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Luxury casino upgrades to digital recording

Regency Casino Mont Parnes in Athens is extending its CCTV surveillance network and installing over 160 Terabytes of storage.

The only gaming facility located in the greater Athens area, Regency Casino Mont Parnes is attracting expanding visitor numbers from around the globe, with thousands visiting it each year to enjoy its facilities. Catering for its increasing popularity, the casino is undertaking a €110M reconstruction programme. With the reconstruction process well underway, the Regency Casino facility has extended its existing Synectics-based CCTV surveillance network to cover new gaming and leisure areas, and included more than 160-Terabytes of Synectics Modular Digital Recording System (MDRS) storage.

Following the acquisition of 49% ownership two and a half years ago by the consortium of Hyatt Regency Hotels & Tourism (Hellas) and Elliniki Technodomiki, annual turnover at the casino has grown to over €140M per year. An interim renovation project at a cost of €11M was completed within the first few months of takeover, while the ambitious programme to fully reconstruct the complex is scheduled for completion in year 2013.

The expansive site features a cable car system to access the casino’s hilltop site, which will include an adjacent five-star hotel, a luxurious spa, swimming pool, bars and restaurants, in addition to extensive gaming facilities. Amongst the attractions for players are almost 1000 slot machines (all equipped with a fully integrated TITO cashless ticketing system) and 65 playing tables, including poker, punto banko and blackjack, which will expand soon to 1500 slot machines and 110 tables – making Mont Parnes the biggest casino in this part of Europe. This long list of facilities and activities has guaranteed Regency Casino Mont Parnes is listed amongst Europe’s top tourist destinations.

Proven formula

Following the success and subsequent performance benefits gained with the use of Synectics products at its sister Regency Casino in Thessaloniki, the same tried and tested formula was applied at Mont Parnes, with the use of Synectics’ SynergyPro software control, coupled with Tesseract camera switching matrices, and now Synectics MDRS archiving technology – all installed by systems integration specialists Signal Electronics Security of Athens.

Piotr Grzejszczyk, director of surveillance at Regency Casino Mont Parnes, explains how the security specification process unfolded: “We knew exactly what we wanted from our CCTV system at the newly redeveloped flagship site, and to secure the best technical partner we invited Synectics along with other manufacturers to demonstrate their technologies to both myself and the security team. After these presentations and subsequent consultation periods with their respective technical specialists, it was clear that the Synectics-based electronic surveillance solution with Synectics MDRS storage was best suited to our needs.

“Thanks to our confidence in the Synectics product, competitive pricing from Signal Electronics Security, and the previous quality of service we had experienced from both, we were happy to add the MDRS system to the existing Synectics SynergyPro and Tesseract matrix.”

Synectics’ MDRS review client technology provides instant, one-touch access to recorded footage, as well as easily downloadable video evidence to other media, should this need be required for use off-site.

Unlike with standard digital recording systems, Synectics MDRS recordings employ very high-pixel count images, measured in Common Interchange Format (CIF). Typically D1, these recordings are more detailed (by pixel count) than those commonly offered, permitting more detailed recognition and scene content; a crucial factor in the presentation of key visual information to confirm valid bets.

To process and retain the huge amount of data the Regency Casino Mont Parnes camera network produces, the casino’s on-site control room utilises SynergyPro’s Evidence Locker management feature. A robust server configured to handle and store video evidence, the Evidence Locker provides a central point for evidence management. For future authentication purposes, a unique 128-bit MD5 hashing encryption code is created with every minute of video footage, so if a copy of footage is required to be taken off-site, the system saves the video clip and evidence’s hashing code, logged and detailed in the form of a Digital Evidence Certificate to prove its legitimacy.

Safe storage

Utilising Synectics storage for evidential video at the casino means the data from the system’s cameras is extremely safe. Employing Synectics storage nodes, the data is spread throughout the system, meaning in the unlikely event of a node failure, all data of a particular camera feed is not lost. “Safe storage of all our recorded data was the priority for the upgrade and selecting Synectics MDRS storage ensures all our footage is safe, even in the unlikely event of component failure,” adds Grzejszczyk.

From the onsite control room operators enjoy expanded camera coverage over the entire casino floor, including corridors, reception areas, bar, restaurant and internal staff-only areas. Recording and controlling images from over 300 cameras around the site, Synectics SynergyPro and MDRS technology has not only been instrumental in meeting the government legislations for the safe operation of a casino, but also provides an instant overall view of the entire site – at the touch of a button.

Grzejszczyk continues; “Controlling the cameras from our specially built, on-site control room, our Synectics-trained operators are able to access any camera via the 30-monitor wall and their own twin-monitor workstation. Using one screen for live images and one for the instant review of recorded footage, we are able to immediately verify the actions of both players and staff in the event of a contested bet. This provides extremely fast problem solving, whilst high-quality images means cards, chips and money can be easily tracked.”

Commenting on the Mont Parnes installations, Vasilios Harbilas of Signal Electronics Security said: “The simplicity of the Synectics SynergyPro CCTV control software and the power of safe, high-resolution image archiving via the Synectics MDRS make this end-to-end solution ideal for all gaming environments. Fast, intuitive navigation and recording of large numbers of cameras is essential to the successful operation of any casino. CCTV without effective control is useless, and Synectics technology has proved to be the key to unlocking the power of our casino camera network.”

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