Panasonic: video surveillance solution for the Wyandotte Nation Casino. The Wyandotte Nation Casino opened in 2007, owned and run by the Wyandotte Tribal Corporation, operates 541 slot and electric games machines, eight blackjack tables, three poker tables and a five table poker room over an impressive 20,000 square feet. Like any building of its size or, equally, any company of its nature, Wyandotte sees top quality security as one of its highest priorities.

Scott Garrette, Director of Information Services at the Wyandotte Nation Casino wanted a system that would provide the casino with heightened security and safety features. Garrette wanted cameras and domes systems throughout the interior and exterior of the facility to be visible to clientele and to encourage a sense of safety and deter possible criminal activity.

In addition, he also wanted a system that would allow monitoring and control of the nearby Lucky Turtle Casino, the Wyandotte Nation’s first gaming facility. Finally, a system was needed with proven technology that is feature-rich, scalable for future expansion and that delivers the highest quality performance.

Garrette obtained the solution he was looking for with a new state-of-the-art surveillance system. “Overall the Panasonic video surveillance solution provides us with system capabilities that are more dynamic and less labour intensive than other systems we have evaluated”, said Garrette. “The Panasonic video surveillance system allows us to manage cameras, image processing, storage and retrieval in a more automatic fashion, which greatly improves the efficiency of our security and surveillance operations.”

SMC, a Panasonic approved installer, came back to the Wyndotte security team with a system solution built on Panasonic analogue cameras, digital video recorders, plasma displays, system controllers and a matrix switcher. “The video surveillance system deployed at the Wyandotte Nation Casino features best in breed, proven Panasonic video surveillance technology,” said Richard Rojas, Data Communications Specialist, SMC. “When we presented the final designs, everyone involved in the project had complete confidence that the system would work – no problem.”

Cameras Everywhere

A variety of camera systems were selected based on image quality and coverage capabilities. SMC chose Panasonic’s WV-CW964 weatherproof outdoor dome system with Super Dynamic III (SDIII) imaging technology, WV-CS954 SDIII unitised indoor camera with 30X zoom, WVCW484S and WV-CW474AS SDIII vandal-proof dome cameras and the WV-CF244EX and WVCF284 DSP mini dome cameras with adaptive black stretch (ABS) technology.

According to Garrette, camera selections were heavily influenced by the Company’s Super Dynamic III (SDIII) technology and (Digital Signal Processing) ABS technology. “SDIII is the only imaging technology available that provides all the capabilities we need. The biggest advantage of SDIII cameras is how they adjust to various lighting conditions within a single scene without the loss of image quality. This is really important in a casino with so many light levels because it allows us to use the SDIII PTZ dome systems to follow individuals throughout the facility without any loss of image quality. The tracking function on the SDIII dome systems is of particular importance to us as they can perform tracking functions and can be programmed and adjusted through the controller without having to physically adjust the units. No other cameras that we looked at provided the total package of performance and features that we wanted,” said Garrette.

“The images are so detailed from the SDIII dome systems that we can clearly identify chips on the tables. The Panasonic mini dome fixed cameras we installed in perimeter areas provide continuous coverage of specific areas on the gaming floor and if there’s an incident we just zoom in with the SDIII dome systems to take a closer look. It’s a real benefit of the technology”, continued Garrette. “Using Panasonic SDIII cameras, we were able to design a very cost efficient system because of their incredible zoom capability and resolution."

Total Coverage

With over 235 cameras, it is now virtually impossible to walk across the surrounding grounds or interior of the Wyandotte Nation Casino without being in clear view of the Panasonic video surveillance system. Garrette and his staff maintain close watch over all activities with cameras positioned along the roads leading into the casino, the facility’s parking areas, the walkways leading to and from the nearby Lucky Turtle Casino, as well as all the public areas inside the facility.

Images from the cameras are controlled and routed using the Company’s Matrix System 850 and recorded on a bank of 40 Panasonic DVRs. It’s Matrix System 850 was specified for the installation because of its scalable input and output capacities, its highly programmable feature rich functions and extensive programmable camera tour capabilities. To simplify use of the Matrix System 850’s sophisticated features and ability to manage cameras potentially numbering in the thousands, SMC supplemented the system with the PFW850 management and control software.

The software employs a user-intuitive graphical user interface (GUI) with dynamic icons to simplify control and speed response times to triggered events. These capabilities were critical to casino management because of the lessons learned at the Lucky Turtle Casino, where the previous matrix switcher was incapable of expansion and had limited programmable functions.

Beating Them at Their Own Game

In addition to the central command and control room, the producer’s video surveillance system can be monitored and controlled from satellite locations, including the Oklahoma Gaming Commission who has a representative on-site. Although not currently utilised, capabilities have been built into the system to allow remote monitoring via the Internet and to eventually integrate the video surveillance system with the casino’s access control system. Garrette and SMC’s Rojas are quick to point out that although the casino is located in Oklahoma and not Las Vegas or Atlantic City, they are still subject to the same criminal elements that plague any gaming operation.

To aid efforts in reviewing and analysing incidents, the casino records all camera footage at a full 30 frames per second on DVRs, each featuring three terabytes of on-board memory capacity. “We wanted the best recorded image quality possible so we went with everything live and in real time,” said Garrette. “We also exceed the standard for archiving the footage by keeping it for 21 days. This solution resolves the problems we had before with video tape where it was difficult to find a particular recorded incident. With Panasonic DVRs, the incidents are very easy to locate, organize, file and retrieve. Rojas says he recommended these DVRs because of their storage capacity and scalability for future system expansion.

“The storage capacity was the biggest deal and it was easy to add the expanded memory,” he said. “Also, the RT208 uses MPEG-4 which is a better compression technology with superior image resolution and colour accuracy.”

Since the installation, the surveillance system has performed flawlessly leaving security staff very happy to work with the equipment. In fact, casino management has been so pleased with the new system that it will be replicated at a third Wyandotte Nation Casino in Kansas City.

Regardless of the physical location, providing a safe and secure environment for patrons and employees has been, and will continue to be Garrette’s primary objective. And it appears Wyandotte Tribal Corporation has found the perfect partners to fulfil their goals in SMC and Panasonic Security Systems.

Contact:

Panasonic System Solutions Europe
Tel.: +44 1344 853 940
Fax: +44 1344 853 221
system.solutions@eu.panasonic.com
pss.panasonic.eu