Johannesburg, 06 Oct 2006
Popular dramatic SABC 3 series "Las Vegas" often sees Ed Deline, head of the Montecito Casino security, and his right hand man, Danny McCoy, using fancy, almost futuristic technology to deal with the daily issues that arise within the casino working environment.
While this show is pure entertainment, it does reveal how important real-time incident management is to keeping control of all the variables from packs of cards, to working hours to winnings in the fast-paced world of casinos.
For South African casinos the technology is not futuristic at all, it`s implemented and running in many of the country`s leading casinos such as The Caledon Casino situated near Cape Town.
This establishment can now get a real-time snapshot of every process within the day-to-day workings of the casino, assisting it in identifying problem areas in terms of the gaming floor and customer satisfaction, thanks to Global Vision`s Integrated Casino Operating System (ICOS).
This software helps the casino`s surveillance manager spot patterns, for example bad service levels on a particular slot machine. It also provides for tighter control of gaming staff by allowing management to view procedural breaches. Information on the nature and number of prior offences is immediately visible and fed into the HR application, making the staff appraisal system much easier than before.
"ICOS has proven to be an excellent management tool for us," says Russell Clark, Surveillance Manager of The Caledon Casino. "We`re able to see trends at the touch of a key rather than relying on paper-based reports and archives. This assists us with faster decision-making."
ICOS was developed in conjunction with the Western Cape Gaming Board to enable it to better protect the consumer by having instant access to casino occurrence information.
The Caledon Casino began with the first version of ICOS two years ago. On completion of phase one, additional uses became apparent and the casino and Global Vision immediately started work on phase two, the stock control system. This enables staff to keep track of cards as they travel in transit from the tables, to surveillance and back to the stock room.
"There are plans to enhance the system even further by integrating it into our internal systems such as HR and finance," continuous Clark.
Graeme Powell, Technical Director of ICOS for Global Vision, says: "Casinos have numerous incidents which need to be reported and tracked on a daily basis and ICOS ensures tighter control of all procedures. In addition, it provides for greater accountability across all levels of staff by facilitating the flow of information."
Other reporting requirements include the Financial Intelligence Centre Act (FICA), which demands ongoing feedback from the casinos regarding transactions over a certain threshold, which ICOS is able to provide in a matter of seconds.
"We aim to be one of the forerunners in the casino industry in terms of technology and ICOS is helping us achieve this goal," concludes Clark.
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