13,000 staff, 450,000 square-feet, and 1,700 doors - protecting what matters in Asia

City of Dreams, Macau, is a casino and resort complex that is known to be one of the world’s premier entertainment and leisure destinations. It trusts Gallagher to protect what matters most with its security requirements. Who knew when the Gallagher story started in 1938 that the business would go on to secure palaces to prisons, government buildings to world HQs, and so much more?

The complex brings together a collection of world-renowned hotel brands, including Crown, Grand Hyatt, and Hard Rock, along with a casino area of approximately 448,000 square-feet and over 20 restaurants and bars. Also comprising an audio visual multimedia experience, and ‘The House of Dancing Water’ - the world’s largest water-based extravaganza showcased in the purpose-built Dancing Water Theater.

These unique and innovative entertainment, shopping, food and beverage offerings realise the company’s vision of bringing world-class integrated resort and entertainment experiences to Macau and Asia.

Along with Gallagher's award-winning solution suite, City of Dreams resonated strongly with our values. At the core of Gallagher's values are 'We trust one another' and 'We respect all voices' - and they also extend to 'We are creative problem-solvers, 'We help each other to grow', 'We share knowledge freely', 'We build lasting relationships' and 'We're committed to a better tomorrow'.

With a large site encompassing multiple areas and a staff of approximately 13,000, Melco Resorts was looking for a robust security solution capable of protecting high-value assets while providing a reliable and flexible system to support daily operations. In the years leading up to the opening of City of Dreams, Gallagher worked directly alongside Melco Resorts, and security partner Certis Security, during the design and construction phases. The Gallagher team were highly involved in discussions and developments relating to software customisations and the final commissioning of critical security areas.

Among the 1,300-strong group of people at #TeamGallagher are more than 200 product development specialists spanning the likes of software and hardware. Gallagher also has a dedicated in-market team based throughout Asia, with a regional site operating out of Hong Kong.

Future-proofing was an important consideration of the security solution. “City of Dreams needed a system that catered well to growth, particularly in the areas of people management and access control. Gallagher provided us with the highly integrated and expansive platform we were looking for,” said Kelly Billups, Director of Security Technology & Administration for Melco Resorts.

Part of the City of Dreams philosophy from day one was to operate a one-card, single service entity per staff member - not only for high-level security but across all system requirements. According to Billups, a lot of decisions around system choice were based on meeting the one-card philosophy. Utilising MIFARE Classic® card technology, 1700 access controlled doors were set up across the complex.

The Gallagher system provides rapid response times to access requests ensuring the efficient movement of people in and out of areas. The instant dissemination of cardholder access and configuration data also ensures people have appropriate access delivered in real time. If cardholder access needs to be denied, this information is communicated and applied instantly across the site.

In order to provide Melco Resorts with an audit trail of security events, all site activity is logged in a secure database. In addition to door access activity, 5300 detection points are also monitored throughout the complex. Reports are generated using a simple wizard-based system which steers the report generator through a step-by-step process ensuring the relevant data is retrieved. The City of Dreams site required integration with a number of external systems and Gallagher’s Command Centre central management software provided the platform to deliver this.

Melco Resorts and Gallagher maintain an ongoing relationship which brings together Melco Resorts evolving requirements and Gallagher’s product development road map. “The relationship is key for us,” said Billups, “having a team based in the region who meet with us regularly, and having a level of engagement over development is very important”.

As a company, Gallagher is dedicated to investing in the research & development of new technology. We'll be right there with the team at City of Dreams, ensuring they've always got best-in-class security.

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