
with sound, as well, and this has a special
advantage. For example, should a
customer ask to put his money on the
color red and there is a dispute, the operators can scroll back to determine precisely what occurred. Showing the results
quickly resolves any disagreements between the dealers and customers.
Info-Connect designed the entire surveillance solution and maintained a close
dialogue with Milestone regarding multiple integrations and tools for optimizing
the performance. Info-Connect furthermore advises about ongoing upgrades to
the newest platforms and features every time Milestone releases new software versions
or modules. In this way, the solution is future-proof for the best return on
the investment.
“The existing analog cameras from the previous system are still running, but
now through the encoders so they can work with Milestone’s digital platform,”
Teilmann said. “Among other things, we have also installed the fiber network
that transmits all the images to the servers, where they are archived, and back to
the monitoring stations in the casino, where they can be seen with the Milestone
Smart Client interface. An important parameter was the full-frame rate capability
providing optimal image quality and speed in the recordings. The system runs
completely without any frame loss, which is especially critical when it comes to
video from the tables.”
Innovative Investments that Pay Off
The law requires that all casino guests be registered. When customers arrive at the
casino, a receptionist takes a photo via the guest registration software that Info-
Connect has developed with the camera system. The video image is shown in the
Milestone Smart Client along with other information about the customer, including
his or her ticket information, in Milestone’s XProtect Transact software. This
integration makes the surveillance system act as added confirmation and reacts
with an alert if there is a need for it.
With the casino’s newest feature, all customers receive an access chip with
RFID; the system shows guests’ photo on the surveillance screen when they go
through the entrance to the casino. Security staff are able to compare the guest’s
photo on the screen with the existing customer information. The intention is to
avoid photo fraud and ensure fast, effective surveillance. The RFID technology
is built into the guest registration software designed by Info-Connect and is fully
integrated with the video software via the SDK.
The casino also is testing Axis Communications’ new HD camera model, the
Q1755, which is tailored to applications such as casinos. Via automatic zoom, the
camera is able to focus closely and sharply on a chip at the gambling tables, for
example, and on motion the camera zooms out again to register who the guest is
with that chip. This occurs in one video stream, thereby reducing the number of
cameras required to record everything.
Frederiksen said he believes that digital—and intelligent—surveillance systems
like this are invaluable when one considers the risks that are connected with running
a casino.
“There are professionals out there who have made a career out of cheating both
their co-players and the dealers,” Fredericksen said. “Our people are trained to spot
these cheaters, and when that occurs we are talking about very large amounts of
money. That’s why it really pays for us to invest in such comprehensive technological
solutions, and that also benefits our customers in relation to security and service.”
The Danish Ministry of Justice has just extended the license
for Casino Copenhagen to continue operation for another 10
years.
This article originally appeared in the March 2012 issue of Security Today.