The Balkan Entertainment & Gaming Expo (BEGE) took place last week and Innovative Technology (ITL) welcomed visitors from across the region and further a-field. ITL’s stand was voted the winner of ‘most complex cash handling portfolio’ at BEGE 2016 and highlighted the company’s innovative products and ticketing solutions.

Lina Trofimow, Business Development Manager, attended the show and said “Last year’s BEGE was a great show for us, so it was an easy decision to return again this year. The ITL brand is gaining recognition in the Balkans and visitors were eager to see our latest products this year. With support for over 100 worldwide currencies, Balkan customers have confidence in our products and our stand was voted the winner of most complex cash handling portfolio in the BEGE 2016 awards. TITO technology is a hot topic in the industry, interest has grown significantly so we used our stand this year to highlight our new ticketing products. We receiving a lot of enquiries at the show, and our unique note validator & ticket printer the SMART Ticket really stood out.”

Ticketing was a key focus on the ITL stand with a number of coupon and ticket printers on display; from compact printers, CR-158 and the NV12+ a combined note validator & printer, to the high capacity flatbed printer FBF-166 and the unique SMART Ticket.

Lina continued, “Our ticketing solutions received a lot of interest during the show as the industry investigate the value of utilising TITO. A lot of operators want to retrofit existing machines and we can help to overcome common conversion issues with our InnoHub & Server. Our hardware allows TITO conversion for any compliant analogue or digital machines and we offer a variety of printing options to suit different applications. The CR-158 was popular with operators who simply want to install a printer in their machine, whereas operators looking to utilise both note and ticket payments were impressed by the SMART Ticket’s versatility, combining our flagship note validator and ticket printer module to allow note & ticket in and ticket out payments.”

BEGE marked the final event of ITL’s 2016 exhibition calendar, however the company will be appearing at a number of exhibitions in 2017 including Retail’s Big Show and ICE at the start of the year. More information is available on ITL’s website here.

Mirko Zwing is based in ITL’s German office in Pinneberg and recently celebrated 10 years with the company.

I first joined ITL in 2006 as a Repairs Technician, just as the original NV10 was released. As far as I can remember, my very first job was to replace the drive belts on these NV10s but I also spent a lot of time repairing other products such as the hugely popular NV4 note validator.

Soon after I started at ITL, the company began to release more and more new products and I was charged with providing customer training for the then new BV20, BV50 and BV100. Having never given a training presentation before I was slightly nervous but I made sure I was very well prepared. I knew the products inside-out and my first training session went as smoothly as possible. Over time, I performed fewer and fewer repairs, delivering more training sessions and helping customers with phone support. I was given more responsibility in 2009 and was appointed as the first, dedicated Customer Support Engineer in Germany.

In 2012, the German Customer Support Team merged with the UK team, working under Customer Support Manager, Andy Bassam. I really enjoy being part of this bigger team and we all learn a lot from each other. Originally technical support was made up of mainly British staff, so I put my “German” stamp on things early on, trying to ensure things run as efficiently as possible.

My job at ITL has given me the opportunity to travel the globe, providing direct support to customers. Last year I travelled all the way to China to train new colleagues in our Shenzhen manufacturing facilities and get an insight into the production process. Even though manufacturing does not directly relate to my role as a Customer Support Engineer, I feel it is important to have a diverse understanding of the company’s activities, in case anything unexpected occurs when dealing with customer issues.

Last year I was promoted to Lead Customer Support Engineer. My new role means that I have more of an input in shaping the future of the Customer Support department and how we can improve the service we provide to our customers. I get to help develop new and existing colleagues as well as looking after customer support for Germany and Spain, which is one of ITL’s largest markets.

Ten years at one company is a long time, and I think this shows that I enjoy my work. Primarily, I enjoy working with my colleagues, the company has a real family atmosphere that makes coming to work easy. There are lots of opportunities to meet up with friends from other offices around the world, and socialise. I have been to various celebrations in Oldham and even a weekend in Amsterdam with colleagues. The day-to-day work is varied and although I’m always very busy, I’m never bored doing what I do. I’m lucky to work in such a great team, and I am able to constantly learn from everyone whether they are a manager or brand new to the company.

Thorsten Labusch is based in ITL’s German office in Pinneberg and recently celebrated 15 years with the company. Recently announced as VP of Sales & Business Development, Retail & Kiosk Thorsten has been looking back on his career so far with ITL.

I joined Innovative Technology’s German branch, Automated Transaction GmbH back in 2001 and was responsible for creating a Technical Support and Repair Department in the Pinneberg office, just outside Hamburg. The office was purely sales, so I was the first member of the support team and with the introduction of the new Euro across Europe I was very busy in the early days assisting NV2 and NV4 customers with the currency upgrade. While everyone in Germany was excited to see the new Euro currency it was a big change with lots of people worried about what it would mean for the Country.

The adoption of a brand new currency across the whole continent was a huge milestone especially for the cash handling industry and it was definitely an exciting time to work for the company helping everyone switch over to the new Euro.

Over the next few years, the company in Germany grew significantly, with a lot of new colleagues joining the team. We soon outgrew our existing office building and moved to a larger space in 2004 where I was involved in the office layout planning with Sales Director, Marcus who I have worked with since joining the Company. I was still heading up the support and repair’s team, now made up of 6 staff, until 2007 when I moved over to the Sales team to help promote our products. Using the product knowledge I had gained since joining the company I was responsible for our Gaming, Amusement and Vending customers across Eastern Europe. I remember travelling to Russia a lot, maybe 20 times a year and even celebrated a couple of birthdays in Russia. Our NV7 and NV8 validators were a huge hit across Europe so there was a lot of customer visits as Operators looked to install bank note validators into their machines.

The UK Product Development Team was now releasing new innovative cash handling equipment every year and these new product introductions meant a lot of time on the road, visiting customers in the German speaking countries across Europe, demonstrating our latest units. With our Head Office in Oldham, England I became a frequent flyer on the Hamburg to Manchester flight, travelling regularly for customer and communication meetings. I still travel to the UK regularly. I can talk to colleagues daily over the phone and we even have video conferencing facilities but none of this compares to actual time in the UK office. Seeing the latest product prototypes and taking to colleagues in the development team is invaluable, so I try to visit the UK office as regularly as I can.

In 2012 the Company began to develop products for different markets and I took over responsibility for generating new business in the Retail & Kiosk Sector. 2012 also marked 20 years of trading for Innovative Technology and colleagues from the UK, Germany and Spain enjoyed a trip to Amsterdam for a weekend of sightseeing and fun to mark the special milestone. It’s always great to get together with colleagues from our European offices and we all had a great time celebrating in Amsterdam.

Following yet more expansion in 2013 Automated Transaction’s Germany became Innovative Technology – Niederlassung Deutschland – the official German branch for ITL and I was promoted to Senior Business Development Manager, Retail & Kiosk.  Whilst happy with the promotion Senior implies old in German  – maybe they were trying to tell me something!

I have just celebrated my 15th year with the German office, I’ve progressed within the company and seen a lot of growth. We’ve got a really good team, made up of several long-standing colleagues like myself and a few new faces as we continue to grow. ITL is a nice friendly place to work, it’s like a big busy family and that’s why I’ve been with the company for 15 years – it’s not easy to leave your family!

Earlier this month I was promoted to VP of Sales & Business Development, Retail & Kiosk and now head up the RK sales team. I’m excited for the future and this new challenge, hopefully the best is yet to come.

Innovative Technology is delighted to announce the launch of Live Ticket+ - a unique, integrated TITO implementation service, supported by its partners InnoPrint and InnoServ. Live Ticket+ is the complete solution for any Operators wanting to implement a TITO system within their business.

Chris Robinson, Development Director for InnoPrint, said “Live Ticket+ removes the hassle of incorporating ticketing capabilities within customer machines. I’ve spoken to many of my colleagues in the industry and the majority have expressed interest in adopting TITO into their business, however the major hurdle has been the time and knowledge required to install the technology. Live Ticket+ by-passes any potential difficulties that operators may encounter during the installation process.”    

TITO (Ticket in – Ticket out) technology has emerged as a key option for cash handling solutions in the last decade. Ticketing continues to develop and is now valued as the superior method of dispensing winnings to customers. Rather than paying out large sums of cash to players of Gaming and Amusement machines, TITO-enabled machines instead print a barcoded ticket that represents a certain value. This ticket can then be exchanged for cash at redemption terminals located in the casino/AGC, once the customers have finished playing.

Live Ticket+ involves contributions from all partner companies. Innovative Technology provides the cash handling and ticket peripherals, Innoprint provides the TITO conversion hardware, and InnoServ install and configure all components to complete the conversion process and can provide ongoing after sales support to customers too.

Customers can choose between several high-quality ticketing solutions from Innovative Technology, including the versatile SMART Ticket, which is ideal for large note applications; and the NV12 USB+, a compact option for operators with limited space considerations. Once the cash handling peripherals have been selected, machines are fitted with InnoPrint’s GBG compliant InnoHub, and Server, which allows operators to receive a full audit of all TITO transactions. The InnoHub & Server work in conjunction to convert any compliant machine to be TITO-ready, whilst also providing operators’ total control of their machines, the lowest cost of ownership, and complete audit traceability.

In the final step of the process InnoServ perform a full product installation and deliver after-sales support. The team of engineers can install TITO technology into any compliant gaming machine and InnoServ’s wide range of services include: initial site analysis, full equipment analysis, structured cabling, installation, configuration and after-sales support.     

If you are interested in adding TITO to your business, please visit www.liveticketplus.com for more information.