JCM says expectations "met and exceeded" at ICE 2017

How would you the describe this year's edition of ICE?

This was a great show for JCM. Like other major tradeshows, ICE provides us with an excellent opportunity to meet with customers from across EMEA and around the world, listening to their needs and presenting our newest solutions, and our expectations were met and exceeded this year. We were very busy each day of the show, and we were pleased that our solutions generated such tremendous interest from our customers, both existing and potential new customers.

What were the highlights of the fair?

We took a different approach to our stand this year, and we looked at our stand through our customer’s eyes. That led us to divide our stand into four distinct areas, making it easier than ever for customers to find the solutions they needed, whether that was for casinos and gaming halls, bet terminals, systems or cash handling solutions for the back office.

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Customers remarked they were very pleased with set-up, and that made it easy for us to demonstrate our commitment to the industry by creating innovative solutions that help operators can go beyond transactions to making real customer connections

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How was the feedback from customers and attendees? What product would you say was “the star” of the show? Which solutions generated the most interest at your booth?

Customer feedback was very enthusiastic. Operators are constantly seeking ways to better protect their casino floor while also providing convenience to their customers, and JCM products, such as the iVIZION bill validator, the new GEN5 printer, the Ticket2Go TITO solution, TBV and RDM for table solution and the new FUZION technology were all very well received. It boils down to this: For more than 60 years, operators have relied on JCM to provide innovative, secure solutions to protect them from counterfeiters and manage cash in the back office, and our showing at ICE underscored our commitment to our customers.

What were the industry's hot topics during the event?

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We had a lot of discussion with customers about sports betting. This is an interesting trend that we tracked throughout 2016 and now into 2017, and it certainly was an interesting point of conversation throughout ICE

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We see potential for the gaming industry and for JCM within the sport betting market, and this is why we presented our solutions for this market during the show. Customers were very receptive, and we will continue to track this trend and adapt to customer needs.

How would you describe the current state of the gambling market?

Our JCM EMEA team led our display at ICE, so speaking from the EMEA region’s perspective, the UK and Spain have been, currently are, and are expected to remain very strong markets for us. We are fortunately to have had a great deal of success in those markets with our Ticket2Go solution in the UK and with iVIZION and printer products in Spain. In addition, since JCM has returned to the South African market, we have seen growth within the casino and LPM market and we expect that to continue. In the Americas, we have had great recent success, earning 100 percent of floor share for some key new casino openings in the US.

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Of course, all eyes remain on Brazil, and they do in Japan in the APAC region

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What is the brand's main focus for this year? What are your business strategies for 2017? Are you targeting new markets this year?

Our strategy is to listen to our customers and to continue to use our spirit of innovation to provide solutions that work best for each individual customer’s unique needs. For the past 60 years, JCM has led with our innovative products, and we have every intention of continuing on that trajectory. For example, one of our most recent product launches was the new FUZION technology, which we debuted at G2E 2016, and which we will launch in the markets across the US this year.

Gaining feedback from customers at ICE, FUZION will be modified and launched in Europe once we have more clearly identified and defined the required features for the European region. Additionally, we will present multiple back-office solutions for casino markets later this year.