Quiet play

by NVT


Chile, one of the most developed economies in Latin America, is enjoying a true expansion of the gaming segment; This boom – it went from seven establishments four years ago to 25 between 2005 and 2006 – invites us to think that companies providing security technologies will also benefit, since a casino is a very particular establishment in which image quality plays a determining role.

And taking into account this requirement, one of the two groups of casinos in this country, the Fischer, did not want to waste time and hired VideoCorp, security integrator and distributor with great recognition in southern soil, for the installation of a video surveillance system -complemented with access and intrusion- in the four casinos that have been assigned by the Superintendency of Gaming Casinos (SCJ), in which compliance with certain requirements requested by the regulatory body must be guaranteed.

Of the four assigned to this business group, three are already completed and operating, while the last one will be ready by the end of this year. And it is precisely about these projects that will be discussed in this note, presenting the advantages of using NVT (Network Video Technologies) solutions to guarantee quality in the video, reach of greater distances and significant savings in terms of the wiring used.

It is important to note that Chile is not a properly insecure country and that the gambling industry has not been threatened by specific factors, because as Cristian Barraza, commercial manager of the integrating firm, explains, "the Chilean player is quite respectful within the casino, not very good for the scam or for the typical tricks of the scammers such as card counting and more".

A system geared towards deterrence

For the installation of the security system, the client -Fischer Group- opened a bidding process with the idea of equipping the four casinos that had been awarded with integral security platforms. Of the aforementioned establishments, three are already in operation (Temuco, Valdivia and Punta Arenas) and the last one will be ready at the end of this year; each of the casinos also has its hotel, however the operation of the latter will occur next May.

Each casino will have around 500 employees, who are expected to be able to adequately receive the growing number of visitors to the casinos in Chile, which in 80% is composed of local citizens and the remaining 20% by tourists mainly from Argentina, Brazil and Europe.

Paradoxically, VideoCorp was not on the original list of proponents of a project that in the end had to throw a video surveillance system that met the specifications of the SCJ, that is, image quality 2 CIF, 30 FPS and storage time of 15 days. The work had to provide the end customer with the possibility of supervising the entire casino, the hotel and the interior enclosures, respecting some typical elements of security for this type of establishments: two monitoring centers -one is called Surveillance and the other Security- to increase the degree of security, giving one of the rooms the possibility of viewing certain cameras that can not be seen from the Central Surveillance, which has as its main responsibility the general monitoring of all activity in the game room.

According to Barraza, the client's idea was to have a system of supervision, recording and review of images. "A surveillance system for a casino, I would dare to say, operates more on recording than monitoring; it is important to have the recording and a good procedure for reviewing the stored information, since every five minutes one of the room heads or group leaders who are in the same game room request the verification of some procedure or that a cashier or official has carried out the procedures in the correct way", Explains.

Major challenge

With the tender already underway, VideoCorp developed a proposal based on the transmission of images over UTP cabling, with NVT converters, encoding of analog video to digital video and storage in network recording units. Each bidder was autonomous in its proposal, as long as it met the minimum technical requirements of the SCJ. With this proposal the integrator made the project, but quickly found a colossal challenge: three casinos to adapt almost simultaneously, which forced the formation of working groups of high technical quality and ability to work under pressure.

The reason that led Barraza to suggest a solution based on a transmission system over UTP, with NVT as the spearhead, is the knowledge that this Chilean expert has about the solutions of this manufacturer, which offer a real lifetime warranty, something fundamental in any business that involves technology.

The commercial manager of VideoCorp adds that "for any type of project that we develop, be it analog video, installations where video signals converge in a typical DVR or facilities where the client is looking for a hybrid IP platform, we have always considered NVT, even taking into account that the initial cost may be perhaps higher, but that in time this cost is compensated by the after-sales service, in which each of the officials of the firm respond quickly and replace immediately in case of any failure in a team; the lifetime warranty is a rather important additional value. Many companies can say that they have a lifetime warranty, but I who have been working in this industry for 12 years can say that the only company that makes it effective is NVT."

However, this was not the only reason. The quality of the video signal or the quality of the transmitted image is a fundamental factor for a casino and actually for any business in which money or currencies are handled. At this point the participation of NVT solutions played a very important role, because to implement the video surveillance system the SCJ had to approve the image quality that the solutions were offering. The end user also approved the results obtained with the technology of this manufacturer before starting the project.

As Cristian explained, the project is managed via IP and this particularity invites a question: why were IP cameras not used then if in the end the images were going to be digitized to manage them in a networked environment? Although this seems to be the paradigm of electronic security, it is currently important to clarify that not all projects adapt to the characteristics of a network video system, in addition to the fact that if you do not have the appropriate infrastructure you will not be able to take full advantage of such devices.

For Barraza, entering to suggest an IP system without knowing the needs of the client is an irresponsible action that in the long run will end up harming the end user. "A network point has the capacity to travel a maximum distance of 105 meters. If you think about a casino and evaluate the possibility of implementing only IP cameras, intermediate switches would have to be used to achieve the required distance or generate the configuration so that none of the equipment exceeds the distance of 105 meters, "he said.

This is the reason why they chose to work with transmission over UTP, because they take the analog signal and convert it to IP at a central point and from this they go to a location that can reach up to 2.4 kilometers, according to the devices used at each end.

Hardware to the extreme

One of the aspects that characterize this project is the large amount of hardware used in it, almost always with extensions in between. This can be interpreted as one of the successes that the installation in question has had.

For example, in the Temuco casino the planned number of cameras to be used was 370 and currently there are more than 400 installed. In Valdivia the work had budgeted 310 cameras, but 340 have already been assembled. in Punta Arenas (still under construction) 258 cameras will be installed, between fixed and mobile. The fixed ones are of the dome type and the mobile ones of the Spectra IV class, from Pelco.

For the conversion of the analog to digital signal, Verint S1704 encoders were used; in terms of image storage, the project is also quite robust, since in Temuco there is 50 Tb of capacity, as well as Valdivia, while in Puerto Arenas it reaches 35 Tb. All recording devices are Dell branded.

"In terms of display, in the control centers each operator - three for every quarter - has a workstation, two 19-inch LCD screens of AG Neovo and a 42-inch NEC screen, of the reference LCD4215. The idea with this combination of monitors is that if an employee sees something on their screen they can later view it in a larger size," says Barraza.

Conclusions at hand

The integrator, at the moment in which the branding of this ambitious project ends, which links practically a thousand cameras, considers that the possibility of working with a strategic partner such as NVT has facilitated the fulfillment of the objectives proposed in the design stage of the solution.

The benefits of this alliance are several and can be specified as follows. To begin with, the quality of the NVT product has allowed the installation to pass without major setbacks and if any device does not work the way it should then it is replaced quickly, so as not to alter the course of the project.

Another essential aspect has been the ease of negotiation with the manufacturer and Barraza makes some comments about it: "NVT is a partner for VideoCorp. It has a line of credit that allows the integrator to buy and within five or six days be installing. That in these days of economic crisis is quite important when it comes to managing the flow of money."

Finally, says Barraza, another aspect in which NVT equipment helps is the reduction in costs for labor and installation. "Just imagine 200 or 300 video signals with coaxial cable. This would have a high installation cost in addition to requiring a lot of space, but it is something that is solved with the use of NVT, "he said.

VIEW CHART ONE

*About the author

Network Video Technologies, Inc. (www.nvt.com) develops and promotes CCTV transmission systems for sending real-time audio and video over common unshielded twisted pair telephone cable. Founded in 1990, NVT is incorporated in the state of California. All products are guaranteed for life and are listed and/or meet UL, CUL and CE requirements. For contacts in Latin America you can contact Antonio Pérez in the mail [email protected].