Tag: Industry News

Carl Degiorgio, COO at PressEnter Group, says that customer service is a powerful differentiator that most operators are not currently taking advantage of

Online casino operators such as PressEnter Group go to great lengths to ensure their brand delivers more value than those of their rivals. To do this, many focus on areas such as marketing, bonusing and the slots and games stocked in their lobbies.

But one of the most powerful ways to differentiate is also one of the most underestimated, and that is customer support.

Customer support is one of the most vital departments when it comes to the success of any company but especially an online casino. In an industry where creating a unique yet sustainable competitive advantage is challenging, this can be a key differentiator.

Customer service is so important because it is often the first point of contact for customers. It is where they go when they are considering signing up for the first time but have a question, need assistance during their time at the casino or if they have had a bad experience and are going to close their account.

This makes it a fundamental part of the overall player experience, and if run correctly can be used to convert more players, boost retention and drive cross-sell.

A blueprint for top-level customer support:

At PressEnter Group, we believe that good customer support comes down to providing the right information at the right time, but gold standard customer support requires going a step further.

At a minimum, players expect to be able to speak with agents at all times so this means offering 24/7 customer support across all channels – live chat, email, telephone, etc. Agents must be highly trained, and not only meet but exceed customer expectations always.

The philosophy of doing whatever it takes to ensure the player is happy and to make them feel valued needs to be embedded in the company culture and be applied to all departments and not just customer support.

Delivering the highest level of customer support is not without its challenges:

Just like any department within an online casino operator, customer support has many challenges to face and overcome. The main hurdle is hiring the right people for the job – customer service can be testing at times and to be a good agent requires talent and training.

For global operators, it is important to hire agents that speak different languages – as we all know, localisation is key to the success of an online casino. But it is just as important to train agents and to continue to help them develop and grow.

The only way to ensure agents meet the standards set by the company is to employ the best talent in the industry, and again that can be easier said than done. But by providing the right working environment, training and incentives, it can be done.

This is vital for operators that are active in multiple markets, as they have additional complexities to contend with. The greatest of these is the need to hire talent that can speak the local language and ensure that agents are available at all times despite the different time zones.

This is why PressEnter Group has hired a scheduling coordinator who is responsible for managing customer service agent rotas based on the expected traffic at different times of the day, on different days and in each of the jurisdictions where we are active.

Leveraging the latest technologies:

While having a talented and trained team of agents is key to customer support, so too is the technology used to deliver the service to players. In most cases, operators will use a third party for this, and, in our experience, it is vital to undertake due diligence prior to entering an agreement.

Operators need to ensure their chosen partner is robust and reliable and that they can scale in line with their own growth plans.

The latest technologies need to be combined with seamless processes and training. Beyond covering the basics, training should be wide in scope and granular in execution if support agents are to achieve the highest possible standards of service and reflect the brand’s image and core values.

Having the right processes in place ensures there is organisation within the department. This is especially important when scaling rapidly as PressEnter Group has – without clearly defined processes, there is a risk of generating chaos which in turn will negatively impact customer support.

PressEnter Group puts such importance on processes, organisation and training that we have a dedicated training coordinator as well as a QA specialist.

Customer service and responsible gambling:

Customer support is not only vital to acquisition, retention and delivering a superior player experience, it is also a powerful responsible gambling tool.

While licensed operators such as PressEnter Group offer the tools and information that players need to stay in control of their play, nothing beats the direct line of communication that customer support agents have with our customers.

They are able to observe playing patterns, monitor communications and make interventions as and when required. And they can do this with a personal touch.

The basics of customer support are the same for all operators, so to use this aspect of online casino to stand out they need to dare to do things a bit differently. You might not get it right the first time around, but over time it will lead to stand-out customer service.

At PressEnter Group, we have learned to master the basics and now put our own unique twist on customer support. This sets us aside from our rivals and is reflected in our customer satisfaction scores, which are way above the industry average.

There is minimal differentiation when it comes to games and payment methods being offered by operators, yet the customer service delivered by staff members simply cannot be replicated by other brands and this must be capitalised on.

Those that do will not only elevate the customer experience, but they will take player acquisition, retention and loyalty to the next level.

EGT in partnership with its distributor for the Italian VLT market Global Starnet has strengthened its position as one of the most successful gaming suppliers on local level, having recently made a large-scale installation of 170 cabinets of the P-27/27 St Slim VLT model. They offer top titles from the Bulgarian manufacturer’s portfolio and players can enjoy them at numerous gambling halls in many cities throughout the whole country.

“I’m very excited about this installation, which is among our biggest successes since the pandemic, and I want to give special thanks to our long-term partner Global Starnet for helping us make it happen. The feedback we have received from the managers of the gaming establishments regarding the performance of our products has been very good. According to them, their customers are fascinated by the convenience and the outlook of the cabinet, as well as the enthralling games, among which Rise of Ra, Burning Hot, Burning Hot Coins stand out. Burning Hot Coins has a brand new and innovative mathematical model and is already а favorite to the players,” Zornitsa Boncheva, regional manager for Italy at EGT, said.

Ms. Boncheva added that another delivery of 200 P-27/27 St Slim VLT cabinets was going to be made soon. She also revealed that more new highly-potential games were in the process of preparation and will be available to the Italian gaming audience in the near future.

888 Holdings plc announced following the completion of the acquisition of the international (non-US) business of William Hill, the expansion of the board of directors with the appointments of Andrea Gisle Joosen, Andria Vidler and Randy Freer as Independent Non-Executive Directors with immediate effect.

Andrea Gisle Joosen

Andrea is a highly experienced non-executive director having held leadership positions across multiple international technology and consumer industries companies. Andrea currently serves as a non-executive director for Currys plc in the UK and Billerud AB in Sweden.

She previously chaired Sweden-headquartered Acast AB and was a non-executive director at ICA Gruppen, James Hardie Industries plc and Mr Green & Co, the online gaming business which was acquired by William Hill plc in 2018.

During her executive career, Andrea has held numerous leadership roles in the media and technology sectors including as CEO of Boxer TV Sweden and as Managing Director of Nordics for Panasonic, Chantelle Group and Twentieth Century Fox.

Andria Vidler

Andria has 30 years’ experience in marketing and technology, focusing on re-energising brands through consumer engagement and digital innovation. Since 2020 she has been the CEO of Tag EMEA, the independent end-to-end creative production partner for brands and agencies. Andria leads the global ESG strategy for Tag.

Andria spent the previous six years as CEO of Centaur Media PLC. Prior to Centaur, Andria spent four years as CEO for EMI Music UK & Ireland and has held senior roles at Bauer Media and at the BBC. She was a non-executive for Gamesys PLC where she chaired the ESG committee. She has previously served as a Trustee for the Media Trust and The Roundhouse Trust and as Chairman of the Marketing Group of Great Britain.

Randy Freer

Randy Freer is CEO of The Freer Company which provides business vision and brand narrative advice to a broad spectrum of companies. Prior to setting up The Freer Company, Randy was CEO of Hulu, the American subscription streaming service.

Before Hulu, Randy led 21st Century Fox’s global entertainment and sports television assets. As President and COO of the Fox Networks Group, he oversaw all operational areas and distribution and advertising revenue, business development and strategy. Randy also served on the Hulu, National Geographic and Big Ten Network boards in this role. Randy was also previously a Senior Advisor to McKinsey Consulting in the TMT, Sports and Advertising Tech and Digital Transition sectors.

Lord Mendelsohn, Non-Executive Chairman of 888 Holdings Plc, said: “It gives me great pleasure to welcome three outstanding candidates in Andrea, Andria and Randy to the Board of 888. As well as further strengthening the Group’s corporate governance structure, they each bring extensive and highly relevant skills and experience to our Board which will be of significant benefit to the Group as it delivers its long-term strategic objectives as an enlarged business post the completion of our acquisition of William Hill.

“888 has a number of very exciting opportunities ahead and I am looking forward to working closely with our strengthened Board to continue to deliver the Group’s growth strategy and generate further stakeholder value.”

Apple’s dragging its feet in response to Anti-Trust Pressure; Bob Lawson, Optimove’s Director of Mobile offering, looks at what that actually means

Operators and mobile app developers love Apple’s App Store. Specifically, those who have a high percentage of their players on iPhones. They love the reach the stores give them to acquire new players.

Operators and mobile app developers dislike Apple’s App Store. They are tired of the hoops they need to jump through to get their app listed. Not to mention Apple’s 13,000-word “guidelines,” which include restrictions for types of apps they will accept, and where, AND the slice that the App Stores take on every dollar spent through the app, kicking a big hole in potential revenue operators can earn from their players.

It’s fair to say operators and mobile app developers alike have a love-hate relationship with the App Stores and Apple in particular.

Recently Apple has come under increasing pressure from Anti-Competition lobbyists to offer other ways for users to utilize their apps on iPhones. But a business with over 745 million software subscribers, grossing over $70bn in direct app revenue a year, isn’t going to give that up easily. Add to this their slowing revenue from hardware sales, and some commentators see Apple increasingly as a software company rather than a vendor of high-end devices. What are we to make of these somewhat conflicting messages? Consider the following:

1. Apple is under pressure from antitrust regulators to show opportunities for companies that don’t, or can’t, have apps in the App Store. The ruling from their very public lawsuit with Epic Games in the US, and the EU ruling in favor of Spotify, also means that Apple needs to show tangible proof that the Apple ecosystem isn’t closed to competition.
2. Apple is doing everything it can to hold onto its dominant position while appearing to listen to software makers’ concerns. They continue to make only minor tweaks to App Store terms in response to class actions and slowly introduce small, frequent changes. Those Changes make it very difficult for developers to stay on top of what would make Apple block their new app listing.

So how do the recent announcements at the June 22 WWDC event give us a clue to Apple’s response to pressures? First, it continues to show Apple’s strategy for the glacial pace of change.

3. Apple has for years been reluctant, to say the least to allow applications other than approved apps on its store, accessing phone and browser functionality. Push notifications, for example, have been possible on Apple mobile apps since June 17, 2009. Just 11 months after it introduced the App Store in July 2008. They have always seen the Apple Push Notifications service (APNs) as a critical part of the iPhone experience.

And in the meantime, next door, Google has allowed much more extensive options for delivering notifications on Android devices. For example, since 2013, it has been possible to deliver notifications on an Android phone to users who don’t have the mobile app installed but have subscribed for notifications from a mobile responsive website or progressive web app (PWA).

But there’s a big difference here and it is that neither websites nor PWAs are downloaded from the Google Play Store, so they aren’t governed by the submission rules or delivering a revenue cut for the Play Store.

4. Apple’s resistance to following Google’s lead could easily be seen as an attempt to restrict the popularity of Web-Based Applications over mobile apps published through its stores. After all, in the past it did follow Google’s lead when it first introduced notifications to mobile apps published through the Google Play Store.
5. Apple argues that it’s about maximizing users’ customer experience, but increasingly it has been seen as anti-competitive. It’s strongly suspected that the recent announcement at WWDC 22 to introduce web push notifications to Apple devices is a way to demonstrate that they have no platform bias. They will soon introduce web notifications to browsers running on mobile devices, closing the gap between Mobile Apps and Web Apps.
6. The technology has been available as a developer test build for months. At their developer conferences, Apple often announces features well into the future to get their community excited about what’s to come. Rarely do they announce something that will be available up to a year later. So why announce now, and why so far in advance?
7. Antitrust pressure may have led to the announcement this year. And maybe, just maybe, by kicking the can down the road, the heat will come off. They have built it, but will they come? Only time will tell.

What does this mean for the industry?

Marketing automation tolls will relish the prospect of allowing more freedom around mobile devices. CRM Marketing Platforms have many customers who don’t, and won’t, have apps in the store for one reason or another. So being able to offer an experience that is on a par with that of a Native Mobile app is a compelling idea. The power of push notifications to re-engage with lapsed players and send reminders to Apple users, as has been possible with Android, is undoubtedly a good thing.

Is Apple ready to truly embrace customer experience across mobile and web applications? It’s anyone’s guess, well anyone not named Tim Cook, anyway. We’ll be watching this space closely over the coming months.

Bob Lawson is Director of Mobile Offerings at Optimove. He joined Optimove early in 2022, when it acquired Kumulos, the company he co-founded. Kumulos was a market-leading Mobile and Web Messaging Platform serving a broad range of industries. Bob has spent more than 18 years in technology, particularly Mobile MarTech. He has held commercially facing roles in start-ups, scale-ups, and large enterprise businesses, particularly in Mobile Technology. Before working in the Tech space, he spent 15 years in Financial Services, most recently as Marketing Director of one of Europe’s largest Fund Management Companies.

Galaxy Gaming Inc., the world’s largest independent developer and distributor of casino table games and technology, announced that they have entered a partnership with Spirit Gaming, an independent casino gaming distribution company based in Germany.

Subject to certain contractual obligations, Spirit Gaming will be the exclusive distribution partner for Galaxy Gaming in Germany, Austria, Luxembourg, and Belgium and a non-exclusive distribution partner in Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

Spirit Gaming will provide localised support and distribution for Galaxy Gaming’s innovative new Triton Casino Systems, Bonus Jackpot System and their entire portfolio of table game content including the world-famous 21+3, Perfect Pairs and Three Card Prime. These games can all be enhanced with thrilling progressives supported by either of Galaxy’s technology solutions – Triton Casino Systems and the Bonus Jackpot System. This best-in-class content and technology paired with unmatched service levels has proven successful for Galaxy Gaming’s clients across the UK, Europe, North America and online worldwide.

“We continue to see great success with our table game content and progressive solutions across the United Kingdom and look forward to replicating that same success for our clients in these new markets. We see great opportunity with this pairing of our best-in-class table game content and solutions with Spirit Gaming’s European market expertise,” Todd Cravens, President and CEO of Galaxy Gaming, said.

“The entire Spirit Gaming team is proud to partner with Galaxy Gaming. We are very excited to enlarge the footprint of Galaxy Gaming in Europe and are convinced the players will love the innovative and thrilling games, especially the progressive JP systems,” Frank Ziegler, Managing Director of Spirit Gaming, said.

Betsoft Gaming has signed a partnership deal with Simsino, iGG’s newly launched casino brand.

The MGA licenced casino – simsino.com – will host Betsoft’s portfolio of table games and award-winning slots. Latest releases Alkemor’s Elements and the anime themed Kensei Blades, alongside classic hits The Slotfather and Weekend in Vegas are already available to play.

In order to further enhance gameplay, Betsoft launched its first promotional product, Take the Prize, earlier this year. The promotional tool will significantly add to the overall player experience by offering a random fortune wheel with cash prizes or bonuses in any of Betsoft’s qualifying games throughout any promotion.

Simsino has been designed to appeal to a younger player base looking for exciting promotions and fast, immersive gameplay. A generous Welcome Bonus and a unique “Simsino Cashback” feature are available as part of the Simsino loyalty programme. Furthermore, the easy-to-navigate site offers a streamlined user experience to take players straight to the games and promotions they want.

Anna Mackney, Head of Account Management at Betsoft Gaming, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with Simsino as they are a young and innovative brand. Betsoft has a diverse portfolio which appeals across many demographics and we anticipate a successful relationship with Simsino.”

John Foster, Head of Games & Aggregation Manager, iGG WhiteLabels, said: “Great content is a significant driver of customer traffic and so a provider of Betsoft’s calibre is essential for simsino.com and other iGG WhiteLabels. We look forward to seeing this partnership enhance players’ engagement with the brand.”

Interblock d.d., the leading developer and supplier of luxury fully and semi-automated electronic table games (ETG) globally, announced that it has been acquired by funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management L.P. (Oaktree).

The Company is well known worldwide for its multi-player gaming devices that continually set industry standards and provide the ultimate in luxury interactive entertainment experiences for players. Oaktree has a long history of successful investments in gaming and leisure companies, including J&J Ventures and Cannery Casino Resorts.

“We have delivered robust growth over the past six years, which can be attributed to the company’s dedicated team of ETG specialists, best in class product portfolio, data driven decision making and our continued focus on innovation. There is significant momentum within the Electronic Table Game sector, making it the right time to partner with one of the largest private equity firms in the world – Oaktree. Such progress would not have been possible without the leadership and innovative eye of our outgoing Chairman, Joc Pečečnik, who has contributed significantly to both Interblock’s development and the gaming industry overall. Moving forward, we are excited about our partnership with Oaktree and the ability to further accelerate our momentum, concentrating on both organic growth and potential acquisitions,” John Connelly, Global Chief Executive Officer of Interblock, said.

With its luxury product offerings, Interblock is the number-one supplier of electronic games in North America, Latin America, EMEA and APAC and will continue to innovate with new software and products for the benefit of our customers and players around the globe.

“We look forward to being a part of this exciting new chapter for Interblock, which boasts significant market leadership in an incredibly fast-growing industry, an attractive financial profile and durable customer relationships. We will work closely with John and the Company’s world-class leadership team to advance the growth plan and achieve their long-term vision for the business,” David Quick, Managing Director in Oaktree’s Special Situations Group and Board Member of Interblock, said.