CASINO MANAGEMENT APP

Story 

Everything has two sides – a bright side and a hidden side. This characteristic especially applies to Las Vegas, a gambling hub, famous for its casinos and entertainment.

As tourists, we see bright lights, friendly staff, and delicious drinks that make us more likely to gamble. But for casino operators, managers and the C-level, things are not so bright.

There are 136 casinos in Las Vegas. To win the competition, casino staff must create a great guest experience by meeting guest expectations. Since each guest has different factors that determine one’s level of satisfaction, a personalized approach for every guest has become important for casinos. But existing casino management tools do not provide operators and managers with the necessary functionality.

The casino management platform faces the challenges of the gambling industry with a data-driven approach. The platform allows casino operators and managers to perform daily tasks in a single application and provide personalized guest experiences using data from multiple sources.

What is a casino management platform? 

Customers get a platform for casino managers to analyze human behavior, find patterns, and display analytical insights to casino operators. The software was created by former casino managers applying the best practices they have received over decades of operational experience.

To face the challenges of the gambling industry, they identified key gaps in existing casino management applications – the inability to predict guest needs, share up-to-date information about guests and deals with operators as well as no guest segments.

The customer’s team then fills those gaps with data analytics, behavioral analytics, and customizable Dashboards with helpful widgets.

Now the client’s white label platform is available to any gambling organization looking to take casino management to the next level.

Business problem 

Initially, the platform was web-based. Therefore, it does not give much freedom to casino operators and managers who cannot carry laptops with them.

Our client is the CEO of a casino management platform from Las Vegas who needs developers to build cross-platform applications for mobile and tablet devices as well as integrate utilities. Benefit from the web platform.

After reading the functional and non-functional requirements article on our blog, she decided to contact us for cross-platform application development services.

Project scope

• Multi-platform  . Develop cross-platform applications, downloadable on mobile devices (iOS, Android) and tablets
• Scalable user interface  . Adapt the widget to mobile devices and tablet screens
• Implement the backend  . Connects the app’s backend to the platform’s servers and databases via an API, so any views or preferences the user has saved in the web app are automatically applied to the transaction. application interface for mobile devices.
• Custom Widgets  . Develop 13 custom widgets into a Homeowner and Manager Dashboard that mimics the functionality of the web platform.
• Delete code  . Ensure the app works error-free and deliver the mobile app within tight deadlines.

We agreed to participate in this project because the customer came to us with a mockup design and detailed features list. From a developer’s perspective, it is much easier to achieve predictable results with a client who has shaped expectations for the project in a written document.

The obstacles we face

The project challenged us in the following ways:

Additional user verification methods

The customer proposed using facial recognition and fingerprints as user verification methods to prevent unauthorized access and use by applications.

But the ‘Face Recognition’ and ‘Touch Recognition’ functions require platform-specific code in a cross-platform model. So we recommended using simple login via email and password from the beginning.

We used OAuth2 tokens to ensure data protection restricting access to different APIs and pages depending on user roles and permissions.

Phone calls and messages are secure 

Since casino managers and operators exchange sensitive data with customers and businesses; we need to integrate call logging and text message reading functionality.

However, according to Google Play Developer Policies, an app with such functionality must be registered as the default Phone or SMS handler on the device to be able to use those permissions.

Additionally, reading SMS and recording call logs is restricted by Apple, which has a strict policy against such features due to privacy concerns. Therefore, there is a risk that the Apple Store will reject the application.

We decided to secure incoming and outgoing calls as well as text messages by wrapping platform-specific code with a plugin. For this purpose, we proposed Twillo, a cloud communication platform that allows application users to communicate using its web service API.

But customers were concerned about Twillo’s security, so decided to forgo this feature.

Limited time

The customer had tight deadlines for application milestones. Considering the sophisticated backends, the number of APIs to integrate, and the desire to put our best foot forward, we believed in the best but prepared for the worst.

But this project showed us that our team works exceptionally well under pressure.

We have optimized all possible processes of project development and ensured successful project delivery. Despite all the obstacles, we managed to deliver the app and here it is:

How we execute and complete projects

Clarify customer requirements 

After the customer contacted us, we scheduled a virtual call with our team. She then sent us a request for proposal with a detailed description of the project’s features, acceptance criteria, and design model.

Our developers created a rough project cost estimate and sent it to the client’s team for agreement based on this information. A rough estimate includes development, quality assurance, and technical project management efforts based on a brief survey of the project scope.

This document also includes a basic idea of ​​the project cost, followed by the project plan and an adjusted estimate of the team’s effort.

Once the project stakeholders approve the basic estimate, we begin the discovery phase.

Begin the discovery phase 

At the start of the discovery phase, we arranged a meeting with the client’s team to learn more about the peculiarities of casino management, the gambling industry, and their business in particular. .

After receiving more detailed information about the project and clarifying the business requirements, we provided the customer with the following discovery phase deliverables:

• Technical document
• project specification
• Estimate project costs accurately

Next, we scheduled a kickoff meeting to discuss the project deliverables, key milestones, and establish a communication process between our teams. We also scheduled weekly status calls to report on our progress and updates.

We divided the project into tasks and organized the project backlog in an Azure Kanban board.

Start the development phase

Developers took tasks from the project backlog and implemented them. Quality assurance managers then tested the code in a visual environment. If the QA manager finds a bug, they send the code to the developer along with a detailed bug report so the developer can fix it.

After quality assurance managers ensured the code was implemented without errors, developers pushed the corrected code to the project repository.

Run the demo version

One of the customer requests was for more attention to details. We ensure that the project is bug-free by applying regression testing before releasing the project and fixing bugs after regression testing.

Once we’ve completed all the tasks, fixed the bugs, and released the correct code to the project repository, it’s time to show off the final project.

During the visual meeting with the client, we presented the final project version in a virtual environment. The developer demonstrated the main functionality of the mobile app reflecting the web platform, widget design, user flow, etc.

Team composition 

• 3 developers
• 1 Head of QA Department
• 1 business analyst
• 1 Project management

Project technical details  

• Dart programming language for building cross-platform applications
• Flutter programming framework for creating mobile apps from a single codebase
• OAuth2 token to restrict access to different APIs and pages depending on user roles and permissions

The results we achieved

We’ve developed a widget library from scratch

This application allows users and server managers to add widgets from the widget library, navigate and manage them using drag and drop functionality.

• Missing person

• Guests have high impact today

• Home goal/Team goal

• Variances summarize today’s wealth accumulation game

• Server vs Database performance as of {date}

• Today’s comp exception

Noteworthy features 

• Guest profile  . Include such information about guests, such as uploaded photos, filters for broadcast details, guest notification settings, etc.

• Floor summary  . Includes ‘custom view’ and ‘cumulative game summary’ sections, `by server` “hourly summary” table with filtering function.
• My Books/Quick Queries  . Provides several ways to contact users (calls and text messages) and the function to filter results by part of the query, birthday month, place of residence, rank, characteristics, interests.
• See the floor live  . Allows users to view players on my slots deck now from the mobile app.
• PD port  . Includes information about reservation servers, managers, reservations, and quick queries.
• Player profile  . Allows users to search and view player profiles on mobile and tablet apps.

We ensure successful project delivery by working closely with developers and stakeholders, providing thorough status updates, and paying attention to the smallest details.

Customer reviews

“The app solution has done a great job adapting to the way we do business. Weekly calls, thorough status updates via phone and email, constant questions. It was truly a joy.”

CEO of casino management software

Ready to create a cross-platform mobile app? We’ll help you figure out how to leverage our expertise and your business goals in a way that benefits both parties.