With such a massive edifice
to be a temporary home to many of the world's most influential people, management
knew that watching over the hotel would be an important job. A surveillance
system would be needed to help protect customers and assets as well as to control
access. A major objective would be to monitor anti-social elements from disrupting
the hotel and its guests.
"While cameras have
proven to be a deterrent to crime, we needed them to be at their best when used
to monitor customers in this hotel," emphasizes Parag Vadodaria, CEO of
Dubai-based Zio Technologies, LLC, the security integrator for the Rose Rayhaan
by Rotana. "Visitors see the cameras and assume someone is monitoring them.
Used properly, they prove to be a great enhancement to security and loss prevention.
For instance, cameras used to monitor the front desk may help reduce the number
of hostile entries and anti-social activities in and around a hotel such as
Rose Rayhaan by Rotana would typically experience."
According to Vadodaria,
because of the prestigious location, Zio needed to work with a brand of cameras
and other video equipment that would provide a complete solution tailored to
the premises. Zio especially wanted to make sure the system would not limit
the number of cameras the hotel's surveillance solution needed. They also wanted
the flexibility to remotely monitor over either LAN or WAN, having complete
freedom to select their transmission medium of choice.
Today, the system is comprised
of 47 pan-tilt-zoom, 143 fixed and 246 dome Infinova cameras. Among these cameras
are high resolution day/night models. The cameras capture all patron areas of
the hotel and are networked so that the hotel's dedicated security staff can
operate them from a central location. The system also includes a 2TB hard drive
that holds 31 days of recordings.
"The cameras perform
many duties," says Daniel Mathew, Rose Rayhaan by Rotana general manager.
"The cameras at the front desk reduce article theft, including stopping
pickpockets, and are a very useful way to detect credit card fraud and manage
alcohol-induced problems. Cash register shortages are minimized and we have
decreased driveway issues by identifying entrants.
"An added benefit is
that we can burn a CD of an event and immediately provide evidence to both the
police and our archives," adds Mathew. "Another plus of the system
is that we don't need a player or playback software because an autoplay CD is
automatically created with the relevant footage."
Storing and Transmitting
Video Was Not a Problem
It was determined that the Rose Rayhaan by Rotana would need 2 TB of storage
to record 16 video channels running at the specified frame rate. With eight
SATA slots available in the Infinova DVR, it provides the flexibility to have
disk capacity as high as 8 TB versus the typical offering of only 1 TB with
most systems. When the hotel wants or needs more storage, that challenge has
already been solved.
Local law also demands that
RG 59 coaxial cable be used to carry the video signal from the cameras to the
Infinova DVRs, matrixes and monitors. At present, the system is analog but anytime
the Rose Tower decides to migrate to an IP-based system, the addition of Infinova
encoders to the present cameras will make the switchover easy.
For the time being, other security systems, such as the access control system,
intruder alarm system and parking barrier system are all standalone.
"In case the need arises,
they also can be integrated with the Infinova solution using alarm followers
and other Infinova devices," assures Zio's Vadodaria. "For instance,
if the hotel wants, the camera installed at the parking barriers and other parking
area cameras can be implemented and integrated as an Automatic Number Plate
Facility (license plate recognition) for better management of the parking area."
"With this system as
a foundation, we have so many ways that we can enhance security here at the
hotel," adds Mathew. "We are confident that anything we need is technologically
possible."