TransAct Technologies launched its groundbreaking Epicentral Print System at the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas and followed with its presentation at the ICE tradeshow in London. Epicentral’s suite of software and hardware enables casino operators to create promotional coupons and marketing messages and to print them in real-time at the slot machine.

“Epicentral is a way for casinos to take their existing Epic 950 printers and turn them into networked printers that print promotional coupons, marketing messages and to communicate with the players directly at the game while the player is playing,” explained Tracey Chernay, Executive Vice President, Sales & Marketing for TransAct. “Any number of incentives can be provided. It might be to move an uncarded player to being a carded player. It could be for entering people into slot tournaments or keeping your players playing longer.”

‘Groundbreaking’ is a word that gets used a lot in reports on casino technology but in this case it appears justified. “What casinos have been doing up until now is running a member of staff out to the player on the floor just to give them their comps,” states Ms Chernay. Epicentral Coupon Layout Generator allows the casino’s marketing team to easily design and save on a computer desktop any number of coupons or promotions to be used later on the slot floor. The user can import logos or other graphics onto the coupon and create and embed common barcode types, allowing casinos to track who is using their coupons and the effectiveness of these new marketing programs.

“What we found is that casinos don’t generally have a way of laying out coupon design. They don’t necessarily know how to actually make the coupons,” says Tracey Chernay. “Coupon Layout Generator is an easy software tool to allow them to make a library of coupons. That’s sent to Epicentral Server Manager where a library of coupons is stored and can be managed, distributed and provided with security features, so that for example the right customer has access to the right level of couponing. The system also keeps track of those coupons.”

A crucial feature of the Epicentral coupon system is that it works with TransAct’s existing and widely used Epic 950 printer. All it needs to communicate with the printer is ServerPort. The ServerPort device is easily added and eliminates any new programming or resetting of the Internet Protocol address if the printer is removed or changed. ServerPort allows casinos to tie the IP address to the slot machine.

“We’re simply asking customers to leverage the investment they have already made with their existing TransAct Epic 950 printers,” states Tracey Chernay. “We’ve said all along that the 950 is dual port and will support coupon printing. So customers like Wynn, Harrah’s, etc. that made the investment in the Epic 950, now, with a simple upgrade– ServerPort–can upgrade their existing printer. They don’t have to take their existing printer out.”

“Epicentral Mobile Host is a way for a casino host, as he’s walking around the floor either with a smartphone or an iPad, to choose from a library of coupons and reward the player on the spot with the type of coupon the player is interested in. “By talking to the customer the casino host can adjust the coupon offer issued. If the host thinks coupons for a complimentary dinner would be appropriate but finds during conversation with the player that he or she has just eaten, then they can offer show tickets instead. The host uses the hand held computer to print the coupon from the slot machine there and then.” adds Ms Chernay.

Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut has already agreed to equip in excess of 1000 of its slot machines with the Epicentral Promotional Print System, and may extend that trial on a permanent basis to the other slot machines at the property that also use TransAct’s Epic 950 printer. “We believe it’s a slam dunk,” Kevin O’Sullivan, Foxwoods’ Senior Vice President of Gaming said on the eve of G2E.

An important element in persuading Foxwoods and in likelihood other properties to adopt Epicentral is its competitive pricing. “We’ve said to the industry, ‘We know times are tough for casinos in the States’, explains Ms Chernay. “Everyone is trying to leverage their investment. We want to give them a tool to have their players play longer, but we also want to do it in a really cost-effective manner. Some other suppliers involved in coupon generation systems are actually building a separate database to reward players. We’re saying ‘Just link into your existing system’. What TransAct does is provide the final mile on the journey to connect the player with the coupon incentive. It’s an innovative approach and the casinos are responding very positively to it, and we’re excited about its prospects.” (E-02.16.11)

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