Agilysys, the global provider of hospitality software and services, has rolled out enhanced solutions that gaming properties can use to elevate guest service, alleviate staff workload stress, and streamline operations. The new offerings were unveiled during the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas.
“We’ve been focusing on how we look at revenue,” said Rohith Kori, senior vice president of corporate and product strategy. “Gaming industry people have looked at optimizing revenue of the player, but now non-gaming revenue is a significant portion. When it comes to non-gaming revenue, it’s been a case of making amenities available and letting guests to pick what they want.”
“Agilysys is using its solution to change that mindset to focus not on room revenue of hotels and gaming revenue on the casino floor, but the whole package to maximize revenue,” Kori said.
“With all the investments on real estate assets, there needs to be a change to revenue per guest,” Kori said. “‘Am I getting the maximum revenue from guests as part of their visit?’ We focus on enabling operators to maximize revenue by making it easy for guests to spend money and making it easy for employees to service them.”
If after a long flight, a guest wants to check in early and use the spa, they’re traditionally told to call a phone number about availability, Kori said. When people check in now, notices can be sent letting them know about spa openings and that they can book a time. The same applies to dinner reservations.
The technology reduces friction and helps generate more revenue by guests booking more amenities, Kori said.
“Agilysys has invested a half-billion dollars over the last six years building a whole suite of products that touch every aspect of the guest journey,” Kori said. “Our modules touch all aspects and build it in an integrated manner, so when guests check in, staff knows who they are to service them.”
The innovations reflect a commitment to deliver high-value cutting-edge software tailored to how casino and gaming properties operate, according to Kevin Hibbs, Agilysys senior director of product management. “We’re committed to continuing to earn our place as the leading go-to partner for gaming properties seeking to maximize revenue, streamline operations, and provide exceptional staff and guest experiences.”
The enhanced agent dashboard in Agilysys LMS Property Management System rewards employees for effective upselling. The interactive dashboard tracks upsell revenue by agent to enable properties to gamify their upsell programs to increase participation and highlight and reward top performers.
The interactive eCoupon capability in Agilysys LMS and in Agilysys Loyalty & Promotions enhances real-time incentives for guests. eCoupon enables properties to create and email interactive personalized coupons to guests automatically upon check-in. Coupons can be created based on any field in the reservation, so they can be tailored to numerous parameters, such as length of stay, guest address, or player status, Hibbs said.
Agilysys Express Kiosk and Express Mobile enhancements accelerate guest service and reduce staff workload, especially during peak periods. Three new Express Kiosk enhancements shorten guest check-in times and eliminate long lines that can overwhelm staff during peak periods. When a 3,600-room casino-hotel in Las Vegas deployed 25 Agilysys Express Kiosks, 75% of guests elected to use the kiosks for check-in/check-out, dramatically reducing staff stress and increasing guest satisfaction, while also slashing wait times during peak check-in periods by a factor of six, Hibbs said.
Agilysys Express Mobile is now integrated with the CLEAR identity verification service to speed check-in by having guests pre-verify their identities using an embedded CLEAR interface. Properties can satisfy guest security requirements by accessing the verified data, Hibbs said.
Guests who use advance check-in on their mobile devices now receive a QR code that they can scan at kiosks on property to pick up room keys, avoiding the need to obtain room keys from front desk agents.
Agilysys Express Kiosks also provide a two-way real-time video-chat feature that enables guests who have questions while checking in at a kiosk to connect with representatives for assistance, ensuring 24/7 support even in peak periods. Representatives in a central location can monitor multiple kiosks in different locations and view the identification data the guest scanned, so they can provide swift accurate assistance. Representatives can change or complete reservations during the video chat and guide guests to pick up their keys at the kiosk to avoid waiting for a front desk agent.
The Guest App Now Includes player and gaming property enhancements. An all-in-one mobile app appears under the property’s brand for guests to book and explore everything the property offers, catering to the specialized needs of casino and hotel guests. In addition to enabling booking for rooms, spa, golf, dining, and activities are check-in/check-out, digital key access, service requests and folio views.
Agilysys’s guestsense.ai now powers automated invoicing in Agilysys SWS, an inventory and procurement system that accommodates the needs of gaming properties. It leverages guestsense.ai to enable properties to intelligently automate invoicing, enhance verification accuracy and streamline the invoice-to-payment process, Hibbs said.
Agilysys guestsense.ai also powers the Agilysys upsell engine automated analysis and decision-making capabilities, so that properties can optimize how they offer the right patron the right room upgrade at the right time and at the right price. As a patron checks in, AI considers a variety of real-time variables, such as capacity and demand, to determine an optimal price for a room upgrade. Prices assigned to offers also align with predictive logic regarding a patron’s likelihood to accept the offer.
Agilysys guestsense.ai utilizes gaming variables to power Agilysys Spa. It leverages contextual variables, including a patron’s player status and points, real-time data, and user-controlled rules to optimize scheduling, power conversational reservations, increase revenue, and improve profitability for spa operations in casino properties, Hibbs said.
“The new solutions have demonstrated significant impact in gaming environments,” Hibbs said. “Early adopters report that adding several kiosks eliminates check-in wait times five days a week and, during peak traffic times, significantly reduces check-in times. Before deploying kiosks, at peak check-in times guests had experienced waits as long as three hours.
“After deploying kiosks, the maximum wait time for guests checking in at peak times was less than 30 minutes,” Hibbs said. “Furthermore, while checking in with a front desk agent took an average of six minutes, guests were able to check-in at kiosks in less than four minutes. The high volume of guests at large casino resorts with thousands of rooms makes these efficiencies vital to guest satisfaction, enabling guests to move more quickly to gaming floors and other amenities.”
