Saturday, February 22, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Control board seeks more software engineers

New hires will relieve electronic services division backlog

Dennis Neilander Says new software engineers will help relieve stress in electronic services division.

The Gaming Control Board plans to hire four new software engineers to relieve a backlog in its electronic services division, panel Chairman Dennis Neilander said.

The chairman's request for temporary funding to pay for the new engineers was revenue neutral and will be funded by increased fees on companies submitting products to the control board lab.

Neilander said his request received unanimous approval in a Tuesday vote by the Legislature's interim finance committee.

The committee administers the state's contingency fund between legislative sessions and is composed of the members of the Senate Finance and the Assembly Ways and Means committees from the preceding session.

"We are gratified," Neilander said about the approval from the committee charged with approving requests to deviate from the most recent legislative budget. "This will be paid for by the companies using the services. Our electronic services people are under a great deal of stress, and it was critical we reduce our turnaround times."

Each of the new engineers will cost the control board about $100,000 annually in salary and benefits, legislative staffers said.

The interim finance committee approved spending $69,062 on the four positions, funding the new slots for the remainder of the fiscal year, which ends June 30.

International Game Technology Vice President Ed Rogich said his company wholeheartedly supports Neilander's proposal to pay for new engineers by boosting fees.

"We'll pay higher fees, but the trade-off of faster processing more than offsets the new expense," Rogich said, predicting that IGT, by far the biggest provider of American casino slots, would benefit from a reduced lab backlog. "We're pleased."

The electronic services division now has seven engineers, including the division's chief, who also has administrative responsibility for the slot lab.

The four new engineers are critical, and will help relieve a growing lab backlog fueled by the increasing complexity of slot machines and slot systems, Neilander said.

In 2000 the lab evaluated one slot system, the computer-based systems that link slot machines and slot clubs.

The lab evaluated one more slot system in 2001, but handled 40 in 2002. Neilander said the lab's already evaluated 16 so far this year.

"And that doesn't include slot machines. That's just systems," the chairman said.

One major frustration for slot makers and casino operators is the current backlog for slot modifications that require the board's OK, Neilander said.

The lab processes between 1,000 and 1,500 modification requests every year, he said, but recently the lab's turnaround time for the routine checks has more than doubled.

"It used to be a 20-day turnaround," he said. "Now it's about 45 days."

Two of the engineers are expected to be hired by March, with another duo hired by May. Training the engineers on slots and slot systems takes some time, Neilander said, predicting the new lab engineers would begin reducing backlogs this spring.