Black Oak Casino Resort Hits the Jackpot with Video Surveillance
Protecting casino assets isn’t just good business for the Black Oak Casino Resort; it’s also mandated by law. The casino, located on tribal land owned by the Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians in Tuolumne, CA, spans 164,000 square feet of just gaming and entertainment operations. Black Oak Casino has over 700 surveillance cameras on the gaming area, not only to ensure guest safety and casino security, but also to comply with state and Federal regulations. The sheer number of cameras means that the casino requires a reliable network in order to keep the cameras online.
“Policies, procedures, and regulations state that we have to monitor cash drops and financial transfers via video, as well as have 24/7 surveillance on the tables, and record possible liabilities like slip and falls,” said Edewaa Foster, Gaming Commissioner.
The initial solution that Black Oak Casino Resort chose proved to be a bad bet right out of the box. The only thing consistent about the network was that it failed, like clockwork, about every seven days.
“In between,” stated Dave Menendez, IS Coordinator at Black Oak, “we had a lot of video loss, recording loss, and slow camera response — and everything cycled down from there… We had to constantly reboot switches because of crashes.”
The solution was failing and not allowing Black Oak Casino Resort to protect tribal assets. “We even had to have our surveillance agents go down on the floor to monitor tables, and it really risked us being in noncompliance with regulatory standards,” Foster recalled. “It put me on the edge of my seat.”
Because video surveillance is a critical piece of the casino’s regulatory compliance program, the team was desperate for a solution. Black Oak Casino Resort’s system integrator was just as frustrated with the current switches and asked if the organization would consider another manufacturer. That led to the installation of two Virtual Services Platforms (VSPs) 7024s and 28 Ethernet Routing Switches (ERS) 4850s. In addition, a slightly different network architecture was configured, one that was more of a “spider web” concept to optimize the flow of video surveillance network traffic.
Challenges
- Create Stable Backbone for Video Surveillance System
- Protect Tribal Assets
- Ensure Compliance with State and Federal Regulations
"We went from a system that sent us in the zone to fear the worst to something that is not only stable but surpassed my expectations."
With a new network structure mapped and new switches installed, Black Oak Casino Resort braced itself for the cutover. However, switching to the new infrastructure proved to be remarkably pain-free. “Cutover was a lot more smooth than we thought it would be,” Foster said. After a few small tweaks, the system was running smoothly on the Extreme switches. Out of the gate, the Black Oak Casino Resort team was very pleased with the new equipment and network.
“The reliability and performance difference between the two networks was like night and day,” Foster recalls. “We went from a system that sent us in the zone to fear the worst to something that is not only stable but surpassed my expectations. The way the network performs is amazing.”
“The responsiveness of our cameras is remarkable,” states Menendez. “When you move a joystick, it actually moves the camera — instantly.”
Essentially, the 700-plus cameras feed data via the switches through a core. That allows for recording and surveillance of casino activities.
Troubleshooting video surveillance problems has become much easier. Black Oak Casino Resort’s team can quickly pinpoint whether any problem is related to a switch or a camera, and even remotely access the camera for maintenance purposes.
Foster pegged the stability of the new system to be near 100 percent — a substantial improvement over the generously-estimated 50 percent stability of the old switches. It’s also much more responsive, allowing the surveillance team to move cameras and pan quickly to
areas of note using joysticks in the control room. “I felt a big weight lifted off my shoulders,” Foster said. “I no longer went to bed at night worried about a possible violation or a phone call at 2 AM.”
Extreme Solutions
- Virtual Services Platform 7024
- Ethernet Routing Switches 4000 Series
Results
- Doubled Surveillance Viewing Capability
- Dramatically Increased Uptime
- Ability to Upgrade to Handle All Property Surveillance
- Peace of Mind