A couple of years ago, Brian Christopher went live from the Venetian in Las Vegas during G2E. He was there to debut a new game, and as I often did before joining the BCSlots staff, I met up with him there for the live.
While I was there, a woman from the Venetian team was strolling through the area, asking if anyone needed a player’s card. Having never played at the Venetian, I opted in. She took some basic numeric information from me, handed me a temporary players card, and told me to visit the players club when I earned a certain number of points to receive free play.
After doing so, I visited the desk, claimed my incentive (which was offered on top of the normal new player offer), finished my registration with them (which is why they offered that incentive) and got my permanent players card.
This system was very different – instead of having to wait in line to start playing, I was able to get up and running in just a moment. I would later learn this was a solution by Playersoft, one of the technology companies empowering casinos to offer new ways to get things done, helping both players and the casino.
As it happens, I had gotten to know someone from Playersoft during the pandemic, Jatonia Ziegler, Vice President of Marketing & Sales at Playersoft, as part of a discussion group that had formed during the pandemic. She and I share a lot of views around how players and casinos can improve things, despite coming at it from different angles.
Playersoft focuses on offering solutions that empower the casino staff to assist players faster, and allow them to enjoy the amenities on site longer. “We know that players want to game, not stand in line or search for service,” she said. “That takes away from their gaming experience. That’s why Playersoft offers casinos an array of solutions to cut down the lines and mobilize staff.”
Playersoft offers a set of apps that can be deployed on mobile devices, meaning casino staff can work from wherever they are on the floor, not just behind the desk. Ziegler noted that “our most popular apps are Mobile Enrollment, Group Manager and Event Management. Each provides features that allow service to be offered from anywhere on property, using a Playersoft scanner. Players can be guaranteed more time on games when service is found quickly and delivered in an instant.”
My experience was an interaction with a Venetian employee on their Mobile Enrollment app. Instead of waiting at the players desk or rolling the dice on a kiosk that often doesn’t work for me for some reason, a casino staff member can get me up and running quickly.
“Casino staff can work as a team assisting players from anywhere, making it a time-saver for players,” she said. “If the enrollment process is simple for players and staff, more data is collected in less time – a win/win for everyone.”
She noted that casinos are wise to capture data wherever and whenever possible – it gives them more information about players to serve them better, and with mobile devices the burden of being tethered to a computer is eliminated. For players, it reduces on waits by empowering a larger team of employees to be able to help, vs. a couple behind a counter.
Playersoft is also deploying tools to help hosts manage their guests, a challenge that we hear players often frustrated with – slow or no responses, lack of visibility into whether certain things are being accomplished, and more. This in part can occur because it takes place via direct communication with a host via email or text, and if a host is sick, on vacation, or just busy, a player isn’t sure where things stand.
“This one is always a hot topic of discussion,” Ziegler said. “No matter who their host is, a VIP Player wants to be taken care of and known by staff. HPM by Playersoft allows hosts to work as teams, leaving comments, notes and more for the team to see, while still managing their individual players for development. Hosts can easily record all communication sent and received from players.”
By allowing the hosts to work together instead of individually, they can back each other up when one gets busy or isn’t in the office, while ensuring players get expedited responses relative to what one host can do on their own.
But these tools also let the casino keep tabs on things to make sure players aren’t getting left behind, she explained. “We just recently added permissions for Management to view text and other forms of communication to eliminate player messages being lost or misinterpreted when a host leaves or is off duty. The other cool feature that Hosts and Players love is Hosts can easily identify and locate valued players who play with or without a card, making the interactions more personal.”
So if you ever wondered how your host spotted you at the casino and playing, tools like these from Playersoft are empowering these surprise visits, giving you some additional face time with your host.
Companies like Playersoft are disrupting the pre-existing models of supporting customers in ways that are more efficient, and saving players like myself from long lines, something we can all be grateful for. For me, I can get back to playing and enjoying what the casino has to offer. For casinos, it’s less time customers have to spend in line, and hopefully are spending a few more dollars within the building instead.
