The original system, installed in 2008, integrates CCTV, access control, intrusion detection, panic alarms and electronic point of sale (EPOS) into a single unified system that transformed the casino’s operation. The surveillance system has now been further expanded to cover the new resort hotel complex opened at the end of 2010. The original solution and the new expansion were designed and installed by Indigovision’s authorised partner, Reliable Security Sound & Data.

“The job that Indigovision and Reliable Security have done for us is excellent, creating what we believe to be one of the most advanced casino surveillance systems in the world. It has become a technology showcase, with a number of other casino operators visiting our operation to view the technology in action,” said Ray Bowman, the Mohican Gaming Commission’s Director of Surveillance.

Known as the ‘Midwest's Friendliest Casino’, North Star Mohican Casino Resort is owned and operated by the Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band Of The Mohican Indians. The resort hotel consists of 97 rooms, a new main entrance, several conference suites, spa, an additional Star Club, poker room, coffee/gift shop, more gaming space, 57 site RV park and other hotel amenities. At the end of 2011, ground breaking will begin for a new conference and entertainment centre.

“It was apparent to us in the early stages of the project’s implementation that we were embracing a flexible surveillance technology that had been engineered for the future, but was ready to go right now,” added Bowman. “Indigovision’s scalable technology was an ideal fit for the multi-phase expansion plans of the casino, providing a platform that could easily accommodate new cameras when the resort hotel was added.”

Over 180 new cameras have been added to the hotel complex, which are monitored in the existing surveillance control room, together with the casino’s original 450+ cameras. Operators use ‘Control Center’, Indigovision’s video management software (VMS) to view live video, analyse recorded footage and manage alarms from all of the other integrated systems. The new cameras are a combination of fixed and PTZ units, including an Indigovision high definition (HD) IP camera installed in the parking lot to record license plates.

"Since the original install the Indigovision system has been rock solid, with no failures or incidents of any kind,” added Bowman. “The video quality is second to none, with crystal clear images whether viewing at 15 fps or 30 fps or even fast forwarding through video - it’s all clearly visible.”

The majority of the cameras are analogue, which are converted to digital video using Indigovision encoder modules. This is achieved without any frames being lost, whatever the level of motion and activity in the camera scene – a guarantee unique to Indigovision. This is a fundamental requirement of the Mohican Gaming Commission. Any dropped frames within a video clip could hide fraudulent or criminal activity and make any customer disputes more difficult to resolve.

The casino is using real-time analytics, which run at the network edge in the Indigovision encoder modules. Analysing video at the camera makes the system faster and more scalable. As with alarms from the other security systems, analytics automatically alert operators to events as they happen. This helps the casino to better manage the monitoring of 600+ cameras and improves response times to incidents. For example, the virtual tripwire analytic function is helping to protect storage rooms. When anybody enters the storeroom the tripwire is triggered and the camera view is automatically displayed to the operators and an alarm is raised to draw attention to the event.