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GSA Develops New Standards

LAS VEGAS – (PRESS RELEASE) -- The Gaming Standards Association (GSA) has developed new versions of two of its groundbreaking standards. Best of Breed (BOB) 1.1 and System-to-System (S2S) 1.1 have completed development and been approved by the membership for release.

The original BOB and S2S protocols were released last year, and the new versions improve the protocols' functionality and make them easier to implement.

GSA Chairman Lyle Bell said, "GSA is a remarkable organization. The BOB 1.1 and S2S 1.1 protocols have shown that operators and manufacturers from across the industry's spectrum can work together in the spirit of cooperation, and can significantly improve the gaming industry in ways that were almost unimaginable six years ago."

Dale Buchholz, Principal Engineer for WMS Gaming, chairs the BOB Committee that developed BOB 1.1. He said, "At this point in time, the industry is poised to take a giant leap forward in terms of pushing new technology that will make operators' business easier. With the release of BOB 1.1, the protocol is stable and has been reduced to practice as a result of the EGM and Host simulation tools that have been built. The protocol is now ready for production and member companies are committed to building the protocol software into their products. BOB 1.1 will also serve as a platform for future features and services."

Ethan Tower, GameLogic, a key member volunteer of the S2S Committee, said, "S2S 1.1 represents a significant milestone for open standards within the gaming industry and for manufacturer cooperation. S2S 1.1 provides the foundation for multi-system management of casino floors. It allows player tracking, ticket-in-ticket-out and accounting systems from multiple manufacturers to co-exist on a single casino floor, providing a fully integrated centralized solution from the operators' and the players' perspective. S2S 1.1 provides the catalyst for breaking the 'single vendor - single system' model that has dominated the casino industry. It demonstrates that it is possible to operate multiple systems simultaneously without compromising the operator or the player."

The Best of Breed protocol is a standardized communication protocol that enables secure communications between gaming devices and gaming systems. S2S is a standardized communication protocol that enables casino operators to link their various casino management systems together, and to easily connect them to hospitality and POS systems. BOB and S2S standardize communication protocols, enabling machines and systems of different manufacturers to communicate correctly with each other.

The BOB and S2S standards are available free of charge to GSA members and for a simple license fee from non-members. Companies that are interested in membership, or more information on GSA and its mission to bring important protocol standards to the gaming industry, should visit GSA at gamingstandards.com.

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