Page 18 - Security Today, July/August 2022

Place Your Bets A reliable security camera system gives casinos better
odds of remaining profitable
By Jordan Rivchun
For a casino, constant threats of theft, hacking, and fraud from guests and employees are simply table stakes. The combination of high-volume visitor traf- fic and significant amounts of cash can create poten- tial security nightmares, with the cards often stacked against the house. That is why it’s no surprise that the gaming in- dustry – one of the largest users of video surveillance technology – continues to double down on security by investing in the latest technologies to protect facilities, employees and guests.
Reliability Matters
Having a reliable security camera system gives gaming environ- ments better odds of remaining profitable by deterring criminal activity and tracking activity patterns. Recent breakthroughs in digital imaging surveillance technology including facial recogni- tion, AI and audio/video analytics add even more tools to a ca- sino’s security arsenal.
Video surveillance technology has changed dramatically since gaming was permitted in Nevada to entertain workers on the Hoover Dam project nearly a century ago. The gaming industry was among the first to adopt CCTV technology in the 1960s and 1970s, and most casinos mounted analog CCTV cameras to cover
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the gaming floor and surrounding areas such as restaurants, loung- es and lobbies – anyplace where criminal activity might occur.
On-site security personnel regularly noticed common behavior- al patterns among offenders, cheaters, and fraudulent employees. However, taking action against such behaviors was more reactive than proactive before intelligent video solutions came along.
Security in casinos has progressed from pit bosses watching over the games with their own eyes, to surveillance solutions that incorporate on-board analytics to achieve enhanced monitoring; helping casinos turn their surveillance footage into actionable business intelligence.
Delivering Data
These analytics deliver data that can drive intelligent monitor- ing for casinos, helping operators understand guest behavior patterns, determine the busiest, and slower, times of the day, which games are more regularly visited, and more. Managers may decide where to place staff depending on traffic. Heat maps and flow patterns have the potential to distinguish where casino guests spend most of their time and how they move through the casino, allowing the casino designers to optimize the layout to maximize participation.
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