Toronto, ON - August 11, 2004 – NRT Technology Corporation is featured in the August 2004 edition (Volume 25, Number 8, pages 22 - 25) of International Gaming and Wagering Business. The article follows.
Casino operators see the value of versatile kiosks
By Marian Green
From redeeming slot tickets for cash, to breaking down bills, to checking player club point balances and accessing comps, even to learning how to play a casino game, kiosks are demonstrating their versatility and worth on the gaming floor.
Gaming operators are seeing the value of putting these machines in their casinos both to enhance customer service and create operational efficiencies.
The advent of ticket-in, ticket-out has helped create an environment that is encouraging kiosk use by patrons. Customers also are more familiar with kiosks from experiences outside the gaming industry, and are taking to the casino devices more quickly, accessing reward card benefits, checking point balances, learning about a property’s offerings and obtain cash access services right from a kiosk.
It’s a matter of giving customers more choices, said Rob Kosier, IT director for the Arizona Charlie’s properties owned by American Casino & Entertainment Properties.
Kiosks are becoming more sophisticated and offering more options and will continue to do so in the future.
"I think that’s the future right there. Those are going to become a lot more important," Kosier said. "The guests control their own experiences. They don’t have to wait on customer service or anything."
Arizona Charlie’s properties, he said, have found success with promotional kiosks offered by Affordable Kiosks that use proprietary promotional software from Micro Gaming Technologies.
On Action Cash, players earn points one week, then have to return the next week to earn promotional cash of $5 to $100 each day, he said. "It’s what we’ve based our whole rewards program on. I can find out who’s coming, how often they’re coming, and what they’ve actually redeemed," Kosier said.
Among the other benefits, he said, is the fact that the program enables the casinos to cut back on their marketing expenses. "We don’t have all these mailing costs," he said, noting patrons, too, are often pleased because they don’t like getting direct mail or become annoyed when they forget to bring direct mail coupons with them to the casino.
"We’re trying to drive trips, so we make them come back every day. They’re loving it, though, because we give cash. They’re coming in and redeeming every day."
Dakota Magic, another casino customer that uses the kiosk and the promotional software, has seen similar results.
"The MGT Promo software provides our management team with instant return on investment results. Now we know the direct impact of every marketing program, within minutes after the event. Whether it be mail coupons, drawings, tournaments, concerts, cash or comps, the MGT Promo software gives us the power to control our destiny," Travis Carrico, chief executive officer, Dakota Nation Gaming Enterprise, Dakota Magic Casino, Dakota Sioux Casino and Dakota Connection Casino, said in a testimonial.
One crucial aspect, according to Kosier, is having the support when needed to help ensure the promotion’s success. "They’re great. They sit down with us. They work with us. They help us come up with some of the promotions. That’s important to me."
Cy Birg, chief kiosk expert with Affordable Kiosks, said the company makes an effort to work closely with the casino to customize the product and train the staffs.
"The training is essential, especially with the marketing people. If they don’t market that this is available, people don’t know they can use it," Birg said, noting the kiosks are also in use at Isle of Capri, Dakota Magic and River Palms casinos.
Forward thinking
Another Las Vegas casino company, Mandalay Resort Group, is moving forward with its One Club players club initiative that promises to take kiosk use to the next level.
"Kiosks have incredible potential, and most of us realize what they’re going to do on the floor. And to spread the development costs, we’re starting to team up with other departments," said John-Martin Meyer, director of slot operations, Excalibur.
"All of our plans revolve around linking kiosks into our various systems," Meyer said. "Beyond just redeeming tickets, you want players to be able to obtain comps, check point balances, redeem cash from players club accounts, redeem everything from show tickets to spa passes through the system."
Crucial to the initiative, Meyer said, is ensuring that the kiosk partner chosen has the robust hardware and an IT team that can provide the necessary support and back-up. "You have to have the hardware expandability, and you also have to have an IT team that will be there to grow with you."
"Kiosk manufacturers are heavily focused on the operational end as far as the hardware, but very few of them have a true IT support team behind them. On the IT side of the kiosks, their support and development teams are just as important as the hardware side," he said.
Meyer said Mandalay was nearing an agreement with a kiosk partner but wasn’t ready to announce it yet.
The goal is to have a fully integrated, all-in-one unit, he said. "You need to have the IT team that understands where the hooks are to access on your database. They have to work with you to create the interface with player tracking. For instance at Mandalay, Acres and CDS systems interface into the One Club system and they we will have an interface into our POS system and an interface into our hotel system and another interface into our show system and another one into cage and credit," he said.
Martin noted that the initiative, which will probably take two or three years, will represent the first full application of the Gaming Standards Association’s system-to-system, or S2S, standards initiative.
Still, he noted, kiosks will give players another option, but they will not have to use them. "It’s a way to give the customers who which to use one the opportunity to go to a kiosk. We’re not going to eliminate the club booth or the personal touch," Martin stressed.
Recognizing the growing importance and sophistication of kiosks led Global Cash Access, a supplier of cash access and customer relationship marketing technologies to the gaming industry, to form an alliance with NRT Technology Corp. The alliance was designed to incorporate GCA’s ATM, debit and credit card cash advance services with NRT’s QuickJack Plus multifunction patron kiosk for casinos.
"Casinos are continuously striving to serve patrons more efficiently and invest their capital resources wisely. Self-serve kiosks that provide multiple services help achieve these goals," said Tom Sears, executive vice president of business development for Global Cash Access. "Now, gaming properties have access to one machine that incorporates an array of convenient services from two industry-leading vendors."
Already, there is a lot of interest in the product, Sears said.
"It’s been a very hot topic. We’re looking to do a field trial within the next 30 to 60 days," he said, noting the product has been submitted for regulatory approval to Nevada regulators and to Gaming Laboratories International.
Operators like the concept of having a combined product, Sears said. "They love the idea. You’re consolidating the touch points for the consumer," he said. "It’s a one-stop shop for the patrons."
Other considerations include reliability and support, as well as appearance of the machines, Sears said, noting that the units can be "wrapped" to blend in with a casino’s decor.
The cost of the machines is not insignificant, Sears noted. "It can be an issue. Some of these are $40,000 to $45,000, and when you’re looking to buy 10 units, which is not uncommon for a busy casino, you’re talking about $400,000 to $450,000 when all’s said and done," Sears said. "For the big guys, this kind of money is not a big deal, but for others it can be a major hit."
The company, he said, offers flexibility in terms of structuring a deal "up to and including Global Cash Access owning and placing the equipment."
TITO innovation
It was the advent of ticket-in, ticket-out technology that fueled the casinos’ desire and need for kiosks.
When a customer presses the cash-out button on a slot machine, the customer receives the value of the winnings on a paper voucher dispensed from a printer imbedded in the slot machine. The voucher then can be inserted into other slot machines or exchanged for cash at the cage or at a self-service kiosk.
"With the development of ticket-in, ticket-out slot machines, casino patrons are becoming more familiar and comfortable with this method of cash redemption," John Dominelli, president of NRT Technology, said in a news release. "By integrating GCA’s industry-leading cash access services and technology into our kiosks, we can offer a complete solution that helps casinos reduce lines at the cage, improve customer service and enhance the overall gaming experience."
Among the other providers of kiosk solutions related to ticket and cash redemption are TDN Money Systems and Automated Currency Instruments, both Pennsylvania-headquartered companies.
TDN Money Systems was an early mover in the casino cash-handling kiosk arena, said Rich Orlando, company president. The company started out making coin-handling solutions, and added jackpot payout kiosks - which enabled slot personnel to be able to pay out jackpots more efficiently and faster for the patron - automated coin redemption kiosks, bill-breaking kiosks, point-redemption kiosks and, more recently, ticket-redemption kiosks and a promotional kiosk for raffle tickets.
"The big thing is customer service," Orlando said.
"The boxes are pretty much the same. What we try to do is lend our experience to their particular need. It’s a matter of how well you know the various slot systems. It really is a matter of support."
Orlando noted that some jurisdictions require ticket-redemption kiosks to be licensed because they interface with the slot system, and the approval process can be lengthy. "It’s the first product line we’ve developed where I couldn’t just go out and sell it."
Another important consideration for slot managers is the size of the device, and TDN’s kiosk is only 24 inches deep. "They don’t want to take slot machines off the floor," Orlando explained.
Automated Currency Instruments spokesman Al Rundle said the company is finding casinos interested in its Automated Ticket Redemption Kiosk. "ACI’s got a unique product that I think offers a lot of benefits according to our casino customers," Rundle said, nothing the company has units at the Tropicana in Atlantic City and recently installed some on trial at the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut.
"We think if your customers can serve themselves quickly and efficiently and reliably, it’s a pretty strong story," Rundle said. "We’re getting a lot of interest right now from Las Vegas and California."
One of the main benefits is the flexibility of a PC-based system. "That allows for upstream modifications without any significant loss of the investment in the basic kiosk unit itself," he said. "Your investment today really is an investment in future developments."
The unit can be used as a bill breaker, ticket redemption or coin and ticket redemption, and has the ability for options allowing players to redeem premiums or check point balances, or other special functions.
The product also has the ability for customization, Rundle said. "The creativity of the casino management is really the only limitation on the capability," he said.
The unit now offers the ability to put about 20 different videos inside the machine to help drive business to other casino profit centers.
For instance, Rundle said, if someone is using the machine to break a hundred, the machine can show a video specifically aimed at that customer, or if the unit is being used by someone cashing out a $600 ticket, a totally different video can be shown.
Rundle also believes the products can help managers better understand their human resource and staffing issues, by allowing them to see what is going on at peak periods of operation.
Teaching machines
Some kiosks have nothing to do with ticket or cash redemption functionality. For instance, Info Touchscreen Systems provides casino customers at casinos such as Bally’s Las Vegas and Paris Las Vegas with interactive table game lessons. The terminals are designed to help novice players learn the games in a friendly, nonintimidating fashion.
Though a simple touch on the screen, patrons can teach themselves how to play table games such as baccarat, blackjack, three-card power, craps, Caribbean stud, pai gow and roulette.
Since 1993, NRT has been creating a line of products, services, and support that are second to none. Industry-leading products for transaction processing, cash dispensing, machine monitoring, accounting, security, and maintenance capabilities enable operators to accurately analyze performance and accountability.
