LAS VEGAS--Although construction of the new Echelon Resorts has stalled due to the current lending situation, the company continues to plan the facility's IP security solution, which may potentially include up to 4,000 cameras.

Echelon's complex, which is being built on the former Stardust site, will be made up of five hotels, a convention center, a theater and a retail space. In its second quarter results, Boyd Gaming, the parent company of Echelon, said it expects to resume construction when "credit market conditions and the overall outlook for the economy improve."

For now, planning for its IP-based security system continues.

"The decision was made in the beginning to go with IP from beginning to end," said Karenne Smith, a consultant with Sierra Intelligence Technologies working on the project. She admitted that the transition from analog to digital in the gaming environment is slow, and some experts have placed blame on the Nevada Gaming Commission. But Smith said the NGC is "trying to figure out how to not put obstacles in front of us. You have to meet their standards, but if you can exceed those with better cameras, by all means."

At Echelon's mammoth complex, there will be two networks -- one that will be used for non-surveillance business and another dedicated to security and surveillance operations only. The first phase of the security installation will be used to secure the construction site. Smith said Echelon chose Axis cameras with H.264 compression as "the savings in storage is phenomenal; about 40 to 50 percent."

Smith said what also propelled the decision to move to IP was the fact that the resort did not want to be roped into a proprietary solution. "We want to have an open system," she said. "We are not ruling out what comes in the future."

But the number one factor was being able to integrate its access control with its video system. "If we have a door open, we needed to focus on that door," she said. ""The data coming from the door needs to be tied to the metadata on the video file."

Miles Cowan, chief technology officer at Insight Video Net, said it is critical that systems are able to integrate multiple sensors, such as RFID, access control and video analytics, to be able to effectively manage video and expand its capabilities as an organization grows.

Video at Echelon will be managed from a centralized surveillance center and security viewing room. Other security areas will be located throughout the resort, in the convention center for example, as the facility "is so big we can't have everyone located in the third floor." Surveillance and security teams will be able to share video even if they are in separate operation centers.

As part of its security and surveillance program, the resort will also be installing a command and control system from Genetec, software from Insight Video Net, networks from Cisco and video analytics from AgentVi.