Peermont Hotels, Casinos and Resorts is an award-winning hospitality and gaming company with a total of 13 properties – nine in South Africa, and four in Botswana has acquired the services of AWM360 Data Systems to implement Kaba’s robust, easily managed biometric and SAP-integrated Time & Attendance (T&A) solution.
The result has been enhanced access control, security and T&A at strategic entertainment venues, beginning with Peermont’s flagship resort in Gauteng Emperors Palace Hotel Casino Convention and Entertainment Resort.
AWM360 Data Systems is a recognised leading provider of technology focused on Human Capital Management (HCM) and workforce management solutions.
The company is an exclusive local distributor of Kaba access control and T&A solutions, a global established product range.
Peermont sought to partner with an experienced service provider that could guarantee access to a cost efficient, biometric product range, possessed intricate knowledge of the value the solution offers and could ensure a reliable level of local support.
The hospitality and gaming group also required that any prospective partner have a high level of experience in biometric infrastructure implementation and support across a wide variety of environments.
“A potential partner had to understand the dynamics and unique challenges the gaming and hospitality sector represents,” says Ann Gradidge, human resource manager at Emperors Palace.
As far as access control and T&A is concerned, the hospitality and gaming environment presents a number of challenges, including sophisticated industry-related shift patterns and work schedules. It is an industry in which many staff rely heavily on public transport, lift schemes and car pools – which means that access and T&A have to be regulated with precision and accuracy.
Given that the environment is also cash-and payroll intensive, the biometric technology deployed would have to cater to strict supervisory and regulatory requirements, including regular security checks and heightened access control to sensitive areas.
Any installation would have to take into account gaming industry regulations, which dictate that no work can be done for more than 2 hours at any given time on any one game. This would mean that any work would have to be co-ordinated in accordance with a strict schedule and taking into account the daily operation of the establishment. There could be no interruption to the core operation.
Scheduling the installation of biometric terminal hardware to suit the ERP requirements of this environment would require a partner with vast experience and sound technical expertise.
The AWM360 solution
As an experienced global provider of solutions and services, and Kaba partner, AWM360 Data Systems stood out immediately for management at Peermont. It met all the necessary criteria and had a proven track record of excellence in the integration and support of biometric solutions across a number of different industries.
AWM360 Data Systems was contracted to provide the Kaba B-COMM ERP 4 SAP integration platform to facilitate data exchange between biometric terminals and SAP software, as well as Kaba B-web 9300 Series biometric terminals.
This terminal infrastructure is differentiated in a competitive space by its level of adaptability to new environments, easy and reliable operation and high system availability.
Kaba B-COMM Option Biometrics, has a modular structure and is configured according to requirements. In order to achieve high data security for biometric data, B-COMM is typically installed on a server located in a protected area.
The implementation took 5 months and was configured precisely to meet the requirements of the gaming environment and the dynamic conditions from a security and access control point of view.
Emperors Palace casino and entertainment venue was the first site for rollout and went live with the newly implemented system at the end of 2014.
“We have received a very positive response from our client based on the efficient, easily operated and flexible hardware put on place, as well as the level of support and technical expertise we have made available. We are delighted to be the preferred services partner to this leader in gaming and hospitality,” says Guenter Nerlich, MD of AWM360 Data Systems.
The next South African sites as well as operations outside of the borders of South Africa have all been identified due for implementation in 2015.