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Innovative Technology
They’ve got a great reputation and recently, bill validator experts Innovative Technology entered the casino market. Casino International found out about the company from Aidan Towey, Managing Director
What are the cornerstones of the Innovative Technology range for casino customers? Which are the products that underpin what you do?
Aidan Towey: The NV200 is the flagship validator from Innovative Technology. We’ve been making validators for 16 years and have concentrated mainly on the amusement market, now we have the NV200 we are targeting the Casino market with a product that is of equal quality, reliability and equal performance as our competitors, all this at a lower cost. It has always been the strategy at Innovative to make value for money products.
The unit can accept notes at acute angles, all four ways and straightens before reading.
Its triple lock capability comprises of a lock on the validator head, securing the head to the main unit, and two locks on the cashbox, which has a 500-note capacity.
The NV200 bezel has backlighting effects that can be defined by the customer to suit any colour scheme, allowing bezel lighting of any colour made from a variation of three primary colours.
Innovative Technology are launching a new product this autumn ideal for the Casino market. The SMART Payout is the first payout unit to handle multi denomination notes. The SMART Payout’s 100-note capacity can be used to pay prizes using notes. This is of particular benefit for countries where the coin value is very low.
A modular add on for the NV200, the SMART Payout can accept and then payout notes up to 85mm wide. The 100-note capacity of the SMART Payout when combined with the 500-note capacity of the NV200 is ideal for casino applications. Add to this the triple lock security of the NV200 and eSSP (encrypted Smiley Secure Protocol) and Casino operators can be confident in the SMART Payout’s security.
Most of the recycler units currently on the market can accept multi-denomination notes but only pay out a couple of small denominations, say $1 and $5. The SMART Payout can payout any denomination it has accepted.
The SMART Payout will set new standards for note payout units, bringing automated payment technology into the 21st Century.
What are the key differences between your AWP and casino products?
AT: Our casino products have been built for volume. The sensing technology for all of our products is the same as the fundamental process to establish what the denomination and whether the note is genuine remains unchanged. The major difference between the casino products and the AWP products is in the volume of notes that are accepted per day. In the Casino products we have cash boxes that hold more notes than in the AWP’s, and the products for casinos have to conform to more regulations and standard fit. The casino market also uses more serial protocols than the AMP market.
The NV200 Bank Note validator was designed for the Casino market, developed to incorporate industry barcodes and high value note acceptance.
The NV200 was independently praised for its acceptance ability recently having received European Central Bank (ECB) approval for its ability to recognise Euro Note counterfeits. The NV200 received first acceptance rate results of 100% in the independent tests, having correctly identified all genuine and counterfeit notes.
Why enter the casino industry now?
AT: It is not why we are entering now, it is more that some of our customers are both in Amusement and Casino and they have been asking us for years to provide them with an alternative to the competition, and also it is a natural expansion of our product portfolio.
When we were designing the NV200 we knew the SMART Payout was in the pipeline and these two products together were perfect for the Casino market.
Tell us a bit abnout the company; also, why are you based in Oldham? Is there a historical reason?
AT: Innovative Technology began in Oldham, England in 1992 with the Invention of the NV1 Smiley Banknote Validator (so named because of its design). Invented by the founder and now Chairman of Innovative Technology, David Bellis MBE, the Smiley NV1 bank note validator was the lowest-priced validator in the automated transaction industry when it came to the market in 1993. This tradition of producing units of exceptional value is still the philosophy of the company today where the current product range includes NV9, NV10 and NV200 Bank Note Validators as well as the BV20, BV50 and BV100 bill acceptors.
Sixteen years on Innovative Technology is still based in Oldham, the home of David Bellis, who is passionate about the town, having helped various local businesses throughout his career – so much so that he was recently awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Borough. Having turned 70 last David Bellis shows no sign of retiring and is still heavily involved in new product development.
While the main location of the company is unchanged the size of IT’s operations has dramatically changed over the years. IT has seven worldwide locations, including state-of-the-art manufacturing operations in Brazil and China, the latter being a wholly owned factory, opened earlier this year. Innovative Technology still operates to its original philosophy – to provide customers with innovative, competitively priced products.
Do you work with partners for overseas distribution and aftercare or do you have regional offices, or both?
AT: The Innovative Technology Group comprising subsidiaries Automated Transactions and Bellis Technology operate from the seven previously mentioned worldwide locations within Europe, North America, South America and Asia. Due to the geographical location of these offices customers can receive round the clock technical and sales support. Add to that our network of approved trading partners in over 23 countries and customers can receive support wherever they are.
Is it difficult to be competitive with a UK base? Or does it mean you can offer better customer service? Where is construction handled?
AT: Although Innovative Technology’s Head Office is based in the UK, the company is positioned in strategic locations around the world. In 2007 the group moved production to China to ensure the company could remain competitive. Having successfully built product in China for two years Innovative Technology decided to set up a wholly-owned manufacturing plant this year. Group Chairman, David Bellis MBE, after whom the plant is named, officially opened Bellis Technology Ltd, based in Shenzhen, China in April this year. The new plant will increase global production capacity by 80%, ready for the revolutionary new SMART Hopper and SMART Payout products that are about to be launched.
What are your product USPs? You’re in such a competitive area, what makes you stand out?
AT: Innovative Technology invest heavily in research and development to ensure we can provide technological products while ensuring products are of exceptional value. Over the last two years the development team has tripled in size to allow new product development to flourish. The company philosophy to produce exceptional value products
The growing worldwide demand for faster, safer and more reliable automated transaction technology is a huge challenge. In response, we are continually enhancing and differentiating the performance and dependability of our equipment by providing reliable solutions for the gaming, retail, casino and self serve communities throughout the world.
What new products are on the horizon?
Innovative Technology are just about to launch two exciting new products that will revolutionise automated payment transactions. The SMART Hopper is a true multi coin hopper, capable of dispensing 12 coins per second from mixed denominations, eliminating the need for additional hoppers and coin sorter. The SMART Hopper directly communicates with the coin mechanism while the host machine sets the desired float level for future payout of change or prizes.
The SMART Payout (see above) has a 100 note capacity and all of these 100 notes can be paid out as change or prizes; furthermore these 100 notes can be made up of any combination of different note denominations.
These new SMART products look set to revolutionary automated payment transactions.
Is there a company ethos or credo that you work to, a company motto?
Innovative Technology’s philosophy is that of its Founder and current Chairman David Bellis MBE to provide exceptional value for money products.
Innovative Technology – Intelligence in Validation.
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