Harm Minimisation
We offer a range of innovative solutions that make harm minimisation easier, simpler and more efficient. Our systems are built to comply with the Gambling Act and are based on industry best practice guidelines.
Many Harm Minimisation products are already available and are already being used. On this page you'll find a brief summary of these.
POI (Person of Interest) Tab
The POI tab on QEC acts as a front of house link to CONCERN, the national database of excluded persons. Anyone listed in CONCERN (including names, photos, and exclusion order details), will appear on the QEC for authorised venue staff to view.
Separate POI Tablet
POI functionality can be installed on a separate tablet. This tablet can be installed in the venues office, lunch room or other discrete location, where it can be set to automatically scroll though the venues person of interest. This provides a constant reminder to venue staff of the excluded players they should be watching out for, in their gaming areas.
The Guardian Facial Recognition System
The Guardian is a market-leading system that identifies excluded persons as they enter a gaming room, by matching them against CONCERN, a centralised database of excluded persons.
The Guardian is an effective, powerful harm minimisation tool that significantly improves problem gambler detection by automating the exclusion process. The are 155 NZC4 venues who already have The Guardian FR installed (15% of the industry).
EFTPOS Integration into QEC
EFTPOS integration with QEC allows venues to monitor EFTPOS transactions that relate directly to the gaming operation. This means venue staff can monitor players withdrawal amounts and frequencies and intervene if needed. It also has the ability for players to receive payments from winnings to be paid directly into their personal bank accounts.
Cashless Technology
Ticketing systems are common in gaming operations world wide. They have major security benefits for venues, by allowing the venues gaming float to be secured in a CRT (Cash Redemption Terminal).
In NZC4, all tickets get printed with a Harm Minimisation message on the upside of the ticket. The HPA also produce small cards with these messages. However the HPA cards are required to be provided by the venue staff to players they consider ‘at risk’. Placing these same messages on gaming machine cash out tickets means the player receives the information each time they cash out.
Cash Redemption Terminals - Integrated with QEC
Installing a CRT into a gaming room provides obvious cash security benefits, but also enhances harm minimisation by promoting more staff and player interaction.
Tickets of $200 or more, require venue staff to authorise before payment is made. If a ticket is inserted into a CRT with a value of $200 or more, the CRT will reject the ticket and ask the player to present it to venue staff. A message will be displayed on QEC:
The player will present the ticket to venue staff, who will in turn ask the player to sign the back of the ticket (where the harm minimisation message is located). Only once that is done, will venue staff authorise the ticket to be collected. This interaction provides a forced break in play, and provides the venue staff with an opportunity to interact with the player.
Modern CRT machines also have large displays and can display gambling harm minimisation messages, or message designed by the HPA (as shown above on right).
Room Sweep Alert
This is a pop-up alert that appears every 15 minutes on a venue’s QEC system, to prompt staff to enter the gaming room to monitor customers and their behaviour.
Venues can set up questions (eg ‘how many people are in the gaming room?’) for staff to answer on their return.
Results can then be turned into a report for management to use as part of their ongoing harm minimisation staff training.
QEC Connect
Electronic Incident Register
This electronic incident register, built into QEC, allows venue staff to record incidents or notes on player behaviour in real time from behind the bar.
It includes a series of customisable questions enabling staff to log any incidents in the bar, gaming room, TAB or other area within the venue.
Once completed, the report can be viewed by staff, venue management or the society, anywhere, any time.
This allows for staff finishing a shift to record and convey messages to the next shift, to ensure the ongoing monitoring of player behaviour is not lost, due to venue staff shift changes.
Next Payment ATM's
Next Payments offer the following harm minimisation initiatives in support of their ATM network in Class 4 gaming venues:
- Maximum withdrawal of $200 per transaction;
- Credit Cards cannot be accessed in these venues;
- Harm minimisation messages running on the ATM screen;
A new harm minimisation solution is currently in development which captures ATM card numbers whilst measuring all of the ATM transactions. This tool is integrated into COMS QEC System, enabling staff to monitor the withdrawals. The ATM will send an alert to QEC if a card holder has made 4 withdrawals or 3 declines in any 24 hour period.
QEC will alert staff to the cardholder as well as the time and date of the transactions, at which point the player / cardholder will be provided harm minimisation information (such as the HPA wallet leaflet).
Get in touch
Email: info@coms.net.nz
Phone: (0800) 266-797