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Hotels & Hospitality

USD$1bn casino operator charts secure path to growth with futureproof, advanced surveillance

  • IndustryLeisure and hospitality
  • CustomerStarlit Casino & Resort
  • RegionMontenegro
  • IDIS Partners Volga Electronics Ltd.

Background

Leading Balkans casino operator, known for hospitality and service, continues impressive expansion

Growing casino operator Merit International is known for its hospitality and outstanding customer service. The USD$1bn company operates nine hotels and 11 casinos in Northern Cyprus, Croatia, and Bulgaria, and opened the five star Starlit Hotel Residences & Casino nestled in the heart of Montenegro‘s beautiful resort of Budva in 2023.

The 2,500 square meter Starlit resort is Merit’s third and most ambitious development in the country. As well as a penthouse-level gaming area with stunning sea views, the Starlit features a major hotel complex, private residences, and luxury guest facilities – all requiring advanced video technology to ensure efficient services, security and guest safety.

Challenge

Video tech needed to address twin challenges of customer service and crime prevention

Merit International wanted to ensure the highest level of guest satisfaction by providing a safe, secure, and welcoming environment. This included optimizing back-of house services, identifying insider threats using discrete video surveillance, while ensuring the highest level of security as well as integrity and trust on the gaming floor.

The operator needed complete 24/7 visibility over gaming tables and public areas; guaranteed fault-free image capture and recording of HD video footage; and the most efficient real time monitoring and management tools for multiple users.

The company also wanted a low total cost of ownership (TCO) and flexibility designed-in, particularly regarding the future use of deep learning video analytics, which are being assessed for adoption across all Merit locations. So, a modular approach was needed that would make it easy for the surveillance solution to be adapted and expanded, and for new AI functions to be added. The IDIS Türkiye office, led by Koray Ozyildirim, worked in collaboration with its trusted integration partner, Volga Electronics Ltd. Koray highlighted IDIS’s proven track record in the casino sector which resulted in IDIS technology being specified as the preferred solution, and the contract was successfully awarded to Volga.

Solution

IDIS end-to-end solution provides 24/7 HD view of all casino activities – with advanced AI capabilities to be added

The IDIS video solution delivered by Volga Electronics ensures HD coverage of the entire hotel and casino, allowing real time monitoring of the entire resort. AI-powered analytics for people counting and heat maps are being tested, and the IDIS infrastructure will make it easy to roll out additional analytics features as they are needed.

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The enterprise-class ISS VMS management software provides a powerful platform for Starlit’s surveillance operations with features including simultaneous multi stream live view and recording, administration and management of all devices and IDIS Critical Failover to protect against a range of fault conditions to ensure a full record of events.
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Volga installed more than 90 new NDAA-compliant cameras, including 5MP IR domes and mini-PTZs with true WDR; four 64- servers with dual power; plus, all network accessories including specialist surveillance keyboards
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Operators benefit from functions including IDIS Smart UX controls featuring intuitive ‘rubberband’ and ‘slingshot’ making it easy to seamlessly follow suspicious individuals in real-time by panning images at different speeds and directions.
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ISS also supports integration with the casino’s ERP software, with transaction data overlaid on recorded video for efficient incident investigation.
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ISS federation services are set to create a centralized management environment and provide situational awareness across the operator’s casinos and resorts.
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Starlit has the assurance of proven IDIS cybersecurity protection; and meets GDPR requirements, with dynamic video privacy masking, allowing footage to be easily exported without privacy infringement.

Results and benefits

Detailed, smooth monitoring, with business intelligence for competitive advantage

As well as ensuring the safety and satisfaction of guests, the end-to-end IDIS surveillance solution is a powerful deterrent that makes it easy to identify suspicious transactions and activity.

Significantly, the solution opens new routes to harnessing AI-powered video analytics, for example with people counting analytics which can help to improve staff and resource allocation as well as take a more proactive approach to security.

The casino already has data collection systems, yet IDIS video heat maps can provide a unique extra layer of business intelligence – crucially, for example, allowing directional footfall and dwell time metrics to be compared to customer spending patterns; and revealing the most-used areas where customers are likely to occupy their time even when they are not spending money. This additional level of insight will give managers the confidence to change the positioning of gaming tables and slot machines, improve the utilization of guest services, target promotions, and perfect the overall casino floor and resort experience.

 

" As we continue to expand and build Merit International’s reputation for excellence, we are delighted with the value and performance of IDIS video solutions. IDIS gives us the best surveillance capabilities now, and the flexibility to adapt and take advantage of new AI video functions as our security, safety, and business intelligence needs evolve."

 


Mr. Malik Oğuz
Surveillance Director, Merit International