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This past October, New York saw the opening of Resorts World Casino New York City (NYC), its first legalized gambling

“racino” located at Aqueduct Race-track in Queens, just across the Belt Parkway from JFK Int’l Airport. An ex-isting building at the racetrack was gut-ted in order to create the impressive 400,000-square-foot casino. Part of the project included installing a digital vid-eo surveillance and recording system as required by the New York Lottery

(NYL) to protect not only the patrons but also the casino’s significant cash as-sets and expensive materials.

Resorts World NYC is a state-of-the-art facility that offers patrons 5,000 vid-eo slot machines and electronic games throughout two levels tagged as Times Square (first floor) and Fifth Avenue (second floor). In addition, the casino has 18 food and beverage outlets includ-ing a food court, two fine-dinig restau-rants, four VIP lounges, and two bars with views of a circular stage showing a

variety of entertainment acts. The third floor has banquet and event space as Genting Group looks to expand Resorts World NYC and introduce a convention center by 2014. Genting is the world’s largest destination resort operator with more Resorts World-branded proper-ties in Malaysia, Singapore and Manila.

Shawn Reader of Phoenix-based Se-curity Surveillance Consultants was brought in to oversee the entire $7.5 million procurement and installation process. He has more than 30 years’ ex-perience with a family-owned security

By the Editors of SECURITY SALES & INTEGRATION

Brand-new Resorts World Casino located in New York City is equipped with a state-of-the-art 1,500-channel IP HD video surveillance system. The project’s team tells how they put together one of America’s most advanced systems incorporating a fiber backbone and POS integration.

Resorts World’s World-Class Surveillance

InstallatIon Case study

integration business and has been in-volved in a range of casino projects, in-cluding Mandalay Bay and Bellagio in Las Vegas, and Pittsburgh’s Rivers Ca-sino. Reader worked hand-in-hand with John Medolla, surveillance director for Resorts World NYC, and Operations and Technical Manager Jason Arnett to spec-ify and select the equipment to be in-stalled in a three-phased process.

Platform Handles 1,500 CamerasFor a casino that sees $150 million a

week on average pass through the facil-

ity, choosing a state-of-the-art surveil-lance system was paramount. Based on the past experience of both Medol-la and Arnett, they selected a digital re-cording system from Synectics.

“The driving force behind Synectics being the system of choice for Resorts World New York was its reliable and flexible Synergy video management platform and user-friendly interface. Also a major factor in the decision was Synectics’ ability to create a cost-ef-fective, all HD-IP digital recording so-lution — the first of its kind in North America,” says Medolla.

Another important feature of the platform is Synergy’s ability to pull data from other third-party systems like point-of-sale (POS) or access con-trol. By integrating the video manage-ment system (VMS) to the casino’s Micros POS system, surveillance op-erators can easily review transactions within the recording platform and pro-vide evidentiary verification of suspi-cious transactions.

As for why Medolla and Arnett want-ed to go all IP, among the most impor-tant reasons was that it would deliver the highest quality video with the most current technology. It also enabled a space-saving solution by cutting out racks’ worth of analog gear while sig-nificantly simplifying cabling.

“Going all IP also streamlines future expansion because the infrastructure can be added to easily. It’s the differ-ence of running a single fiber to a new closet as opposed to running dozens to hundreds of new analog feeds or utiliz-ing expensive mux units,” says Arnett.

At the heart of the system’s IP infra-structure is a Cisco 4500 Series net-work switch. Covering the front (guest areas) and back of house (staff areas) for the three floors of the casino are a mix of Sanyo HD IP cameras. Internal cameras in the front of house monitor the cash assets and help protect against patron and employee theft. Exterior cameras are in place to ensure patron safety and mitigate property damage.

All of the cameras are 1,080p capa-ble and can record at 30 frames per sec-ond (fps). Of the 1,500 cameras installed, 300 are pan/tilt/zoom (p/t/z) and mount-

ed strategically throughout the casino to provide coverage of guest and employee areas, and enable visual mobility to track persons of interest or events throughout the gaming areas. The remaining fixed cameras are installed as required by NYL to cover the video lottery terminals and enable the required viewing of the asset number of each machine.

In addition to the digital recording system, a Cardax access control system was installed along with a Cheetah fire suppression system from Fike to pro-tect the surveillance control and equip-ment rooms. Access control was of particular concern to the surveillance team because there are two separate business entities operating on the same property. In addition to Resorts World Casino, the New York Racing Associa-tion runs the Aqueduct Racetrack.

As a result, the casino’s access con-trol system has five mantraps posi-tioned in critical areas of the facility and controls access to back of house areas for employee protection. Door contacts were also installed as well as hold-up alarms in the cash cages on the casino floor. Cardax alarms can be monitored by workstations in the secu-rity and surveillance departments (op-erating separately) as well as by NYL, which has a separate surveillance re-view station onsite.

All-IP HD Video Network Deployed

Synectics worked closely with the project consultant and end user to help design the network for Resorts World’s HD IP system.

“To design the network we had to determine the total number of cam-eras required in order to calculate the amount of data that the network would have to support every second,” says Daniel Haskell, network engineer for Synectics. “The final count of more than 1,500 streaming HD cameras, combined with the RAID-6 redundan-cy the customer wanted to implement, influenced the decision to design the network using the Cisco 4510 network switch at the core, with Cisco Catalyst 2960 PoE switches stacked in IDF clos-ets positioned throughout the facility.”

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Currently, there are 14 IDF closets and eventually there will be 20 when all three phases of the installation are complete later this spring.

“An all-IP deployment greatly sim-plifies the surveillance rack wiring by having a pair of fiber cables transport the data for hundreds of cameras ver-sus hundreds of twisted-pair feeds hav-ing to come in to a server room and be terminated,” adds Haskell.

As part of the construction, new mul-timode fiber was run throughout the facility back to the surveillance room to support the existing number of de-ployed cameras and allow for future ex-pansion as needed.

Unique System Design ChallengesAs mentioned earlier, before the new

casino could be constructed an exist-ing Aqueduct Racetrack building had to be cleared out to create two floors of gaming, an events center and a ground floor to accommodate back-of-house operations.

Reader spearheaded the design pro-cess for the surveillance and equip-ment rooms, providing input for the

location of walls, size of rooms, Win-sted console layout, etc. He present-ed design concepts based primarily on the end user’s desire to have ample square footage allotted to the surveil-lance room construction. Reader was also involved with camera installation and positioning throughout the facility as dictated by NYL regulations.

The control room is built on the first floor in the back of house. Unique to a typical casino surveillance room de-sign are the large glass windows be-tween the monitoring and equipment rooms that allow for viewing of the sur-veillance system. In addition to three desktop displays, each operator sta-

tion has four 19-inch monitors flanking a 60-inch display on a “smart” digital monitor wall, which uses a recording process that requires no extra inputs to track activity on the wall. There is a shift supervisor workstation in the cen-ter of the room, as well as a manager station in a private office — all with in-dividual review clients.

A challenging component of the sur-veillance installation was the require-ment by the state of New York to use union labor. This created a unique sce-nario where Reader and Arnett took on the directorial roles an integrator would typically have with this type of project.

Another difficult aspect of the proj-ect was the installation of cameras in a complex ceiling design that includ-ed soffits of varying heights. As the de-signs evolved and plans were modified, the original camera layout had to be al-tered to accommodate the fluctuations in the overall design. This resulted in swapping and repositioning of cameras.

“I was presented with several rede-signs that were required because of changing slot layouts, alterations to ceil-ing design and the varying heights in the ceiling,” says Reader. “It was my job to consider the regulatory requirements, as well as the needs of the surveillance environment and end user, and meld these together during the install.”

Delivering Results on DeadlineWhen the project began last July,

the immediate concern was provid-

securitysales.com • MARCH 201262

ResoRts WoRld CasIno suRveIllanCe

PROJECT: IP HD video surveillance system for Resorts World’s first North American casino venture in Queens, N.Y.

SOLUTION: 1,500+ channels of IP HD video recording with 1,080p capability on all cameras (including pan/tilt/zoom models recording at 30 fps across all channels); America’s first “smart” digital monitor wall recording process that requires no extra inputs to track activity on the monitor wall; POS integration; ability to integrate with access control system

COST: $7.5 million for surveillance system and installation

CONSULTANT: Shawn Reader, Security Surveillance Consultants Inc., Phoenix

◗ Case Study in Brief: Resorts World New York City

The complex ceiling design on Resort World NYC’s gaming floors required significant redesign and maneuvering of cameras in and around soffits of varying heights.

Resorts World Operations and Technical Manager Jason Arnett played a hands-on role working with the electrical and carpen-ter unions throughout the project.

Find it on the webFor this project’s equipment list,Visit securitysales.com/resortsworld.

Find it on the webFor this project’s equipment list,Visit securitysales.com/resortsworld.

ing camera coverage of the slot ma-chines once they had been delivered to the site to make sure they weren’t tam-pered with prior to installation. This re-quired setting up the core networking infrastructure in a temporary office to record 100 cameras until the surveil-lance area was completed.

Camera installation also had to pre-cede many aspects of the construction process, which meant certain areas had to be completed before cameras could be wired and installed. With the soft opening set for Oct. 28, 2011, Reader and Arnett knew it would be down to the wire to make the go-live date.

“We worked closely with both the electrician and carpenters’ unions and were able to navigate the tight dead-

lines by providing extra manpower on weekends and holidays,” says Reader. Arnett adds, “The fact that we were in-stalling in to what was essentially a new build helped reduce certain difficulties that could arise from retrofitting exist-ing space and equipment.”

Since the new surveillance system has been installed, Arnett reports that there have been a number of incidents where they were able to detain sus-pects while still on property because of the ability to play back video instan-taneously. There have also been a few situations where patrons have slipped

and fallen. The recorded video has been instrumental in both resolving those events and giving the risk man-ager the ability to correct problematic areas in the new casino to avoid similar occurrences in the future.

Overall, Medolla says they are very pleased with the system: “New opera-tors with no experience have been able to learn the Synergy platform within days and become proficient with minimal training. We are able to resolve incidents from the floor within minutes instead of hours because of the digital system. And, the high quality of the HD IP cameras has proven to be like nothing I’ve seen in my surveillance career. To be able to dis-cern facial features or small objects [i.e. someone putting something suspicious in their pocket] is extremely beneficial to our surveillance operation.” ■

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ResoRts WoRld CasIno suRveIllanCe

Synectics’ IP camera solution enabled a space-saving digital recording system and simplified rack wiring (a pair of fiber cables is able to transport the data for hundreds of cameras).

Resorts World’s Dream Team: John Medolla (right), surveillance director, and Jason Arnett, operations and technical manager, have a long history of working together in casino surveil-lance. Based on their joint experience, the Synectics’ video management platform and user interface was selected for its ease of use and reliability.

The control room’s “smart” digital monitor wall requires no extra inputs to track activity and features Winsted consoles for the shift supervisor and operator stations. In addition to desk-top displays, each station has four 19-inch monitors flanking a 60-inch center screen.