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Dec 1, 2007 12:00 PM

Oklahoma’s Wyandotte Nation Casino uses Panasonic surveillance systems

When the Wyandotte Nation Casino in Wyandotte, Okla., was designing a security and surveillance system for its new casino, Scott Garrette, director of information services, knew he wanted a system that would surpass the requirements of the State Gaming Commission. Garrette also wanted a system that would provide the casino with heightened security and safety features. He wanted the cameras and dome systems throughout the interior and exterior of the facility to be visible to clientele in order to instill a sense of safety and to deter possible criminal activity. He wanted a system that would allow monitoring and control of the nearby Lucky Turtle Casino, the Wyandotte Nation's first gaming facility, to eliminate equipment and staffing redundancies. Finally, Garrette wanted a feature-rich system that is scalable for future expansion.

Garrette found such a video surveillance and recording system from Panasonic, Secaucus, N.J., configured and installed by SMC Electric Supply, Springfield, Mo. “Overall, the Panasonic video surveillance solution provides us with system capabilities that are more dynamic and less labor-intensive,” Garrette says. “Specifically, Panasonic's video surveillance system allows us to manage cameras, image processing, storage and retrieval in a more automated fashion, which greatly improves the efficiency of our security and surveillance operations.”

Proven technology and design

The Wyandotte Nation Casino, owned and operated by the Wyandotte Tribal Corp., opened for business in April 2007. Located approximately 1,600 feet away from the Wyandotte Nation's Lucky Turtle Casino, the new property offers 20,000 sq. ft. of gaming space with 541 slot machines and electronic games, eight blackjack tables, three poker tables and a five-table poker room.

Like many of today's casino projects, the design and installation of the video surveillance and security system was on a very tight schedule. “I was handed the project by Dennis Pontiere, president and CEO of Wyandotte Tribal Corp. in August 2006 and was instructed to get the project done. All we had at that time was the floor plan and some general ideas as to where the games would be located,” Garrette says. “SMC worked closely with Panasonic to develop a system design, which we knew would have to be slightly modified on the fly as construction moved forward. For the most part, the design was on the money, but we did change and add cameras in a few locations.”

Not convinced that a networked IP system was right for the new casino because of potential bandwidth and control issues, SMC and Garrette agreed early on to pursue a hybrid system. SMC came back to the Wyandotte Nation Casino's management staff with a system built on Panasonic analog cameras, digital video recorders, plasma displays, system controllers and a matrix switcher.

“When we presented the final designs, everyone involved in the project had complete confidence that the system would work - no problem,” says Richard Rojas, data communications specialist, SMC.

Imaging makes the difference

A variety of Panasonic camera systems were selected based on image quality and coverage capabilities, including Panasonic's WV-CW964 weatherproof outdoor dome system with Super Dynamic III (SDIII) imaging technology, WV-CS954 SDIII unitized indoor camera with 30X zoom, WV-CW484S and WV-CW474AS SDIII vandal-proof dome cameras and the WV-CF244EX and WV-CF284 DSP mini-dome cameras with adaptive black stretch (ABS) technology. According to Garrette, camera selections were heavily influenced by Panasonic's Super Dynamic III (SDIII) technology and DSP (Digital Signal Processing) ABS technology.

“The biggest advantage of SDIII cameras is how they adjust to various lighting conditions within a single scene without the loss of image quality,” Garrette says. “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. We also really like that our SDIII dome systems can perform tracking functions and can be programmed and adjusted through the controller without having to physically adjust the units.”

“The image quality from our Panasonic SDIII cameras is as good as megapixel cameras at a fraction of the cost,” Garrette continues. “The system is cost-efficient because of the cameras' zoom capability and resolution.”

Designed to grow in scale

With more than 235 cameras, it's 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. 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, Garrette and his staff maintain close watch over all activities. Images from the cameras are controlled and routed using Panasonic's Matrix System 850 and recorded on a bank of 40 Panasonic WJ-RT208 DVRs. The matrix system provides scalable input and output capacities, is highly programmable and offers extensive 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 Panasonic's 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. At the Lucky Turtle Casino, the previous matrix switcher had been incapable of expansion and offered limited programmable functions.

System cameras, pre-programmed matrix switching functions and DVR functions can all be controlled with Panasonic's versatile WV-CU650 System Controller. Pan, tilt and zoom functions are easily performed via the controller's joystick while matrix control functions are accessible through an array of user-defined buttons. The unit also features a jog dial and shuttle ring to provide quick control of every search operation and system setting with one-touch access to record, play and search functions.

After the video surveillance system at the new casino was up and running, SMC tied the cameras from the adjacent Lucky Turtle Casino into the Panasonic Matrix System 850 using a fiber-optic backbone to carry video signals and bidirectional data without signal degradation over the long run between facilities. This configuration has eliminated redundant staffing costs and allowed management to monitor and operate a more cohesive system.

“It's a team effort. We have good communication between the security officers and the surveillance operators,” Garrette says.

In addition to the central command and control room, the Panasonic video surveillance system can be monitored and controlled from satellite locations, including the Oklahoma Gaming Commission, which has a representative on site.

DVRs add to system benefits

Although the casino is located in Oklahoma, and not Las Vegas or Atlantic City, it is still targeted by the same criminal elements that plague any gaming operation, Garrette and SMC's Rojas point out. To aid efforts to review and analyze incidents, the casino records all camera footage at a full 30 frames per second (fps) on Panasonic WJ-RT208 DVRs, each featuring 3 TB of onboard memory.

“We wanted the best recorded image quality possible so we went with everything live and in real time,” Garrette says. “We also exceed the standard for archiving the footage by keeping it for 21 days.”

Rojas says he recommended the Panasonic DVRs because of their storage capacity and scalability for future system expansion.

According to Garrette, everyone is very pleased with the performance of the Panasonic video surveillance system, and the equipment has performed flawlessly. This reaction is echoed by the surveillance manager for the Wyandotte Nation Casino who says, “The system performs very well. It's a good system and the only thing I would like to add is a few more monitors.”

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