Sault Ste. Marie, MI – Kewadin Casinos recently completed a Slot Data System (SDS) upgrade for all five casino properties to take advantage of increased functionality and to position the casino floors for the future. 

 

 

 

The primary function of this slot-floor monitoring system manufactured by Bally Technologies is slot-accounting and player-tracking data collection.   It is an integrated information system that continually monitors slot machines, other gaming devices, and customer gaming activity.

 

“Our last upgrade was in 2004 – 2005,” said BJ Bouschor who is a member of the SDS team which was responsible for the installation. “Since then, the industry has continued to evolve with new product capabilities tied directly to enhancements available in current versions of slot data systems. Months of preparation were required prior to the actual SDS version upgrade, which started May 4th and ended on May 22nd. In addition to the casino SDS team, Bally Technologies had nine staff on site throughout the process.

The key benefits Kewadin will receive from this update include:

 

Data Warehouse is a repository for archived SDS data. The SDS user can use the Data

Warehouse to access and create reports on historical and current voucher (ticket) and

meter activity. Also, by warehousing the old information off the live database, it increases the effectiveness of ticket transactions on the slot floor.

 

Cross Property Ticketing is a new optional feature that allows a casino customer to receive a printed ticket from one property, and redeem it at another property that operates as part of the same network environment. Customers will be able to take a ticket they receive and use it at any of the five casinos.

 

Offline Ticketing is a new optional feature that allows the casino customer to receive a printed ticket when communication between the SDS system and the casino floor is temporarily down.   This will allow casino customers to be paid from slot machines instead of waiting for a manual payout.

 

The Bally Power Promotions feature allows players to download player points or promotional dollars from a Casino Management System to the slot machine in the form of electronic credits.

 

This feature provides casino management the proper detail to analyze the true performance of today’s slot floor.

   

The future of gaming

In addition to the SDS upgrade, Kewadin is looking into additional system upgrades of Casino Market Place in the future.

 

Kewadin Casinos, with locations in Sault Ste. Marie, St. Ignace, Hessel, Christmas and Manistique, employs 1,000 and has been in operation for over 20 years. For more information, visit www.kewadin.com .