Four Queens is the Winner with Bytware Software
Among the world's most recognizable entertainment attractions, the glittering casinos of downtown Las Vegas, Nevada, stand tall. Particularly prominent along the five-block downtown segment known as the Fremont Street Experience is the Four Queens Hotel and Casino (www.fourqueens.com), a 690-room property with stunning twin 19-story towers. Though the gaming industry thrives on mathematical odds and chance, forward-thinking casino operators at the Four Queens leave no aspect of customer service to chance, choosing two software applications from Bytware.
When it comes to customer service, casinos are known for accommodating the needs of "high rollers." Though the preferences of these big spenders have been carefully monitored, the task has not been so easy with the general public. A significant change occurred during the early 1990s as hotel/casino administrators discovered the ability of integrated computer systems to track the purchasing and gaming preferences of thousands of patrons and provide perks to encourage repeat visits.
In the spring of 1999, the Four Queens recruited Vince Daddio, a gaming industry technology specialist who had designed the IT infrastructure for six casinos in Colorado, Connecticut, and Louisiana, and was administering the computer operations of a Las Vegas gaming corporation that owned and operated 10 casinos in Nevada and other states. Daddio's mission: reorganize the Four Queens casino IT infrastructure and operations in three-and-a-half months.
The Solution
With cost-effectiveness and reliability as underlying design parameters, Daddio realized the need for an automated diagnostic and alert messaging component. To contain staffing costs, the system would be required to run unattended a portion of the time. With this in mind, Daddio searched for programmable monitoring technology with paging capabilities. He found what he needed in two related system monitoring and messaging applications created by Bytware: MessengerPlus, for the casino's core AS/400 system, and MessengerNT, for its IBM Net Infinity 5000 servers.
Collectively, the Four Queens computer systems handle a wide range of functions, including hotel operations, casino systems, accounting, marketing, shipping, facilities management, human resources, payroll, inventory, and purchasing. MessengerPlus and MessengerNT continually monitor computer system functions and generate alerts in response to improper activities, including power interruptions, security breaches, system crashes, incomplete batch runs, hardware breakdowns, communication failures, and other serious problems. MessengerPlus and MessengerNT are designed to function in tandem and transmit alert messages to any combination or sequence of two-way pagers, alphanumeric and numeric pagers, telephone voice-mail systems, or email addresses.
Computer functions are vital to segments of the casino industry—on the gaming floor, in the hotel, within restaurant and entertainment venue operations, and in marketing and general customer service. The Four Queens' various computer systems integrate hotel reservation and registration, room service, and restaurant food server order screens and terminals, used in other operations with an administrative services data system that not only manages central financial operations but also generates reports that track customer preferences and identify the profitability of specific products and services.
Slot, video poker, and keno machine operations, including routine payouts, jackpots, and "fill" alerts, indicating machines that need to be restocked with coins, are computer-driven functions as well. Additionally, the Four Queens issues "Reel Winners Club" cards, with which casino guests earn redeemable points by recording their play on individual slot machines, qualifying them for cash prizes and special promotional items such as discounted or free rooms, meals, or even airfare, depending upon the amount and frequency of their play. A "VIP Table Games Account" extends similar privileges to players at table games—craps, roulette, and cards. Armed with these gaming patterns, the Four Queens marketing department customizes mailings sent to the homes of patrons between visits. In this new wired theater of hotel/casino operations, Vince Daddio says the reliable performance of the various AS/400 and NT networks is of critical importance.
"We selected Bytware's MessengerPlus and MessengerNT because of the flexibility that both allow in setting the parameters for severity, priority, codes, response instructions, and other variables specific to our complex operations here," Daddio said. During a 30-day evaluation period, Daddio and his IT staff installed MessengerPlus on a test system, on which they intentionally created errors, including incomplete jobs and an unplugged network cable. "The unplugged cable represented a particular problem severity level, to which the monitoring software should respond in a prescribed way with a specified degree of urgency, alerting designated personnel," Daddio explained. "That level of severity required notification to the director of IT, the AS/400 operations manager, and the network engineer. MessengerPlus is programmed to reissue pages if the system receives no response within 15 minutes. When the cable connection was broken, MessengerPlus responded perfectly on time by sending out immediate cellular phone and pager alerts, and continued to do so in proper sequence until a response was initiated." Daddio said.
MessengerPlus accommodates two-way paging, enabling technicians to respond to messages and issue corrective commands directly from their two-way pagers or email, without even signing on to the AS/400. Daddio has both MessengerPlus and MessengerNT configured to alert not only him and other inhouse technicians about problems, but also to signal IBM, with which the Four Queens has a hardware service contract. "If a hard drive or multiple hard drives were to fail, MessengerPlus would immediately page me, the network engineer, the network operations engineer, and IBM services. The page not only indicates that a problem exists, but also provides an explanation or system error codes identifying the nature of the problem. So by the time we know about it, IBM already does, too, which helps guarantee the three-hour response time that IBM promises. MessengerPlus and MessengerNT afford us a failsafe mechanism."
In practice, response to problems is typically much faster. "A couple of weeks ago, I had left the building at the end of the day and I was on my way to dinner when my pager and cell phone went off," Daddio said. "The text message displayed was: 'Network critical No. 1 error. Network connectivity terminated. System 4Q AS/400.' MessengerPlus had also left a message on my home phone consisting of a digital stamp of the phone number of the Four Queens computer room. The failure interrupted communication among our hotel, casino, and accounting systems. Within 30 seconds of the failure, MessengerPlus notified IBM and the Four Queens technical staff. Four Queens technical staff members arrived at the site within 15 minutes and were in immediate contact with IBM technicians, who already knew the cause of the failure as a result of the error code transmitted in the MessengerPlus page. With replacement of a faulty component we had in our parts inventory, we had the system restored within an additional 15 minutes. The hotel gave the guests who were waiting to register free drinks and hors d'oeuvres, and before they knew it the problem was corrected."
MessengerPlus maintains a record of all messages and events monitored and corrective actions performed. That information helps Daddio determine which functions are most prone to failure and helps guide him in taking preventive steps. Daddio reports that MessengerPlus and MessengerNT have saved the Four Queens a considerable amount in staffing costs since they were activated in December 1999. "Instead of a three-shift operation, we staff not quite two full shifts, so we've eliminated one full shift," Daddio said. "All together, a staff of six IT technicians services the entire casino and hotel operation."
Out on the main casino floor, machines are whirring, dice are rolling, and lights are flashing. But as far as Vince Daddio is concerned, the Four Queens has hit the jackpot upstairs in the computer room with MessengerPlus and MessengerNT.
Learn more about the Four Queens Hotel and Casino.
Learn more about MessengerPlus.
Resource Details
Type: Case Study
Product: MessengerPlus
Customer: Four Queens Hotel and Casino
Summary
When it comes to customer service, casinos are known for accommodating the needs of "high rollers." The Four Queens relies upon MessengerPlus tohelp them react quickly and provide first class service to their customers.
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