"DRGT is committed to delivering the best possible technology that puts the player first"

What will be the highlights of DRGT’s presence at ICE 2019, and what innovations can we expect from your core systems and jackpot products?

Our success over the last 15 years or so has been driven by our unwavering commitment to developing and delivering the best possible technology that assist operators in putting their player first.

At ICE London we will continue to showcase our ever-expanding range of jackpot configurations, key drivers in ‘surprising and delighting’ players; an integral part of consumer marketing, and we see no reason to believe that gaming marketing should be any different. We also all know that the core drivers of gaming revenue are those players that visit frequently, and much of our development focus is on technology that assists operators in creating memorable moments for those players. What I’m referring to here, in addition to our ever-widening range of slots jackpots, and our BlackJack11’s tables jackpot game, is providing operators with additional communication and reporting tools that aid them in devising focused offers and personalized engagement opportunities.

Your Tables Management System is one of these modules, correct?

Yes, absolutely! I think in many cases Slots, simply because of the electronic nature of the product, benefits far more from any management system; what we have been able to do though is to offer operators the ability to seamlessly integrate Tables game play data into our accounting, cage and reporting modules. What this has done is very much ‘bridge the gap’ that used to exist between slots and tables player data, and as a result provide Tables and Marketing Managers the ability to recognize and reward their Tables players better.

Staying with products; your drRoamingCashier and drMediaManager talk very much to your ‘Player First’ mantra, can you expand on these a bit?

Of course! drRoamingCashier follows our drSelfRegistration raffle ticket and loyalty card software solution that we showcased at ICE last year.

The application loads straight onto any android mobile phone or tablet and allows operators to engage and transact with players anywhere on their gaming floor, providing them with the exact same service offering as at the casino cash desk or cage, but from the comfort of their favourite slot machine or table game.

Then in respect of providing operators with technology that easily allows them to engage their players with relevant and focused communications; our drMediaManager provides a simple and easy to use platform to place and schedule advertising material and messages to individual, or clusters of, overhead displays like TVs and jackpot signage, as well as all player tracking devices and EGMs with on-screen functionality. It really is as simple as selecting the device/s to which you'd like to send the communication, defining who you’d like to send it to, and when you'd like to send it, and then 'attaching' the relevant piece/s of communication. It really is that easy.

Speaking a little more broadly now, what are the main topics or upcoming trends in the industry you think will, or should prevail, during the event, and that visitors will be looking to talk to DRGT about?

We have spoken about the ever-increasing demand from consumers in general for tailored offers and communications, and the gaming sector is no different. I firmly believe that the player will always drive the agenda, he’s done so in the past, will do it in 2019, and will continue to do so in the future.

Notwithstanding the jackpots referred to above, if operators are unable to manage their gaming floor, engage with their players and provide easy to earn and use rewards the job is only half done. Our ability through our drScreen to stream and display videos, banners and live television, or jackpot hits to the top EGM screen or the player tracking display provides that engagement opportunity. Add to that our ability to provide extended account information ‘on-screen’ to both the player and the operator at any time, and you have an extremely powerful tool that provides an extremely effective and user-friendly solution for both the operator and the player. We believe that with the correct player engagement tools, and the correct jackpot products, backed up by a robust reporting and management system we are able to provide operators with the necessary technology to realise those memorable player moments I referred to earlier.

In closing, what does ICE London mean for you as a company?

ICE London as the world’s largest gaming exhibition is an obvious inclusion in our annual calendar. As you know, in addition to our European, Mexican, Latin American and Caribbean business, we formally established DRGT Africa in the last quarter of 2018, and with almost no time difference and easy daytime or overnight flights it’s an extremely easily accessible destination for our African customers, and obviously our European ones' too.

As the significant market leader in Switzerland, with over 10 casinos operating our system, and the only system used by all 9 Belgian casinos as examples, we are firmly entrenched in Europe, add to that our inroads into the ever-expanding South African (and African) gaming sector, particularly electronic bingo, and ICE starts to make real sense. Over a relatively short period of time we have managed to entrench ourselves more and more as the systems service provider of choice in Africa through our relationships with the Gold Rush Group, Millionaire's Gaming Africa and Caesars Entertainment's Emerald Resort and Casino, not to mention the significant South African success across Sun International of its Duma, SunStriker and Lion's Share wide-area progressive jackpots. Add to that BlackJack11’s which has now become arguably the most profitable Tables Jackpot game on the African continent, alongside its local installation at the Hippdrome in the UK, and in European locations like Cyprus, and our decision to exhibit in London becomes even more important.