NEXT-GEN CASINO SURVEILLANCE: IT MANAGERS
Video surveillance done properly improves the IT manager’s sleep
Many IT managers in casino operations still see video surveillance as a completely separate issue from IT operations. However, a closer look and understanding the “IT-impact” of modern video technology offers advantages for everyone involved.
A
s is well known, things develop more dynamically in high tech than in other areas. In this respect, IT and video surveillance differ little from
each other. But it makes it all the more important for both classic surveillance managers and IT managers to have their finger on the pulse of the times in order to be able to assess developments and make the right decisions.
The IT-triple: more security, less complexity and lower cost
Of course, the situation is different in each casino: While in one company the strategy is to place the surveillance issue entirely in the IT department, in another casino it may be the right model to leave as much autonomy as possible to the surveillance colleagues. But regardless of whether the end result is the complete embedding of surveillance in IT or whether security continues to be operated completely separately: there have been numerous technical and non- technical developments in video surveillance in recent years that are worth to be understood and which provide tangible advantages for the three key properties every IT manager is looking for: More cybersecurity, less complexity and lower overall costs.
Security is the number one IT concern – also in casino environments
Modern video surveillance solutions are almost exclusively IP-based. This has many advantages, but also one major disadvantage: video technology is “by design” just as vulnerable as other network- based systems. IT decision-makers are therefore well advised to at least participate
40 DECEMBER 2022
Choosing the right video surveillance technology helps IT managers in many ways: more security, less complexity and lower cost Photo credit: Dallmeier electronic
in the technology decisions of their security colleagues. How are systems technically secured? Are there the security precautions known from the IT world, from protection against hacker attacks to the possibility of separating the networks even within the video system, e.g. to separate cameras and recording, to forcing strong passwords and the like? What about the geographical origin of the systems – do they come from countries with a constitutional framework or is there a danger of accidental or deliberate “backdoors” into the systems through intervention by autocratic governments?
How many devices does surveillance really need?
Linked to the cybersecurity aspect, but primarily associated with cost, is the issue of complexity. It is not uncommon for IT managers, when talking to their security colleagues, to come across a whole series of procedures and set technology “truths” that are seemingly unalterable, but above all cause complexity and thus high costs and risks. A classic example is the adherence to the so-called “PTZ” (Pan Tilt Zoom) technology for the general gaming floor surveillance. These allow the operator to change the field of view as desired and to zoom in and out of certain areas. The
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