Click and Cruise for Plain Sailing!

Playsafe Systems recently carried out an unusual installation of its Click machine management system for operator Adam Jenkins of Maritime Gaming.

Maritime Gaming is a new venture for Jenkins who also runs his family business TVC Leisure, a land-based operator that supplies gaming and amusement machines to venues throughout the UK. The company was formed after a leading cruise line operator awarded them the contract to exclusively supply gaming machines and casino equipment on board their ships.

“The cruise line hadn’t offered any form of gaming before and were keen to introduce this as part of their entertainment offer, and consequently introduce a new revenue stream to their business,” says Jenkins. “However, there were a few challenges for us to overcome – not least because all their ships are cashless!”

In order to get around this, Maritime Gaming contacted Playsafe Systems to see if they could provide a TITO system connected to a PayStation, which passengers could use to purchase tickets to play the machines and also use to redeem their winning tickets. The whole set up was then connected to an online server and managed through Click.

“The Playsafe team has been invaluable for the whole process,” says Jenkins. “They invited us to their head office in Bath to introduce us to the system and provide a demo on how everything would work, they then came to our Wokingham depot to fit the machines with network and data capture units and help us prepare for the installation. Iain and James came on board the ship and installed the server and networking equipment, while our team was busy setting up the machines and fixing them to the walls so that they would be secure even in rough seas. The whole set-up went very smoothly.”

Click has been brilliant, our accounts department and the cruise lines accounts department both have access to the system and find it really easy to use, it allows both parties to view data in real time and generate reports including machine performance.  This has streamlined the collection process, as it enables us to complete routine collections without being on board. We certainly couldn’t manage without Click as the ship travels into international waters for weeks at a time and this is the only way we can have access to the data,” adds Jenkins.

“If the machines were not connected to a server, we would have no idea what we’d be walking into when the ship returns to a UK port, with Click we can review the data and plan those visits accordingly”.

“I actually spent a few days on the ship after the installation to meet with various teams on board and get a better understanding of the passengers behaviour patterns, it is fascinating to learn how different types of cruises can affect machine revenues,” he says. “For example, we have learnt that people tend to spend more money on shorter cruises!

We also use the Playsafe Paystation to run promotions, the team on board can print off promotional tickets to use as prizes for bingo or as a ‘Free Bet’ for people when they come on board, to encourage them to come and play.”

“This was an unusual project but a really rewarding one,” says Iain Lunt Sales and Commercial Manager at Playsafe Systems. “We knew that the TITO system connected to Click would be perfect for this kind of gaming environment and we were really happy to support the team at Maritime Gaming in setting up the gaming area. Apart from some initial challenges with the ship’s internet and firewalls the system was quickly operational. We also had a chance to do a little staff training so that they could deal with any simple operational issues such as note or ticket jams.”

Although it is early days, Maritime Gaming and the cruise line are very happy with how the system is working. “I can’t stop looking at the Click dashboard – it’s the first thing I do in the morning before I read my emails,” laughs Jenkins. “The good news is that we are already in discussions about fitting out the rest of the ships in the fleet and the area on board the next ship is much larger to accommodate more machines. We look forward to working with Playsafe again on this next project”.

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4 December 2023

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