The Client
The River Rock Casino and Resort opened for business in June 2004, with the hotel portion opened in August 2005. River Rock is the first resort-style casino to be built in Western Canada, and is one of the newest resort and casino combinations in the Great Canadian family, which includes seven casinos and one horseracing track. River Rock features 1,000 slot machines, 70 table games and Canada's largest Poker Room.
The Situation
Doug Gilroy and Mark Bayrock of Advanced Audio Concepts, a Vancouver-based systems integrator, were given free reign to design, install and operate River Rock's complex surveillance system. Because of a trusting relationship between the casino and the Advanced Audio team, Gilroy had freedom to design the system with several unique aspects, such as smaller node points for more effective video signal transmission, the use of video balun technology to integrate quickly, and an innovative design in the tech room that makes it easier for the operator to spot problems. The integrators also had a long-standing relationship with Honeywell and chose to use Honeywell products almost exclusively throughout the installation.
The Solution
Using a mix of Honeywell products, from the DVR and matrix switcher, to the hard drives and software, to the panels and the cameras, Gilroy and Bayrock constructed a security system that is second to none. Gilroy, Bayrock and their team of 10 had 30 days to integrate 600 cameras. To help speed up the installation process, they had the equipment preconfigured, pre-racked and pre-cabled in an offsite facility. The River Rock facility was originally constructed for 1,100 cameras, but Gilroy and Bayrock wired it for 2,500 cameras, leaving room for expansion. They couldn't use traditional coaxial cable or conductor power wire because it was too cumbersome, Gilroy said. Instead, they used video balun technology to bring the video signal back to the tech room. They designed a video balun in conjunction with Honeywell's KD6 camera and MuxLab that allowed video signal transmission over standard category 5 cable to the node point.
The Benefits
The River Rock team worked closely with Honeywell, who allowed them to make suggestions and resolve any issues with the equipment. For example, Honeywell re-configured the system's hard drives after Gilroy and Bayrock found ways the equipment could work better for the installation.
"We have a lot of trust built with Honeywell. With their help, we were able to make the improvements and updates to the software we were using." Mark Bayrock, Advanced Audio Concepts
The installation was ultimately a success because Gilroy and Bayrock were with the project since the planning stages began. Unlike the many installations, Gilroy likes the fact that he and his team are present every step of the way. "In many installations, there's no continuity between the designer, the system and the operator of the system. In this facility, the onus of design was put on us, from inception to creation," Gilroy said. "It's rare when the integrator is also the designer, and operator of the system, and also has such a good relationship with the parent corporation. We end up with a better quality product based on the way we do it, we do it well the first time because we know we're going to be the ones operating the system over the long haul."
