The Casino Bad Ragaz in Switzerland offers pleasant diversion in a unique setting. Embedded in the Grand Resort Bad Ragaz the casino captivates visitors with an appealing architecture and extraordinary design. The impressive play of water in front of the entrance already conveys to guests a taste of the exceptional things to come. Not quite as noticeable, yet no less impressive is the video system that provides for the safety of the guests. German CCTV/IP and casino specialist Dallmeier provided the necessary technology.

Deep in the wild and romantic Tamina gorge in Switzerland springs a source of hot thermal water. It is the heart of the Grand Resort Bad Ragaz, where guests from all over the world can enjoy a soothing combination of wellness, recreation and entertainment. The unique mix of luxurious hotel business, gastronomy, wellness with own thermal water, health, business and golf make the Grand Resort a distinctive and unique location.

The Casino Bad Ragaz, located in the middle of the beautiful grounds of the Grand Resort, offers excitement and diversion. It offers international live games in a traditional and exciting form: 4 desks with American Roulette, 3 desks for Black Jack and 2 Poker tables. Right next to the area of live games the choice of slot machines leaves nothing to be desired. Apart from state-of-the art slot machines such as Super Cherry and poker machines, two attractive jackpots and the bonus game Dragon Boat are waiting for gamblers. Culinary delicacies are served in a variety of restaurants such as the Olives d'Or or the Zollstube at the adjacent Hof Ragaz. Whether as a guest in one of the restaurants, as active player or rather as an interested spectator at the casino bar: The stay at the Casino Bad Ragaz will definitely be an unforgettable experience!

So that a great day at the casino is not impaired by negative events such as pickpocketing or arguments at the gambling table, a state-of-the-art video security system by Dallmeier ensures that any issues can immediately and conclusively be resolved.

Enhanced image quality through new CCTV system
The ceremonial opening of the Casino Bad Ragaz took place in December 2002, and from day one the casino cared for a comprehensive video surveillance. In the meantime, however, the system installed back then was no longer up to date. Also the Eidgenössische Spielbankenkommission (ESBK), the Swiss regulatory body for the gambling industry, imposed very high standards on the casino regarding image quality and recording.

Therefore, a new video system was needed, which naturally had to meet the highest requirements in regard to image quality and reliability. The management of the Casino Bad Ragaz were serious about the task and informed themselves extensively about all the solutions that are currently available. A visit to the Regensburg based developer and manufacturer Dallmeier eventually turned the balance and the casino decided to choose the products of the German company, which are used in casinos of all sizes around the world. Beat Scheuber, Director of the Casino Bad Ragaz, explains the decision: “We conducted some really thorough research and found that the solution offered by Dallmeier was the only one that could fulfil our requirements.”

Special casino cameras with the Dallmeier CasinoCam
The open system architecture of the Dallmeier solution allowed the casino to integrate most of the existing cameras into the new system. Wherever additional cameras were necessary, the casino decided to go with the Dallmeier PTZ dome cameras as well as the CasinoCam DF3000A, a high-resolution UWDR colour box camera with Cam_inPIX^® technology. Owing to a specifically developed software with proprietary Casino Presets (”Wheel”, ”Gambling”, ”Poker Table” and ”Slot Machine”) the camera is ideally suited for casino applications. Even under difficult lighting conditions it delivers clear, detailed and true-colour images without any blooming or smearing effects.

Recording with highest availability
Images are recorded on the Dallmeier DIS-2/M UTP, a one-channel audio and video encoder in modular design, and with recording capability and UTP video input. Besides the high availability of the recording (99.99994% - even better than the famous ”Five Nines”) the system also offers the possibility for Dual Streaming. Thereby, a different quality can be selected for the transmission of live images than is used for the recording.

The standards set by the ESBK regulators regarding the enhancement of the image quality could also be convincingly met. Whereas recordings were previously only made in CIF, the images are now recorded in D1 resolution. As is requested by Swiss law the recordings are stored for 28 days.

User-friendly management
Two workstations were set up for the control of the system, each equipped with a Video Management Centre VMC-1 “Eagle”. The modular VMC-1 comprises a monitor, keyboard, joystick and Jog Shuttle and is suited for both left- and right-handed operators. The interactive 6” TFT monitor with a resolution of 640 x 480 pixels allows for the display of live images as well as recorded image material. The Jog Shuttle is ideally suited for quickly finding certain individual pictures within a video sequence, while the joystick can be used to conveniently control PTZ cameras. Moreover, the joystick can also be used a mouse and thus enables an easy menu control.

Installation with no downtime
The migration to a new CCTV system is not always easy. After all, the entire system exchange has to be carried out without interrupting the daily casino business. In order to also fulfil legal requirements the old and the new system were operated simultaneously for 28 days. Subsequently, the casino switched to the new system completely and the old system was dismantled. During all that, the casino did not have to close its doors for even a minute.

The installation was carried out by Divinet GmbH, the Dallmeier Branch Office in Switzerland. Apart from the Dallmeier Project Team the Casino Bad Ragaz thus also has a direct contact in Switzerland who regularly checks if everything is in order following the installation of the system.

Beat Scheuber is satisfied: “We feel that Dallmeier and Divinet are conscientiously looking after us. After the installation of the system we are not left alone but always have a competent contact at our disposal.”