Smart Industries Offers RFID And Pusher Options For Ticket Time Cranes

DES MOINES, IA -- Des Moines, IA's Smart Industries is offering an upgrade for its bestselling Ticket Time skill crane line that enhances the player experience and potentially bolsters earnings for operators. A patent-pending RFID-based system, called Ticket Smarts, enables ticket redemption for skill cranes, which normally stock prizes and award them on the spot, by automatically transferring a player's winnings to a location's wireless network.

At the heart of the system is a playfield insert that reads RFID chips embedded in the game's ticket bundles when they are won and dropped into the hopper. The second part of the system is a swipe card that logs the player onto the machine and facility network. With the RFID reader and swipe card working in conjunction, players are linked to winnings when they visit the redemption counter. As for the ticket rolls, rather than being dispensed to the patron through the hopper, they fall into a drop bin that allows the operator to conveniently restock the playfield.

Smart said its new system is compatible with industry leading networks, including Intercard, Embed and Sacoa. It is now available on Smart's 31" single and 61" double crane machine models, and plans call for upgrading the 45" models.

Ticket Time skill cranes, released in 2015, appeal to a wide player base, according to Smart. Feedback from operators' suggests that they are among the highest-earning units in their category, the manufacturer reported. The game's original concept offered rolls of tickets as prizes, thus eliminating the need for a ticket dispenser. With the new upgrade, the process has been streamlined even more.

"This is the first RFID package on a skill crane, ever," claimed Smart's Jim Dupree. "We see this in the longstanding tradition of Smart bringing innovations and new technologies to games."

Dupree is quick to point out that the introduction of new technology was just one piece of the puzzle. Eliminating ticket dispensing also subtracted an element of the "winner experience" for players. To counter this, Smart has enhanced the skill crane's visual effects with LED signage and a sound package that activates following a win.

SMART MOVES:The upgrade to Smart Industries' Ticket Times skill crane enables the use of RFID technology to log wins for players prior to reaching the redemption counter. Machines connect to a location's existing network. Totals are tallied at a location's redemption center when players present their swipe cards.

"If the games can communicate the strength of the win, then the players are satisfied," Dupree said. "That means we had to make the games more 'flashy and dashy.'"

Also new for the Ticket Time line is a "pusher" version. The concept replaces the standard hopper with a pusher field similar to those employed by traditional coin pusher games. Ticket rolls that are dropped onto the playfield are put into play much like tokens on a traditional coin pusher. Just like a coin pusher, Smart's concept invites repeat play while offering a chance to increase the player's winnings. The Ticket Time pusher version is available with the Ticket-Smart RFID reader or traditional dispenser.