“We’re getting brand new information that even JCM hasn’t seen on a casino level before.” So says JCM’s Product Manager of Systems Chris Blevens, as data and feedback have been pouring in from JCM Global’s (JCM) first floor-wide deployment of its FUZION technology in Northern California.
Most recently, the world leader in transaction and payment technologies has launched its next generation FUZION system for Nevada at the newly opened Resorts World Las Vegas.
JCM first deployed its FUZION technology, which has since been upgraded, at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Sacramento at Fire Mountain across all 1,600 games on the slot floor. The property also has multiple JCM solutions, including the iVIZION bill validator, GEN5 Thermal Printer, ICB Intelligent Cash Box System, PromoNet promotional couponing, and Digital Signage Solutions.
They’re seeing every bill and every ticket that goes through a machine, and they’re keeping track of all the cash box contents across the floor, Blevens said. They’re also seeing every serial number for every bill that goes through their bill validator and tracking that in the database.
“We’ve never been able to see the performance of our products in real time,” he said. “Usually the data we receive is something that’s been accepted, and now we are saving all the data for everything that’s rejected out of these machines. It’s been a great partnership with Hard Rock to get an eye on all of this data that is going through their property.”
Hard Rock has been using this system to keep an eye on how full their cash boxes are, and as these boxes fill up they can preemptively go out and pull and replace them.
“That’s been one of the highest value features Hard Rock has been doing that prevents them from needing to do e-drops on their floor. Anytime an e-drop happens, the player sitting at the machine can’t continue to play until someone comes out and replaces that cash box. With FUZION they can proactively plan and prevent machine downtime,” Blevens said.
Since FUZION is a network connection to a bill validator and to a printer, they’re receiving real-time connection and real-time data from both devices. JCM has built an API (application program interface) that allows its partners to securely use that interface to the bill validator and printer and monitor those devices.
“Resorts World is doing the same thing as Hard Rock Sacramento where all slot machines and bill validators and printers are being monitored,” Blevens shared. “And they’re going to be monitoring all of their cash boxes and make sure there are no cash boxes that are going to end up in an e-drop situation. They’re doing the same for the printers to make sure their printers don’t run out of paper. They can upgrade firmware on a schedule, so they don’t need to go to every machine to do firmware updates. It is all connected to the server.”
Lessons learned from Hard Rock Sacramento were not only applied to that property but to other customers as well.
“The data is good, but we found out we really need to organize it better to make sure they’re receiving it in a way they can act on it,” explained Blevens. “For example, when we first launched with FUZION, we were reporting how full the cash boxes are by a percentage. I can tell you your cash box is 60% full, but they told us a more useful way to present that data to them is how much time do I have before that cash box fills up — show me a list of cash boxes that are going to be full within the next 24 hours.
“Even though it’s the same data, it’s how we presented that data and made it more useful,” he continued. “We take feedback like that from our customers and try to improve our product.”
Hard Rock had been keeping some of their machines offline for COVID-19 protocols, but since Las Vegas has 100% capacity, the Hard Rock had more challenges that it has been able to solve using FUZION.
“Because they only have a limited number of machines online, they are able to monitor those machines better with FUZION,” Blevens said. “Resorts World will be able to spread their customers out across the entire floor and, being the newest property in Las Vegas in 10 years, they will need to really focus on keeping their floor up and running with FUZION.”
Blevins added that it’s great to be part of the Las Vegas market at Resorts World. It’s a challenge because Nevada is one of the hardest markets to get regulated through.
“We’re really happy to see our system here in Las Vegas,” he said. “We have so many trade shows that come through Las Vegas so we have a great site for a reference, and there’s a ton of casinos here so there’s a lot of opportunity. So we’re thrilled.”
JCM will be adding several properties to the mix across the country, with the potential for several more in 2021. JCM is also working with count/sort machine providers and helps with preparing for their data and how many items are coming through.
“It is those partnerships that we make with the count/sort machines that help that data get through into the right (place) for whoever is operating that system,” Blevens noted.
As for what’s next with FUZION, JCM is working on a drop management solution that tracks every cash box during the drop and the progress of that drop from the machines to the account room.
“As soon as they hit the docking station, we close that machine out,” said Blevens. “We’re tracking that whole process from start to finish and we will help them optimize that process. Are you dropping the right machines each day and how long is it taking you to get that cash box through the count room? We’re excited for our next step for FUZION.”
That’s still under development, but will be talked about at NIGA.
JCM is also focusing on anti-money laundering where it tracks rejection of bills that go through the validator so that security and surveillance teams can use and be notified anytime they see many bills go through a machine over a short period.
“We can take different actions and disable the bill validator or printer,” explained Blevens. “That player, even though they’re trying to launder money through the slot machine, we can trap that money in the slot machine. That gives the property time to respond while that player is on the property. Usually, they don’t know they have a problem until that player is gone.”
JCM does the same for counterfeit bills. If they see counterfeit bills across the floor, they can notify security teams it’s happening in real time, Blevens said.
“Before there was something like FUZION, the property didn’t know they had a problem until that player was already gone. People go to a casino and don’t see anyone around and start pushing stuff through machines. But FUZION is always watching. We have that pair of eyes in the bill validator.”
JCM will participate at the National Indian Gaming Association trade show this month in Las Vegas. It will have slot machines and kiosks running FUZION.
