Casinos spend in excess of R500 000 on new video tapes every month – that is R6 million per annum.
Furthermore, according to Vision Catcher's Niall Beazley, video recorders - common home variety types - are replaced on average once a year, having been thoroughly worn out; with more than 750 of these in the average casino that represents a further R2,5 million per annum.
Security in a casino is one of the biggest headaches, as it must work; the process of finding that key piece of information from a tape amongst many tapes, tying it into supporting evidence and handling all data legally needs to be 100% correct to successfully prosecute.
The current Gaming Law in South Africa states that camera recordings must utilise video tapes in 3 hour mode in realtime - 25 frames per second per camera. According to Beazley, with the current growth of digital video systems there are now solutions available that can offer alternatives that give a far wider range of options than were ever thought possible.
"Limiting factors to date have been the exorbitant costs of integration, the Gaming Law itself, and the belief that these systems are not fully stable. Vision Catcher successfully launched a new realtime system at Securex in March of this year, the SecureVu Join. Offering full integration with an easy stack solution and with the promise of more to come, the SecureVu Join has progressively worked its way onto a number of realtime shortlists as the product of choice," says Beazley. "When you consider that the SecureVu Join is competitively priced, offers all 16 channels in each DVR running at 25 frames per second with fully synchronised audio then you have an excellent replacement for the traditional option of the analog route through video recorders."
Beazley further states that the integration with information technology structures means that digital solutions are becoming more and more complex. "Those companies who perpetuate the need for small modular type embedded systems will be left behind compared with those companies embracing Open Architecture and the need to tie in with the bigger picture. This solution for a complete IT backbone within each casino is where matters will lead. Decisions should therefore be made on an overall solution rather than the historical divisions of CCTV, access control, fire and alarms, building management, etc. The questions must be asked and those casinos setting the pace will be looking for a global solution merging all areas into one.
"Digital video recorders can form an integral part of this global management system, running on proven stable platforms such as Windows NT, 2000 or XP Professional, allowing the complete range of simple integration, be it at PAN, LAN or WAN levels through Diginet links or greater through DSL, ATM or other fibre-optic backbones. To be able to interface with a central management system by allowing source code integration linking cameras to access to facial recognition to vehicle ID and registration detail to a final key identification, this is surely what all casinos must be looking to buy into."
The key to these solutions being available is the means of data storage. Current storage solutions have in recent years given options for large-scale storage over months rather than just days. "Allowing you the ability to extract key information at the touch of a button rather than the laborious process of reviewing taped material or the recovery of compressed taped material back onto hard drive before accessing data, you can now extract that key recording within a matter of seconds, then extract the key image, e-mail the file, print the detail and send to all parties the key information that may prevent a major incident happening again in your casino or your partner casino elsewhere.
"It all comes down to one thing: technology is moving ahead at a rapid pace," says Beazley.
"The options are available and increasing day by day. Do not be forced into making a decision where the enclosed embedded system you purchase cannot be upgraded and eventually like the video recorder ends up being thrown out. Surely the better option is to integrate using open architecture systems able to work on a solid backbone infrastructure," he concludes.
For further details contact Niall Beazley, Vision Catcher, on tel: 011 465 6396.
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