Kobetron technology from Gaming Laboratories International (GLI), including IRIS, GI-4000 Pro, and Verify+, has been relied upon by casino operators and regulators for accuracy, efficiency, and accountability for decades.
There was, however, something that was destined to make the technologies even better, the “missing link,” if you will: Kobetron Link.
Kobetron Link brings together every attribute while eliminating human error for a complete and instantaneous accounting of every piece of software in every EGM across the entire floor or jurisdiction.
With Kobetron Link, Verify+, the most widely used signature verification in the world, GI-4000 Pro, the gaming industry’s most advanced all-in-one signature verification tool, and IRIS, a fully integrated and cost-effective compliance management system, form a “dream team”.
Kobetron Link does what its name implies. It links the verification tools and the inventory management system, which, as explained by Patrick Parish, Kobetron’s IRIS Systems Product Manager in the New Jersey laboratory, “takes the unique signatures that identify pieces of software and ‘ties’ them together, allowing operators to manage their casino floors in IRIS more effectively.”
“IRIS has the software signatures in its database, and the GI-4000 Pro and Verify+ generate those signatures,” Parish explained. “Using the Kobetron Link tool, you generate those software signatures in either the “Pro” or Verify+ and then push them up to the staging area in IRIS.
“This increases the accuracy of managing the slot floor, because that signature is tied to that one, and only that one, piece of software. No matter how many times you signature that software, it is going to be the same signature that comes through because that unique signature identifies it.”
Users can create new EGM records in IRIS and use those signatures to add the software to the EGMs. Additionally, they can also compare what was signatured to what is currently linked to an EGM in IRIS. Components can even be added to the Vault inventory.
Kobetron Link enables more accurate slot file management. It uses the unique signatures of every piece of software to maintain installed software on all EGMs across the entire slot floor while at the same time maintaining the software inventory inside of the IRIS Vault feature.
Through the power of Kobetron Link, the operator chooses what to do next: Create a new record, compare signatures, or add components to the Vault.
“Everybody who has used or has seen Kobetron Link tells us it is a game changer,” Parish said. “It is amazing because it makes everyone’s life so much easier.”
Parish knows first-hand how time and cost-effective Kobetron Link really is. In an experiment, he constructed a slot machine inside of IRIS with 10 pieces of software. When he didn’t use the “Link” tool, it took him almost four minutes to get all the software in the machine.
“When I did the exact same thing using the software signatures from the ‘Link’ tool, it took me only about 20 seconds,” he revealed. “It is a major time saver.”
Accuracy is intensified, and the possibility of human error is eliminated with the use of Kobetron Link, which is vitally important considering some jurisdictions can have 100,000+ different pieces of software which have been certified.
Jurisdictions use Verify+ and the GI-4000 Pro to verify the integrity of software before it hits the casino floor. Kobetron Link makes it possible for users to update their EGM records and their Vault inventory inside of IRIS.
What’s more, using GAT, Kobetron link enables users to signature all of the software in an EGM all at the same time.
Parish acknowledged there can be multiple versions of a game configuration. Each version has its own unique signature. A piece of ‘version one’ software is going to be entirely different from a piece of ‘version two’ software, even if the names of the games are similar or, in some cases, exact.
He said that whether it is a regulator or the operator managing the slot floor, there is the possibility the wrong piece of software will be selected, explaining that “they may actually have a ‘version one’ installed in the slot machine, but they went into IRIS and entered a ‘version two.’
“They wouldn’t know that they have a ‘version one’ in their system because they accidentally put in the wrong piece of software,” Parish said. “Kobetron Link eliminates this because now you are signaturing that software, and the key is that the software signature is unique to that piece of software.
“When you push that up to IRIS, Kobetron Link takes the signature, and it finds the actual certification for that piece of software. It knows one hundred percent if you had an EPROM and you signatured it. You push it up to IRIS, and you know what it is. It doesn’t leave any room for the user to select incorrectly or even forget to put something into the machine.”
Parish expanded upon Kobetron Link capabilities by noting that if the slot machine is GAT capable, it is possible to plug the GAT cable into the unit and tell either “Pro” or Verify+ to signature all the software on the machine.
“It may find eight or nine pieces of software rather than having to open up the logic box and take every single piece of software out and put it on an adaptor,” he said. “Now you can use GAT, which will push all those signatures up to IRIS.
“You are not only making sure that you are putting the right software on the machine if it is GAT capable, you are also making sure that you capture all the software and are not forgetting to signature an EPROM”.
