Casino operators are beginning the process of casino reopening and working to understand how to move forward in the COVID-19 era. There are numerous questions about the casino reopening environment; how quickly will guests return to the casino? What needs to be done to reassure guests' safety? What will the gaming experience resemble in a socially distanced world? Most of these questions will be answered once reopening is well underway; however, planning for these reopenings must start now to ensure a safe, quality, and fun gaming experience. The good news for our customers is that we are on hand to assist them in exploring solutions for these considerations. Today, we are fielding customer inquiries primarily focused on how to plan for reopening, bringing technology back online, and accommodating social distancing guidelines in the casino best.
Where to Begin
We can face that many factors are at play when working to reopen the casino. Operators are challenged to understand fluid shelter-in-place and social distancing orders, which have frequently given little notice to businesses outside of gaming when it is time to reopen. Our customers should rest assured that our team is keeping track of each jurisdiction's guidance regarding reopening and will continue to maintain the most up-to-date information. Additionally, casino operators are faced with determining what areas of the casino should come online first. This considers staffing, technology, and more to develop a framework for moving forward. Finally, our team has proactively developed best practices for casinos to evaluate through our work with those casinos in the earliest reopening jurisdictions. With our help, casino operators better understand where time should be allocated to reopening and what will be needed to achieve the desired results. Finally, regardless of when the jurisdiction is reopening, our team aims to ensure the casino has a plan to move forward.
Bringing Technology Back Online
After initial planning, attention must turn to the Cage, ATM, and kiosks. Bringing these technologies online requires more than a flip of a switch. Some connectivity issues are tied to the network and the back-of-house equipment. Also, operators must remember to review logins and passwords, which is even more critical as many furloughed employees will need to have their credentials and password set back up in the system. Our team will work collaboratively with solution providers in advance of reopening. We want to ensure that each process and procedure relative to returning the solutions online is performed correctly. Like us, each solution provider may have best practices for their integration, necessitating the need for Pavilion Payments, the casino, and the provider to work together.
Creating a Safe Gaming Environment
Operators are considering measures reducing the capacity of the tables, requiring guests to sit further apart, and aggressively disinfecting machines throughout the casino. These are the best practices to ensure a safe gaming environment. There will be guests that respond well to these measures, and – unfortunately – there will be those who are more hesitant. However, reaffirming the safety and sanitation practices in casinos, especially those close to reopening, will be critical to the industry's success in ensuring a positive reopening process. In addition, our team continues to evaluate the COVID-19 situation and create best practices based on the most up-to-date recommendations from public health and federal and jurisdictional authorities.
We aim to mitigate the concerns and issues casino operators may face during reopening. Our job is to serve as a trusted partner to assist. We have access to the appropriate contacts aligned by function within each of our customer's organizations, ensuring they understand we are available if we need to address something above and beyond the standard reopening checklist. This is what being a good partner entails, and we want to ensure everyone is ready to bring our industry back on board.
For more casino reopening and COVID-19 response information, check out our COVID-19 Resource Center.