Every minute of every day at every location that constitutes a casino property is serious business that must be scrutinized and maintained as a matter of record using advanced visual surveillance technology.
Surveillance strategy is paramount to oversee the complex and regulated environments in which casinos do business in addition to incorporating systems integrations for the many facets of the 24/7 reality of operations in which properties exist.
Scrutiny can be as subtle as the turn of a card at a blackjack table or as impactful as a person entering the casino who was observed in the parking lot packing a firearm.
The business of surveillance has evolved into a science that requires complex algorithms and the use of artificial intelligence for casino operators to really know what is taking place over the vast square footage that make up the interiors and exteriors of a property.
“What was once capturable only with the human eye staring at a monitor of a camera feed positioned over a blackjack table, there is now AI and analytics that can assist by raising a red flag,” explained Dan Scroggins, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for North American Video (NAV), the security integrator with more security system installations and gaming partners across the U.S. than any other systems integration firm.
“Anomalies that were once overlooked or not even noticed by scanning through a bank of cameras are now immediately recognized. When the analytic gives you a red flag, it immediately draws the operator’s attention to that table or that location, which enables them to start an immediate investigation as to why the red flag came up.”
It is a fact that video surveillance and electronic security systems are not optional. Technology and installation are mandated by federal and state authorities. The scope of coverage varies depending upon the number of public access points.
Table game surveillance utilizes high-resolution IP fixed and PTZ cameras engineered with fast frame rates and low light capability. The footage can be used to support investigations, provide predictive analytics, and even identify abnormal behavior.
“From a camera technology perspective, I think what you’ve seen over the last 10 years is the proliferation of a single location camera that can provide video over a broader area. Single sensor 360 cameras or multi-sensor 360 cameras provide a much further range from that of a specific camera location. Casinos are rapidly adopting this technology.,” said Scroggins, whose responsibilities include leading, managing, and developing North American Video’s sales team and marketing activities. “Multi-sensor 360 cameras or a 12-megapixel fisheye camera can now cover a larger area for identification from their location.”
Different zones of the property space require different camera technologies. For example, slot machine areas demand dense coverage with PTZ, panoramic, or fixed cameras utilizing high-definition and ultra-high-definition cameras.
The integrity of cages, ATMs, and other cash handling zones require surveillance using fixed cameras, access control, biometric verification, and systems to prevent theft and document transactions and misappropriation.
“There are multiple companies that are producing analytics that benefit gaming and design. In order to provide accurate data for the algorithms to work properly, you must have a quality camera in the right location.”
Scroggins joined the NAV team in 2013. His career in the security industry spans three decades with a focus on the gaming surveillance sector exclusively since 2010. He has managed the development, marketing, and sales of some of the security industry’s most iconic products and platforms on a global level.
Knowing that the non-gaming areas of casino resort properties include such popular public access locations as restaurants, retail establishments, parking lots, and transportation hubs, among others, Scroggins emphasized the fact that bad actors must be identified both upon entering and leaving the premises.
“You need to see everything that is going on to maintain security,” he explained. “The newer multi-sensor cameras are beneficial for this purpose, such as covering a parking lot. Technology has made it possible to deploy fewer cameras to see the entire area. We have one manufacturing partner that has a multi-sensor camera with the capability of capturing activity from over a mile away with incredible detail.
“This capability is a notable example of the weapon detection analytic, knowing if someone is carrying a weapon before they enter the casino. Knowledge of a person observed in the parking lot taking a weapon out of the trunk of their car and placing it in their coat pocket is vital to the protection of the property.”
NAV has more than three decades of being a trusted integration partner to the gaming industry across multiple jurisdictions, including corporate and Tribal operators nationwide.
NAV protects casino assets by deploying technology such as Advanced Video Management Systems (VMS), ultra high-resolution cameras with Wide Dynamic Range (WDR) that provide scene detail even within a variable lighting environment, video analytics that increase an operator’s effectiveness, and access control systems to secure critical areas.
He observed that security is not only a necessity for gaming protection, also marketing departments using analytics that are deployed by the surveillance departments with applications such as heat mapping of traffic on the gaming floor.
“A property can make a major investment on a new bank of slot machines that are under performing,” Scroggins observed. “A heat map will reveal the number of people standing in front of them deciding not to play or completely ignoring them and not stopping at all. This may aid in a decision to move the bank to another location.”
Surveillance of activity in the table games areas of properties has also evolved into a science according to Scroggins, who mentioned analytics that detect betting anomalies, overpays, short pays, counting chip stacks, chip values, and behavioral analytics among the players themselves.
“To gather such data, you need cameras that are able to capture it,” he said. “When you move into analytics, 1080p may not be high enough resolution, or a single camera over the top of the table may not provide enough data or the correct camera angle to feed the analytic for it to function correctly. These factors are changing the ways cameras are deployed in casinos.
“The technology makes it easier to identify what is going on at the table. Place a 4k camera 10 feet above a blackjack table and you can see the fibers in the felt. It increases the amount of data that an operator has at their disposal and the amount of data input into an AI analytic.”
Operators are recognizing the value proposition of investment in surveillance technology, and the worth it brings to a property to deploy the technology Scroggins concluded, adding “More properties are including such degree of functionality into their budgets. They are focusing on it.”
