Casino July-Aug 08 P32-38 24/6/08 12:14 Page 32
CASH HANDLING
Cash Handling
Bill validators, kiosks, TITO and more – what’s out there now, and where
it’s going in the future. Graeme Kidd reports.
T
ITO: more than just
coin-free – colour and
real-time coupons are
just around the
corner… J
CM got the ball rolling with regard to between being super-cautious about only accepting
introducing bill acceptors onto the gaming floor valid bills and being ‘fuzzy’ enough in the bill
around twenty years ago, and unsurprisingly, recognition process to accept the real-world
according to Tom Nieman, Senior Vice President condition of players’ valid currency.
of Operations for JCM Global, the company sees The physical size of paper currency varies from
Question: What does a Las itself at the front of the game. country to country, and national banks regularly
Vegas taxi driver have in common “JCM brought the bill validator market to gaming, revise designs for notes, and tinker with
with an Australian manufacturer so of course, we see ourselves as the leading experts denominations too, which adds headaches for
of coin recognition equipment? in the field, as do the big six manufacturers, who use manufacturers of validators. Of course, even with the
Answer: They both agree that JCM products as their default product,” he asserts. latest set of reference designs for the paper currency
Ticket-In, Ticket-Out ‘sucks’, And there’s no arrogance in this – JCM’s ‘intelligent being accepted on board, a bill validator will not be
although they reach their cashbox’ technology (ICB) and its Trident table game dealing with mint condition notes, but ‘street’ bills,
conclusions from very different system remain (as yet) unmatched by its competitors. that can be defaced and damaged in myriad ways,
perspectives. More of ICB and Trident in a while… from scrawled count figures added by bookkeepers,
The taxi driver, who used to be through rips and crumples to general grime and dirt.
a regular slot player and who Working at the bill face Apart from needing to be capable of upgrade to
meets, greets and talks to a vast The problems that confront makers and users of keep them abreast of data on new note designs and
number of casino customers year- cash handling systems, particularly those geared to on new counterfeits on the street, bill validators need
round, feels that the experience of dealing with notes or bills, are not going to go away to be physically maintained, cleaned and repaired like
playing slots has been much no matter how technology tries to level the playing all equipment with moving parts that works in a
diminished by the TITO. The ‘old field by offering more processing power for fewer potentially dirty environment.
days’ of sitting in front of your bucks to the makers of hardware. Bill validators are And as is the case with almost all the kit on the
favourite slot with a bucket of literally the gatekeepers of what goes in to a casino’s casino floor, operators generally want to reduce
coins were the good days – and cash handling system, and have to deal with a group machine downtime and reduce maintenance costs, so
you got to hear the clattering of variables that combine together to make matters facilities that help them manage their stock of bill
cascade of coins every time a slot surprisingly complex. Other bill handling equipment validators, ideally anticipating problems before they
paid out. The sound of jangling down the line, including automated sorters and arise, are likely to be welcomed.
coins encouraged you to keep counters, has to deal with a similar set of difficulties,
playing, and the clatter of a but will be dealing with validated bills rather than Acceptance rates – myth and magic
hopper emptying on the machine random currency that has come in off the street. The percentage of (valid) bills accepted, or
you were playing was part of the So what are the challenges faced at the bill acceptance rate, is the basic benchmark that seems
reward for winning, the driver validator slot? First, the customer standing in front of to be applied across the board. Caution may be
explains. Older slot players miss a slot that takes paper currency needs to feel needed, however, in comparing manufacturer’s figures
these elements, he says. comfortable and confident that the cash proffered is and expecting to be able to compare like-for-like.
And TITO isn’t all its cracked up going to be accepted. Like most people, players can MEI, for instance extracts audit data from validator
to be from the casino operator’s take some rejection, but keep spitting perfectly valid hardware, and believes that using the number of
experience, according to a coin bills back at them, and they will soon loose heart. motor starts to calculate Acceptance Rates delivers
accepter manufacturer we spoke Similarly, once a note disappears from view, the player the purest count. Okay, so everything is tracked
to. According to Astrosys, the wants the appropriate credit, and prompt resolution including those times when the player tries to feed a
company behind the MicroCoin of any dispute that results from a jam. To keep player card or other inappropriate item, which
coin validator there are hidden customers happy, bills need to be accepted readily. accounts MEI quoting acceptance rates in a range
costs in running TITO, which can One of the hurdles bill validators need to clear if between 97 percent and 99 percent, while in some
include the cost of warehousing casino operators are to be kept happy, involves real situations, 100 percent acceptance rates are
redeemed tickets and keeping rejecting counterfeit currency. Bill validators rely on achieved, it claims.
records on top of the material drawing a note mechanically over sensors and then ‘First Time’ are apparently important words when it
costs involved in printing them in comparing what they ‘see’ with what they expect to comes to comparing acceptance rates between
the first place. “TITO is more see, before making a very quick decision whether to manufacturers, and it is always going to be difficult,
expensive than people think it is,” accept or decline. An immediate trade-off is posed in the uncontrolled environment of a casino floor, to
32 JULY/AUGUST 2008
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