Axcess Partnering With Casino Technology Provider

By Mary Catherine O'Connor

Nov. 20, 2006—Texas-based RFID systems provider Axcess International has just completed an agreement with Genesis Resource, a Gilbert, Arizona-based company specializing in security systems for the casino industry. Under the terms of their agreement, Genesis will resell an Axcess RFID system for slot-machine key control, as well as other Axcess real-time location systems with applications in the casino and gaming industry, such as workforce-productivity tracking and vehicle tracking.

Casinos are known for having high-tech and ubiquitous security, but their motivations for such precautions are not purely internal. Each state's gaming board sets stringent requirements regarding casino business practices. For example, casino employees use keys to open slot machines when removing accumulated coins or gaming tokens.
If any keys end up missing—which can happen quite innocently if, for example, an employee leaves work with one in a pocket—the casino must shut down part or all of its facility and re-key any machines the missing key opened. This helps ensure the security of the slot machines, since any keys removed from the building or lost could be duplicated and used to steal money from the machines. For large casinos, the costs associated with shutting down part of a facility and re-keying machines can total $100,000.

To avoid such high operational costs and maintain consistently high customer service, casinos are turning to RFID-based tracking solutions to keep tabs on the keys. One such solution from Axcess International is in use at approximately 20 casinos, according to 'the company's marketing manager, Kelly Stark.

Genesis Resource's president, Sherry Olson, says her firm has already deployed a key-tracking system that provides many of the largest casinos in Las Vegas with a means of tracking which personnel have possession of slot-machine keys and other important keys. This can be done through a number of ways, such as requiring personnel to enter personal identification numbers into a keypad linked to a lockbox containing the keys. Another authentication method utilizes a biometric reader to open the lockbox when approved personnel submit to a fingerprint scan. The security layer includes software that can be set to let personnel remove specific keys (secured inside the lock box by a secondary solenoid lock), and only when making such a request during scheduled work shifts. However, Genesis Resource's system lacks a means of alerting casino staff if a key removed from the lockbox is being taken from the premises.