Slot machine printer specialist TransAct Technologies Inc says it has had a lot of interest from Macau casino operators in its Epicentral print system.
Epicentral is a computer software-based system that works in conjunction with TransAct’s Epic 950 ticket printer. The latter product is already installed in many slot machines in Asia.
Epicentral allows casino operators to create promotional coupons and marketing messages for what are known in the industry as “uncarded” players – i.e., those not already signed up to casino loyalty schemes. Epicentral can also be used to send messages to “carded” players and print those promotions in real time at a slot machine, an electronic table game or even at a live table in properties where ticket-in/ticket-out technology is available on live games.
“We have had a lot of interest from Macau operators during G2E Asia regarding these capabilities of Epicentral,” Tracey Chernay, TransAct’s senior vice president for global casino, gaming and lottery, told GGRAsia during the recent Global Gaming Expo (G2E) Asia 2016 casino industry trade show and conference held in Macau.
She added: “They were looking for the right [business] solution for Macau right now, and [for] the changing nature of the casino floor here.
“We’ve had the product out for a while in North America and Europe. We’ve introduced the product here [Asia Pacific] in terms of the concept and talking to people. But now there’s more direct interest because of the [market] change,” stated Ms Chernay.
“One of the things the casinos are telling us is that many players are not carded with them and haven’t become a loyalty club member. Epicentral can really help with that.”
She added: “They can set up promotions with Epicentral as the player begins to play: to make that player an offer through the slot machine printer, to become a carded player. That could be a free play incentive or some other kind of incentive.”
TransAct said that the feedback from casino operators is that many slot players like to receive offers via the machine rather than being approached by a casino customer service agent. The firm added that Epicentral also offers the operators’ efficiency in terms of overheads, as it allows casinos to communicate with players on the floor, without the venue having to add staff for that purpose.
“You [the operator] can be delivering messaging, cross-marketing to the other aspects of the property, like entertainment, food and beverage, shows… and you can do that by setting those promotions up in the system, and they are delivered automatically to the player at the game, without the need to have a great deal of staff involvement,” stated Ms Chernay.
Also on show at G2E Asia 2016 was TransAct’s Epic 950 table top version. The ticket printer is mounted vertically in a table rather than horizontally in the way that slot machine printers are usually housed. Epic 950 table top version is for use with table games where such technology has been approved by the local regulator.
“It has a bezel that is flush with the table top, as space saving at the table is very important,” explained Ms Chernay.
