Responsible Gambling Innovators Reinvent The Box

NOTE: The following feature story was written for the Nova Scotia "Come to life" initiative. "Come to life" is a public-private sector initiative that markets Nova Scotia as an excellent place in which to live, work, invest, play and visit.

Some companies do business inside the box. Others do it outside. Techlink Entertainment does something completely different, it reinvents the box. Literally.

The Sydney-based company develops responsible gaming solutions for video lottery terminals, slot machines, lottery terminals, the Internet and other gaming systems.

"There are presently very few companies in the world that do this," says Sean Coyle, vice-president of marketing. "Quite frankly, the proliferation and normalization of gaming have created both great economic and entertainment opportunities, as well as social concerns.

"The responsible gaming market place is growing rapidly and we are well positioned as a leader with groundbreaking solutions. Our company is focused on building technologies that can help players play safely and within their limits, which is also good for the operators and regulators in the industry."

GAMEPLAN, one of the company's premiere products, lets players do just that. The one-of-a-kind technology, which was field-tested over a two-year period and the results analyzed by three independent research firms, is a card-based technology that empowers individuals to have more control and information when using gaming machines.

Players use their card to activate the gaming machine, and then have access to up-to-the-second information on their play. They find out exactly how much money they have won or lost on a machine. They can track how much they have spent over the past days, weeks, months, or year. Players can also set limits on the amount of money they want to gamble over a period of time. As well, the system allows people to lock themselves out from gambling for any given period of time.

"Information and game play tools are the key to helping gamblers," says Techlink President and CEO John Xidos. "GAMEPLAN gives players the best information possible and the tools to help them make more informed choices."

Transforming GAMEPLAN, one of a number of company product lines, from concept to reality took 10 years, notes Coyle.

"We are just now starting to sell our responsible gaming product lines. The first 10 years were all about developing innovative gaming products that would be able to create new market categories or be creative, and resourceful, additions to existing market categories."

The last decade was also spent drawing investors into the fold, innovatively, of course.

"We have raised well over $25 million without using venture capital money," says Xidos. "The funds we have raised have come primarily come from Cape Breton and mainland Nova Scotia. This is groundbreaking in and of itself from a financing perspective."

Xidos says locating the company in the province was not happenstance.

"Nova Scotia is a world leader in responsible gambling. This means we can work with a jurisdiction in our own backyard to help us develop the best products and launch them here first to prove their effectiveness."

In addition to leadership in the industry, Nova Scotia offers the power of people.

"Our employees have persevered through 10 years of development to create world-class products," says Coyle. "They're committed to what we believe in as a company -- and to being a Cape Breton company.

"The innovative nature of the staff we have has enabled us to separate ourselves from the competition."

It's not only employees and investors who are behind Techlink. The community has warmly welcomed the firm. It's the nature of living, and working, in a place like Nova Scotia, says Coyle.

"It's not all about the bottom line. It's about quality, and balance."

Those are important attributes for Techlink as well.

"A few times a year, we need employees to step up and deliver more than the typical work week's worth of effort. They always do," says Coyle. "Outside of those few occasions, we're quite flexible in terms of how people need to plug in. We have people that work from home all the time, some that split their time between home and office, some that work in other provinces or outside the main office in Sydney, and some that have four-day work weeks."

The dedication, innovation, and attention to balance, is paying off -- for Techlink and for Nova Scotia. The company recently announced a major agreement with Rite Solutions Inc., a top provider of technical solutions for companies throughout North America.

The agreement positions Techlink to capitalize on the rapidly expanding global marketplace. Rite Solutions, based in Rhode Island, is an accredited service and systems provider to the U.S. gaming and military industries.

"Techlink is a company with a solution that addresses the growing demand, globally, for more responsible gaming products ... There's a lot of interest in this type of technology. It is so timely and, more importantly, it works," says Rite Solutions CEO Jim Lavoie.

With global recognition, and sales, comes growth. Nineteen additional staff has been hired, and more hires are on the horizon.

"Product development and commercialization are particularly challenging in the regulated gaming marketplace. We have persevered over the past decade and are seeing the fruits of our labour with orders now in hand," says Xidos. "Looking forward, we see this company growing to about 300 highly skilled people over the next three years. Its contribution to the local and regional economy will become even more considerable."

That's what happens when companies reinvent the box.