Cherokee Nation Entertainment (CNE) is the gaming and hospitality arm of the Cherokee Nation, operating multiple casinos and hotels across northeast Oklahoma, including the prestigious Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa.

Concerned that their security team was spending an overly large number of person-hours reviewing video recordings searching for a single person of interest, CNE sought to reduce the time it took to review security footage, so their security team could remain focused on proactive tasks, and optimize their day-today efficiency. CNE also wanted to obtain and assess accurate data on occupancy and visitor trends for business intelligence purposes. Furthermore, CNE wanted to be alerted to security-related events in real-time, in order to handle security issues as they developed.

CNE selected savVi, Agent Vi’s on-premise video analytics solution, due to the wide range of video analytics capabilities that savVi offers. More than 1,000 savVi licenses were purchased, allowing cameras at CNE’s 10 Oklahoma-based casinos to be enabled with different combinations of real-time event detection, video search and business intelligence capabilities.

CNE utilizes the video search capability most widely – to enable rapid search through the surveillance video to pinpoint events of interest – and therefore video search capabilities are enabled on the majority of cameras at the sites. Business intelligence capabilities are mostly deployed around the various gaming machines, and at entrance and exit points, to show traffic patterns and real-time people counts. Real-time event detection capabilities are used largely for the high-security areas to ensure that CNE’s security team is informed regarding situations, as they unfold.

The savVi solution is deployed through integration with a range of Axis network cameras, using a Milestone VMS.

There is a prevailing need for the casinos to be able to swiftly locate specific events within masses of footage, and the solution allows for verification of personal injury claims by customers who may be trying to defraud the casino. Previously, the security team’s time was heavily occupied by observing hours of footage in search of a specific person or incident. The solution now enables CNE to run the search automatically, allowing more effective use of the operators’ time, and reduced search time from as much as 16 hours for a single search down to a matter of minutes.

The solution also allows CNE to gather and analyze essential business intelligence data on occupancy and visitor trends. It delivers accurate headcounts, meaning that the security team is constantly aware of how many people are on-site and using the casino facilities. This provides essential knowledge in the case of an emergency where a facility might need to be evacuated, and also helps prevent over-crowding.

Using heat mapping capabilities, CNE has knowledge of which areas of the casino are more heavily populated and at what times. CNE can then leverage the data collected in a number of ways, including negotiating leasing deals for externally-owned casino equipment and knowing which internal locations require heavier investment of machines and personnel. This puts CNE well ahead of its competitors, as it is one of the first gaming companies to employ business intelligence through video analytics.

“It was the solution’s swift and effective video search that caught CNE’s attention when searching for an enhanced security solution, in particular due to the automated query ability,” says Joshua Anderson, Director of Surveillance and Technology, Cherokee Nation Entertainment. “We have been extremely impressed with the capabilities and the quality of its performance, and fully expect it to increase efficiencies and provide true ROI, which will have a major impact on the bottom line.”