The Balkan Entertainment & Gaming Expo (BEGE) took place last week and Innovative Technology (ITL) welcomed visitors from all over the world. Exhibiting at BEGE for the first time, ITL used the event to highlight the various benefits of implementing ticketing within machines, as well as displaying their complete range of cash handling equipment.

Lina Kazantseva, Business Development Manager, said “This was our first BEGE, we took a dedicated booth and had a very positive experience at the show. Most visitors were already aware of ITL and our core product range and were excited to see the new SMART products. Visitors commented how well our products worked with all of the Balkan region currencies.  Although BEGE was primarily focussed on the Balkan market, we did speak to a number of key industry members from across the world.”

Ticketing was a key focus on the ITL stand with a number of coupon and ticket printers on display; from the NV12+ and CR158 compact coupon printers to the FBF-166 high capacity flatbed printer and the combined note validator and ticket printer the SMART Ticket.

Lina continued “Our ticketing solutions received a lot of interest during the show. The industry has begun to realise the value of utilising ticketing in both the gaming and retail markets. Since we offer a variety of printing options, we were able to show attendees a number of different solutions to suit their application. The FBF-166 and CR-158 were popular with operators who simply required a printer in their machine, whereas operators who required a combined validator/ticket printer solution were more interested in the SMART Ticket. BEGE marked the end of the exhibition calendar for us. We will start 2016 with ICE at Excel, London and I look forward to seeing everyone at our stand N1-430.”

Innovative Technology’s (ITL) Spanish office is currently experiencing a period of rapid growth and expansion. The office, located in Barcelona consists of Sales, Product Development, Customer Support & Repair teams responsible for customers in all Spanish-speaking territories and the Middle East. The branch was established in September 1996 and has steadily expanded its influence to a number of territories worldwide. The Group Sales Director, Mustapha Hadj-Ahmed is approaching 20 years with the company and has been at the heart of the Barcelona office’s growth since its inception.

On the reasons for the office’s growth, Mustapha said “We cultivated long-standing relationships with the main OEMs in Spain, which has been a key factor in our growth. Our NV11 unit was custom made for the Spanish market and was installed in every AWP machine. This period of growth has stimulated the need for a number of new appointments in strategic positions to develop our presence in the core gaming, amusement and vending markets.”

In the last few months, ITL Spain have appointed a number of new staff. Luis Bernaus Sanz and Sara Sietinga have joined the Customer Repair Team whilst Ismael Caralt Rovira has joined as a Technical Sales Engineer. Ismael has held several senior positions within the gaming industry including Commercial Manager at Automated Gaming and Sales Manager at different gaming companies. Ismael's role will be to drive the introduction and sales of ITL’s range of TITO products to arcade operators throughout Spain. Luis and Sara will be providing repairs support for our existing products in the market.

Mustapha continued “The repair technicians have been brought in to maintain the high quality of products that we distribute to our clients. Our sales team ensure we keep our excellent level of support as our customer base grows. We are anticipating another strong year in 2016 as we consolidate our dominant position in the market and continue to make strides into the TITO market. We are excited by the growth potential for our Spanish branch and this is reflected by the increase in personnel, which has more than trebled since May 2012.”

ITL will continue its growing presence in Europe by appearing at BEGE 2015 in Bulgaria and Forum Retail 2015 in Italy, which both take place during the final week of November.

IN THIS BULLETIN: New €20 note release, Product Change Notifications, Innovative Technology Website Refresh, Validators now available through webshop

Name: Rebecca White
Job Title: VP of Sales and Business Development
Department: Sales (Americas)
Worked at ITL since: 2015

I head up our operations in the Americas from our office in Wisconsin. Having been in the industry for 20+ years I have enjoyed a career involved in every market segment – each one has its own personality and I enjoy different things about every one of them. Mostly, I enjoy the big wins and the connections I’ve made along the way. I am currently building relationships with key trading partners across North and South America, ensuring that we provide first class service across the continents. I am delighted to be working for a company with such a wonderful culture and look forward to the challenges ahead.

Name: Jordi Andres
Job Title: Senior Business Development Manager
Department: Sales (Spain)
Worked at ITL since: 2012

After working for more than 10 years in development and sales roles I joined ITL in 2012. My main focus is to expand our business in the Retail and Kiosk markets across Spain, Portugal, North Africa and the Middle East. Thanks to my background as a system integrator, I can also help customers during the software and hardware integration of our products. I enjoy my role, it is exciting to meet a lot of people and learn about their cultures in this new interconnected world.

Name: Ivan Ji
Job Title: Factory Manager (China)
Department: Manufacturing
Worked at ITL since: 2006
Roles held at ITL: Electronics Engineer

Name: Damian Roach
Job Title: Test Currency Engineer
Department: Technical Support
Worked at ITL since: 2002
Roles held at ITL: Shopfloor Operative

I joined ITL in 2002 and worked on the production line as a Shopfloor Operative. In 2005 I moved into the Datasets Department working on data collection and from  2009 I have headed up the dataset creation team, compiling all currency datasets for release. I really enjoy my current role as it allows me to travel to places that I wouldn't usually, visiting customers in places such as Poland or the National Banks in the Netherlands. 

What benefits me:

Innovative Technology (ITL) will be exhibiting at BEGE 2015 this month, the Balkan region’s largest gaming and amusement event. BEGE takes place at the Inter Expo Center in Sofia, Bulgaria and this is ITL’s first year at the expo.

Lina Kazantseva, Business Development Manager commenting on the decision to exhibit said, “We feel that now is the perfect time to present our cash handling products to the industry. There is excellent market growth potential in the Balkan region and stable legislative conditions are favourable towards any new business developments.”

Lina will be manning stand 01.12 alongside Thorsten Labusch, Senior Business Development Manager from our German office, who will provide a wealth of retail industry knowledge.

A leading provider of cash handling equipment, Innovative Technology will showcase a number of versatile printing solutions at the show. With a growing interest in TITO across the gaming industry ITL will highlight a number of product including the high-capacity flatbed ticket printer (FBF-166) and the compact NV12+ which combines a banknote validator and ticket printer in one.

Lina continued “The event is a chance to meet with new and existing customers, not only from Bulgaria but the Eastern European region as a whole. This year we have a number of exciting cash handling products to show encompassing note, coin, ticket and recycling capabilities. For operators looking to implement ticketing into their machines we offer revolutionary, combined note validator and ticket printers; (SMART Ticket and NV12) that maximise cash efficiency. For coin handling we offer innovative solutions like the SMART Hopper or SMART Coin System boasting bulk coin validation, coin hopper and recycler in one unit; reducing operational costs and eliminating coin starvation. I look forward to meeting everyone at the event where I will be on hand to demonstrate our cash handling equipment on stand 01.12”

BEGE will conclude ITL’s event calendar this year, until appearing at EAG and ICE in London at the start of 2016.

Based on the success of a series of TITO open days in the UK during the summer, Innovative Technology (ITL) has continued to publicise the benefits of TITO in Europe. ITL and its subsidiary, Innoprint, hosted a TITO open day at the H10 Marina Barcelona hotel in Spain on 29^th October and provided an opportunity for a closer look at a range of ticketing solutions. The event was attended by 49 guests who represented over 83% of the total number of arcades in Catalonia.  

The event was designed to provide operators with the knowledge and understanding needed to make the most of the opportunities that TITO brings. A series of presentations and demonstrations highlighted the significant benefits that TITO can deliver to both operators and players, as well as the technology required to implement a secure, end-to-end solution. 

InnoPrint Development Director Chris Robinson travelled to Spain for the event to demonstrate InnoPrint’s complete TITO range from ticket printers, hub and server through to back off reporting.

“The event was a great success. Attendees saw the practical application of our TITO range and we got a real insight into the requirements of the Spanish market. Everyone left the event with a clear understanding of the benefits associated with the adoption of TITO systems, including a reduction in the amount of cash needed in each machine, increased promotional opportunities as well as enhanced security features.”

Mustapha Hadj-Ahmed, ITL’s Group Sales Director and the head of the company’s Spanish office reiterated the significance of TITO “I believe 2016 will be ‘the year of TITO’ as industry members begin to realise how crucial ticketing will become to the future of gaming. These types of events are helpful for everyone involved, to gain a greater understanding of the entire system in action”.

Innovative Technology (ITL) will be displaying their SMART product range at Forum Retail 2015, the only Italian exhibition dedicated to systems, technologies and solutions for the Point of Sale and mass retailers. The event will be held from 24^th-25^th November at the Altahotel Expo Fiera in Milan, Italy and gives ITL the perfect opportunity to bring their innovative cash handling range to the Italian retail market.

ITL will be represented at the event by Business Development Manager, Stefano Mandelli, “Forum Retail has steadily grown over the past few years and we are excited by the possibilities presented to us going forward. We are looking forward to displaying all of our SMART products at the show, especially the SMART Payout and SMART Coin System which are already being utilised in a number of retail applications. We will also be supporting a variety of Innoprint products including the SMART Ticket as well as our compact ticketing and coupon printers, the NV12 and CR-158.”

ITL’s printing technology has been designed to cater for any customers’ needs. The SMART Ticket’s revolutionary note in/ticket out design combines a banknote validator with printer, eliminating the need for a separate printer unit within a machine. ITL’s printing product range also includes more compact options for clients whose main concern is the conservation of space. The NV12 offers a compact alternative to the SMART Ticket, whilst the CR-158 is ideal for clients who require a separate compact printer.    

The SMART Coin System and SMART Payout both offer exceptional mixed denomination recycling. The SMART Coin System is a state of the art bulk coin validator, mixed coin hopper and recycler in one. Since the unit can validate, discriminate and store mixed coins, the need for multiple hoppers within the same machine has been eliminated. The SMART Payout can perform the same tasks for banknotes and is able to store up to 70 mixed notes, meaning that when combined machines can accept and payout any combination of mixed coins and notes.

“We will be able to show visitors how our products function inside an actual machine” continued Stefano. “We will have a demonstration kit that simulates an automatic till, utilising both the SMART Coin System and the SMART Payout. We know that attendees will be impressed by the effectiveness of our validators once they see them in action.”

Stefano will be joined at the event by new recruit Davide Giusti, Customer Support Engineer. “I’ve only recently joined the company so Retail Forum will allow me to introduce myself to a number of key customers all at once. I’m very excited to be able to represent the company at a trade show so early in my ITL career.”

ITL will be appearing at Stand 35 at Forum Retail 2015.