Nebraska Technical Services Operator Innovation Is Alive And Well In The Heartland

OMAHA, NE -- Nebraska Technical Services has gained a well-earned reputation for innovating. Founded in 1984 by Rod Kruse and the late Larry Witt, the company was among hundreds of street operations that sprang up during the Golden Age of coin-operated videogames. Those with long memories will remember that happy era as a time when games like Ms. Pac-Man, Mario Bros. and Pole Position were in full, high-earning bloom.

What makes NTS's story unique is the way in which the firm has adapted during the ensuing decades. By bringing ever-higher levels of creativity to its operation, NTS has grown into a coin-op powerhouse in the Midwest. Operating out of a 14,000-sq.ft. office and warehouse headquarters in Omaha, supported by satellite offices in Norfolk and Bellevue, NE, the company fields some 5,000 pieces of equipment in about 600 locations throughout Nebraska and Iowa. Its territory encompasses about a 120-mile radius from its Omaha base. Bar and tavern locations remain the firm's core market, so it builds its entertainment packages around a basic mix of TouchTunes jukeboxes, Megatouch countertops, Arachnid electronic darts and Valley pool tables, along with skill games and arcade-style redemption games.

Advancing Creatively

While a cursory view of the company shows nothing more than a slow and steady approach to the amusement industry, it's only when you look at NTS a little closer that things get interesting. And when you look close enough, you might find NTS to be the nation's most innovative operation. Although not prone to jumping on every trendy bandwagon that passes -- after all, this is Nebraska -- the company has been very much in the vanguard of innovation when it comes to the early adoption of technology and the execution of location-based promotions.

The company continues to run two monthly Tournamaxx countertop contests that award several thousand dollars in cash and gift card prizes each month. Likewise, NTS hosts weekly Golden Tee Live matches locally, which are bolstered by a monthly cash rewards program. These programs add value to locations and put more money in cashboxes, the company told Vending Times.

CORNHUSKER VISIONARIES:Nebraska Technical Services just may be the most creative music and games operation in America. Leading the firm's innovative strategy, from left, are Rod Kruse, Joe Monastero, Nancy Hodges and Mike Dobel.

Kruse feels great pride about his company's on-premise digital advertising efforts, and once again points to the company's frugal, DIY approach. According to the NTS philosophy, blank screens on any amusement or music machine are wasted space. Several years ago, the company began selling advertising on its countertop screens to taxi companies, bail bondsmen and divorce lawyers, among other clients. Not a particularly sanguine lineup, but a good start that served as a proof of concept. Today, NTS's advertiser lineup includes local sporting and concert events, and such name brands as the Catholic Health Initiatives, Superior Estates Winery, the Jet Awards and Budweiser.

Another example of the way in which NTS combines creativity with coin-op repurposing is seen in its application of TouchTunes' Barfly, a customizable television service. NTS marketing director Joe Wojcik spearheaded an effort to link the now-defunct narrowcast TV system into NTS's own network.

"We created our own advertising network, consisting of recycled computers from Barfly," Kruse explained. "We recycled them and use them to advertise on locations' large-screen TVs." This also provides added value for locations; NTS's clients can post food and drink specials, and other messages, on these screens at no charge. NTS also runs ads on Big Buck Hunter, Golden Tee and dartboard screens.

(Editor's note: TouchTunes now offers Attract TV, which it describes as an easy-to-use digital messaging platform that engages customers with music and interactive social content. It consists of venue messaging, interactive content and social streaming, and music and jukebox promotions. It's a free service and interfaces with TouchTunes widely used mobile app.)

NTS's ability to repurpose and reconfigure less-than-successful games reduces its equipment investment risk, compared to operators who routinely consign unprofitable games to the rubbish heap. Knowing an unsuccessful game can likely find another profitable purpose other than collecting dust in the corner of a warehouse adds a degree of confidence in equipment procurement while bolstering the company's reputation for creativity.

This "make lemonade out of lemons" knowhow is perhaps best exemplified by an original NTS game called Bank Shot Skill Game. "Just when the Iowa lottery was going, we bought 200 games to run," Kruse recalled. "We were a little ways into the program and the state shut it down."

At this point most operators would have scrapped the Bank Shots, and felt they were walking away poorer -- except Nebraska Technical Services. NTS actually bought up additional Bank Shot units, hired a programmer to code a new game and began promoting the Bank Shot Skill Game. A billiards-themed, touchscreen puzzle game, Bank Shot pays out with a redemption ticket that a patron can redeem for cash or prizes.

"Everybody from the governor on down, told us we would never have a skill game," Kruse said. "But we got it done." At present time there are nearly 400 Bank Shots on location throughout Nebraska.

Biggest Mistake You Can Make

Kruse gives a lion's share of credit to his staff for most of NTS's innovations. "You have to be surrounded by good people, because good people will think for themselves and come up with ideas. We have people with creative minds. I think a lot of places don't have the technical people we have here," he said. "You go out for a few beers and laugh, and the next thing you know somebody will come up with something. And the more unusual it is, the better it seems to work."

Over the past few years, NTS has branched out into the home market, selling pool tables and using in-house expertise to build "multi-cade" countertops that have proven popular in so-called "man caves." The firm is also easing into skill cranes and ATMs.

"People are afraid to take a chance and do something new," Kruse said. "You ain't going to win every time; that's not going to happen. But not taking a chance is the biggest mistake you can make."