Inside Asian Gaming

interoperability testing on every single system, and sometimes on two or three different versions of a system.” ‘Casino floor’ stress testing GLI doesn’t rely only on theoretical testinginthebooth.Aftertheinteroperability phase, the machine is taken out on the main lab floor where it’s put through its paces as if it were on a live casino floor. “After we’ve done the simulation testing over in a booth with the device engineers, now we’ve brought it onto the main lab area we refer to as the‘casino floor’, to create a real life environment, andmake sure everything’s working,” explains Ian Hughes. “On our lab floor, we can also test player tracking systems, accounting etc. We can test server based gaming applications here as well, including production server based gaming where the game is actually being played on the server rather than on the game cabinet—i.e., ‘thin client’ true server based gaming. We have approved such a system for use at MGM [GRAND Macau] in Macau. Systems testing “As I’m speaking to you now on the lab floor, one of our engineers is testing an IGT Advantage® system,” says GLI’s Ian Hughes. “He’s looking at the machine data feed, reconciling what he’s done on the machine, making sure it’s all communicated on the system, making sure there’s no loss of data. We’ll go through a checklist including some cashless transactions, electronic funds transfer, advance funds transfer, promo credits, downloadable credits, and non- cashable credits. We will go through all the test groups, and all the test groups are ISO certified independently internally. We have several different supervisory groups for this work in house—a compliance group and a QA group to make sure that our test engineers are doing exactly what they’re supposed to be doing in the order in which they’re supposed to be doing it.” Secure area Every GLI test site, including Las Vegas, is physically secure from outside interference or sabotage, stresses the company. “Internal doors inside the facility are electronically controlled and require numbered passwords,” states Ian Hughes. “Engineers need an individual password in order to work on a particular device. Even the skylights to the building have bars on them. It’s a highly secure environment. It gives the regulators and the suppliers a high degree of confidence that what we’re doing here is very secure. “If a manufacturer has a new product they don’t want anybody else to see, there are private testing suites on site. It could be a licensed product such as a game based on a movie, etc. We can lock it in that private room and only they [the supplier] and senior GLI staff have access. GLI in Asia The company is looking to build its business in the region I n December 2008 GLI announced what it described as the first-ever fully operational independent testing and interoperability centre in Asia. As well as launching the new 3,000 square foot facility located in China Civil Plaza in Macau, GLI also formed a partnership with a local educational institution– Macao Polytechnic Institute. The GLI Asia Interoperability and Testing Center was officially opened in February 2009, with Larry Xiao as its General Manager. It serves as the company’s regional base to serve markets including Macau, Mainland China, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and other emerging Asian gaming and lottery markets. “A lot of those jurisdictions either have regulators in place, are putting regulation in place, or are moving toward that,” says Christie Eickelman. Macau operators “In that sense, we [at GLI] are getting in on the ground floor. In Macau, for example, the operators are very keenly aware that they need secure games. They have too much to lose if the game has not been tested by a recognised testing lab. “We’re aggressively developing our business in Macau and elsewhere and working to form relationships with regulators. Some jurisdictions are more mature than others. Some have the staff to handle it. If not, we can assist with that as well,” she adds. “Macau will be our central hub for all of Asia. But even if we’re testing for something in Asia, it can also be tested in any other office in our 13 offices worldwide. We have the same checklist, the same protocols, the same type of engineers—in Australia we have three offices. We have a senior director of engineering in each location to manage the workload. Leading presence “We can also move engineers around to get training in whatever type of situation we need to be involved in. For example, we have an engineer from the Las Vegas office who’s currently in Macau. We have the flexibility whereby we have enough engineers so that if we supply one somewhere else, the work doesn’t stop at the lab where the engineer was previously based. “GLI has been doing this sort of work for 20 years,” states Christie Eickelman. “The regulators have confidence when they see our investment and see how committed we are to the markets we’re in. It’s pretty easy to put up information about a test lab on a Website and say ‘We’re a test lab’. The proof of a testing company’s commitment is when a regulator makes a lab visit and sees all the equipment, effort and experience that we at GLI can offer the market. That’s the difference that really counts.” Ian Hughes GLI January 2010 | INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 33