Fleetwood: 'Once up and going, it's great; so simple and easy'
Pub Date: 2/1/2007
Once we work out the bumps and bruises, it ll be great for everybody, is how Gena Madill, the office supervisor for Fleetwood Gaming, based in Billings, views the new internet-based video gaming machine reporting system.
It s a little work getting it set up, she notes, but once it s up and going it s great. It s just so simple and easy.
While Fleetwood was approved for 70 locations, Madill said Fleetwood elected to start with 20 at a variety of locations state-wide. She adds, however, We re on a three-week testing on four locations and if all goes well, we ll be completely on for all locations as of April 1.
All locations mean, she says, 1,829 machines at 201 establishments.
Madill explained that Fleetwood s reporting system is somewhat different than what small, independent business owners will experience with on-line reporting. Fleetwood has staff members stationed at several locations around Montana who collect gaming data from machines with hand-held devices every week.
For the guys who are in Billings, I dock their wands into my computer and download the data," Madill said. "The people in Missoula and other locations download their data into their computers and then transmit it to me over the internet.
We send weekly reports to the state every Wednesday, using a software program developed by Coin Collection, a software developer based in Sioux Falls, So. Dak., and approved by the state.
These weekly reports will accumulate and at the end of the quarter the state will send us a bill for taxes due and we ll send them an e-check. It s really a smooth process.
This is in contrast with the existing system in which Fleetwood collects data weekly and then comes up with a quarterly report.
If it all balances, I send a summary of the report and a check to the state, with copies of everything to the state, our office, and each individual location, she said.
But that s just the beginning of the process, Madill explained, adding, After that, the State has to balance and reconcile all these paper reports. Sometimes, it might be eight or 10 months later when we d get a notice of an error or something that needed reconciliation. Now, with the new system, everything should be in balance each week. In addition, all the data we report will be saved and we ll be able to pull things up as needed, instead of having to track down paper reports from somewhere in the office.
Madill concluded, It s going to be good for us. I m excited I really am. I just finished up with the paper reporting for the last quarter, so I m excited about the new system. It s a good change.
Source: The Montana Tavern Times, Feb., 2007, published monthly by Continental Communications, 125 W. Granite St., Suite 102, Butte, MT 59701.