JOURNAL NOVEMBER 2009 NUMBER-06
Vigipack : 速
a complete, segmented and trailblazing product range Star 3000s migrate to Linux Groupe Carrus: 20 years by Spanish racecourses A partnership to serve betters SGCPM Bruxelles
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EDITORIAL
INTERNATIONAL
The security issue Security is a growing concern in distribution and service circuits, as ill intent, fraud and vandalism are closing in on teams, property and facilities. Cash transactions naturally involve even greater risks – as, of course, even tighter. Groupe Carrus sells high-performance security services, solutions and technology. Its traditional partnership w i t h h o rs e ra c i n g i n st i t u t i o n s , managing their bets and the associated IT systems, opened the door for it to carve out a key role in the banking universe via Vigipack ® . Vigipack ® is a global secure digital recording solution spanning a complete and segmented range. Video surveillance is growing into the essential security option – and Vigipack® is the leading supplier of video surveillance systems in the banking field. Firstly, it eases exposed team member stress. Secondly, as threats are chancing and becoming more complex nonstop, 100% dependable solutions to forestall are becoming the only viable option. Thirdly, public areas such as racecourses, private areas such as stores and pavement-front systems such as ATMs need different security solutions to work efficiently. Groupe Carrus’ various units - CPM Services, PMC Solutions and PMC Technologies work in sync to deliver power solutions that tackle these new issues. Jérôme and Pierre-Antoine Carrus Directeur de la publication : Jérôme Carrus Rédaction : Florence Rossollin, Marie Chasteau de Balyon Direction artistique : Raphaël Michon Maquette : Isabelle Achouri Coordination/Édition : Markcom Photos : Yann Pendaries, Nicolas Morison-Inra Romain Meunier, Raphaël Michon 30, rue des Petits-Hôtels F-75010 PARIS Tel 33 (0)1 42 46 89 11 www.groupecarrus.com
Groupe Carrus: 20 years by Spanish racecourses
San Sebastián racecourse during its well-known summer festival
Andalucía joined the PMU pool on 25 October last via the Equiniela network and via Basque operator HAHE. Groupe Carrus has been working with the Basque Country, handling its bets in its racecourse in San Sebastián since 1989, and its in-city network since 2005. Today, PMC is serving nearly every racecourse in Spain, as well as other horsecompetition venues, and has grown to play a prominent role with the institutions promoting and through the technology powering Spain’s horse-betting universe. Horse races in Spain have to deal with fierce competition from two fronts: football and bullfighting. There are only about 100 meetings a year, so Spain is not particularly a nation of horseracing buffs. But there is a hotspot where racegoers are especially enthusiastic: Euskadi (Basque for Basque country). Betting on horses is growing across that area. When PMCPV Director Julio Ocio met Jérôme Carrus in 1989, they had the same goal in mind. And the partnership they kicked off back then has proven flawless ever since. PMC technology serving Spain’s pari-mutuel system San Sebastián racecourse wanted to
automate its betting windows back in 1989 (they were practically all manual). As San Sebastián is near the French border and hence a stone’s throw from Biarritz and Pau racecourses, Julio Ocio was already familiar with French technology. Star 2000s moved into Spain that same year. They were locally connected to the Star 2004 central system. “It was a big change for us: it was a quantum leap in security and efficiency,” reminisces Julio Ocio. The team in San Sebastián started working with Groupe Carrus technical teams, in now racecourse technical director Javier Sanchez’ words, almost “daily.” Teamwork peaks during the 12-day of the summer festival, which CPM runs and
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The Moroccan PMU PMC Star 3000 system’s shift was a success
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which draw an average of €75,000 a day. Compact PMC 2015s and 2050 terminals have since been used to upgrade facilities in the Basque Country, and in six of Spain’s seven racecourses. The PMC Transformer (a betting terminal and self-service kiosk that is currently being certified) may play a prominent role in this process, as it is perfect for the Basque market where legislation only allows one terminal per point of sale. The PMC Tranformer, in other words, can most probably look forward to a radiant future in Spain. HAHE AND PMCPV set out to conquer the Spanish market There is considerable potential in the Spanish market, as it is a gateway to the Mediterranean and Latin America. Jérôme Carrus and Julio Ocio understood that a solid structure was the key to tap that potential. They therefore established
Groupe Carrus in Spain
PMCPV (“PV” stands for “Pais Vasco”, “Basque Country” in Spanish), to provide services in racecourses mirroring the ones that CPM, the other Groupe Carrus business unit, provides in France. They have since grown into Andalucía and Galicia, as Madrid and its La Zarzuela racecourse is still linked to LAE (Loterias y Apuestas de España), a government agency. They have also cemented their home base in San Sebastian by establishing HAHE with a Spanish-Japanese financial fund (PMC holds 30% of HAHE) with a view to securing authorization to take bets on French races. As a member of the HAHE Board, Jérôme Carrus was appointed Vice President of the San Sebastián « Société des Courses » and the Basque Country joined the PMU pool in 2005. Groupe Carrus is thus pushing ahead with its efforts to conquer the Spanish market as the French version of Pari Mutuel in Spain.
Horse races and betting in Spain: a decentralized model “As Spain is basically a cluster of regions, it does not have a central organization managing horse races and betting (as opposed to France). One of the things that the French find surprising there is that each province is free to organize its own races, games and bets and that, if betters are free to bet on races outside Spain, they cannot yet bet on races in another province”, explains Majdah Rachiq, who runs Groupe Carrus’ operations around the Mediterranean and in Latin America. Each racecourse, it follows, has its own specific set-up. In Galicia, for example, the city council is the operator. In San Sebastián, the city council owns the racecourse and HAHE, a private company, has a license to operate it. In Andalucía, it’s a combination between Equiniela and the city councils, and all the racecourses are different. In Madrid the central government runs the racecourse, especially via LAE (Loterias y Apuestas de España), a public-sector agency in charge of horse-race bets and lotteries. In 2008, LAE generated more than € 5 million on horse race bets across in Spain-wide network. Subsidies for Spanish horseracing companies are scant (barring Madrid), and they are the ones that pay out the prizes. That is why they resort to sponsoring to finance their operations. Whereas in France parent companies France Galop and Cheval Français finance races with PMU, in Spain, SFCC (Sociedad de Fomento y Cria Caballar, their counterpart) only plays a role supervising gallop race programs).
The first PMC Star 3000 totalizator to migrate to Linux is in Morocco. Several will follow in the next few months. The Moroccan PMU network – which counts 900 PMC terminal recording and processing 800,000 transactions a day – migrated to its new Star 3000 Linux totalizator on 15 September last. The system ran on the back-up site for a month to ensure it was fully reliable, then switched to the front site – glitch-free and transparently for betters. Much more powerful, much more flexible It took PMC teams a year to deliver the source code that worked on the old HP-UX system and the new one. But Yann Launay, the man in charge of STAR 3000 software development, says it was worth it: “Linux is the up-to-theminute system; the fact that it’s open means that there are so many huge opportunities and options.” Free IT architectures have indeed flourished over the Internet since the 1990s. Developers originally worked pro-bono but this system has since made substantial inroads into the corporate world on the strength of its many technological and business advantages. It essentially counts literally thousands of compatible, free and open software applications; several independent distribution channels; and a wide range of compatible hardware options. It is also an attractive business deal (no restrictions on usage, modification and redistribution) and, last but not least, the fact that source code is open means that the community can promptly patch bugs, thereby enhancing system security and dependability. Other totalizator will migrate to Linux over the next few weeks. One of them, the CPM/Groupe Carrus Star 3000 totalizator, handles bets for 190 French provincial racecourses.
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PRODUCTS
Vigip
a complete, and trailblazing
> Modulo Vigipack®Modulo grows as your needs do. It can run up to 16 channels and includes a hybrid feature accommodating top video security standards. The innovative LCD display on the front provides amazingly convenient access to system information.
> Presence Vigipack®Presence combines continuous monitoring and mathematical algorithms, and is built into Vigipack® range recorders. It handles image analysis (unit and passage) without altering existing installations.
Vigipack® products are packed with q solution that can deal with – or, even of video surveillance requirements – range serves three main markets – b convenience stores – and comes with
> Solo
Vigipack®Solo is a standalone 2-channel system stores and other small facilities. Its touch screen flexible operation make it simple to install and use
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pack : ®
segmented g product range
quality and add up to a consistent n better, anticipate, the full range – for users and installers. This banking, subsidiary distribution and h the backing of acclaimed R&D plus Iso9001v2008 French production standards, which are environmentfriendly and meet all m for n and applicable standards and e. regulations.
> Cube2 Vigipack®Cube2 can stretch from 4 to 8 channels, comes in a mono-block configuration, includes software features and is inexpensive to operate. It is a complete product and its front-side connectivity makes parameter-setting and installation considerably easier.
> Console Vigipack®Console is a multi-session and multi-tasking supervision software package to provide remote image processing, statistical management and remotemaintenance support for a cluster of Vigipack® recorders. The console modules are built into a single tool for central operation and management.
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MARKETS
Vigipack® Modulo system to understand bees
Wild and domestic bees have been endangered for years – and the situation seems to be getting worse: there are a number of causes and the consequences are serious (fewer bees mean less pollination). The INRA (Institut National de la Recherche agronomique) has been using Vigipack® technology to study picking in Avignon since 1998. “Understanding picking is one of the keys to understanding pollination. But, without the right technology, it is not easy to observe it,” explains Nicolas Morison, an assistant engineer at the INRA bee ecology and pollination department. It was his idea to use video surveillance technology back in 1997. He got in touch with Telem (an installer) and Richard Schreiner, the young engineer running the Vigipack® engineering department at PMC. A custom-engineered 8-channel Rack joined the team. A 16-channel Rack followed in 2003, and a 25-images/second Modulo followed more recently. But the principle is still the same: the cameras are set up near the flowers that scientists want to monitor during specific periods of time, and scientist then pore over and analyze the recordings. Vigipack® video surveillance has paved the way for a number of breakthroughs since it was first installed. When strawberry farmers had problems with the quality of their produce, for instance, the bee breeders called the Avignon unit and the recordings showed that bumble bees were causing fruit malformation. Now, they are only released every other day and everything is back to normal! INRA is also conducting fundamental research and is the only lab in the world to use this system - and it will no doubt cast light on a number of issues for the scientific community.
Subsidiary distribution:
a top-priority market for Vigipack® Downtown, shopping-centre and outskirt distribution networks are facing growing problems on the security front. Vigipack® teams are working with installers, engineering the specific products and services that their clients need. Vigipack® earned its spurs on the banking market – the toughest one in its line of business – and has since used what it learned there with leading regional and national retail distribution companies selling deep-frozen products, “black” and “white” appliances and luxury clothes, as well as laundries, pharmacies, etc. Vigipack® devises purpose-designed considerations for each of its client groups and runs them in the pilot sites before finalizing the project. It then provides updates on a regular basis, and nearby sales-engineer teams offer ongoing follow-up. Protecting people, property and cash, covering every risk Shoplifting, hold-ups, nighttime burglaries, ill-intent, and verbal and physical abuse are only a few of the threats hanging over distributors – and they are keen on forestalling them. Heavy household appliance vendors will try to forestall burglary whereas jewelry retailers will try to forestall shoplifting. Pharmacists will want to protect prescription medicine. Other will be concerned about the cash in their tills or ATMs. But they all want to protect their staff and clients. And video surveillance does that in every case. It is also used for training (especially jobsecurity training for sales staff).
Products and services or each situation The three Vigipack® products - Solo, Cube2 and Modulo – have 2 to 16 channels and cover every requirement in the chain-store business. Solo is a standalone solution for small franchises. Modulo, the latest Vigipack® recorder, grows as users’ needs do and can take up to 16 channels at 25 images/second with front-side displays, dealing with security in large sites. Cube2 can run 4 to 8 channels in mono-block configuration and provides the complete yet simple security solution that medium-sized stores need. Vigipack® has also made an essential contribution with trailblazing software: Vigipack®Console, a supervision software package, enables intelligent recorder cluster management, and Presence analyses images without reshuffling existing installations. Vigipack® also provides tailored regional support in the form of advice, pilot sites, training, assistance, hotlines and maintenance services.
Contact Vigipack® sales on www.vigipack.com
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TEAMS
The Parisian racecourses Carrus team: a partnership to serve betters
Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, Prix d’Amérique, Prix de Diane are only three of the highlights that mean a lot of hard work on the part of the horseracing companies and on the part of the teams handling bets behind the scenes. Parisian racecourses host 360 meetings a year, involving close and efficient partnerships with the horse-racing companies, PMU, GIE PMH and the team at Groupe Carrus. GIE PMH on track betting manager Jacques Cazanave pointed out in a previous issue, “We have built a well-oiled mechanism over all these years.” A job involving logistics and maintenance
The morning in Saint-Cloud, evening in Chantilly and night in Vincennes: transporting terminals from one racecourse to another is an important part of the Carrus team’s work.
Daniel Maillet, who runs the team in charge of Parisian racecourses at Groupe Carrus, and his deputies Wilson Pires and Thierry Daguet, have an office in Vincennes racecourse (where more than 40% of the meetings take place). But they do not spend much time sitting down. They also spend time in Auteuil Enghien, Longchamp, Chantilly, Maisons-Lafitte and Saint-Cloud to work with FranceGalop and SECF (Société d’encouragement à l’élevage du cheval français).
This team ensures the betting terminals and kiosks operate seamlessly. Doing that on a big grand-prix day (more than 200,000 bets) takes close teamwork. This partnership goes back a long way and, as
Tough working conditions from time to time
Horse-racing companies, PMU, GIE PMH and Groupe Carrus: mutual trust Horse races in and around Paris are held by four organizations: horse-racing companies (France-Galop and SECF, which organize the galloping and trotting races), PMU (which centralizes racecourse bets and aggregates them with bets from other networks), GIE PMH (which handles bets on-track) and the CPM-Groupe Carrus team in charge of Parisian racecourses.
The Carrus team’s role at each meeting involves four steps: providing the hardware, preparing the betting terminals and kiosks, standing by during the meetings to deal with any glitches that may arise, and providing maintenance. Providing equipment entails juggling the racecourse companies’ 700 terminals and transporting them to the meeting venues. Each Omni PMC 2020, each PMC 2050 (pending Selfbet PMC 2060 now on production lines) is cleaned and checked. During the meeting, the team it on hand for on track window staff and betters, to solve any technical issues that may arise. The maintenance contract involves ensuring the hardware works seamlessly and administrating supply stocks (paper, for example).
Daniel Maillet and all his staff have worked at the PMC workshop, which is “essential for the hardware.”
The 8 members of the team, as you have probably guessed, multitask. They are expert technicians (they provide level-3 and level-4 maintenance, and only send hardware back to the PMC workshop in Saint-Maur when they really have to). And they are brave: unpacking and setting up hardware is a tough job, and has to be done fast. They are also flexible: meeting times vary and sometimes stretch into the night. And they are invariably diplomatic: they have to know how to step back and look at the big picture. They – and the people working on the racecourses – are often under pressure. As Jérôme Carrus puts it, “adrenaline runs high in racecourse.”
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Groupe Carrus has been the Pari Mutuel champion, sharing wins with betters and the horseracing world, since 1888. Two billion bets, 25,000 windows and 70,000 terminals up and running in more than 300 racecourses make it the company blazing the trail to rise to tomorrowâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s challenges.