Jonathan Locy Stops by TG&H On Air

Customer success specialist Jonathan Locy is a bit of an enigma on the eConnect team—in the best way. He applied our facial recognition technology as a customer before hopping the fence to work alongside our team to offer and improve it for our customers.

With this unique perspective, Jonathan recently spoke to Tribal Gaming and Hospitality Magazine about his experiences and facial recognition applications. 

It’s Different in the Field

As a former surveillance operator and fraud investigator for a California-based casino, Jonathan knows the eConnect platform better than most. He explained to Chris Faria what it was like using the facial recognition software as a customer to enhance security measures and streamline operations.

Some of the biggest benefits? Facial recognition provides opportunities for casinos to dial in their surveillance efforts. Jonathan saw firsthand how the eConnect platform works overtime to:

• Alert on banned patrons and known offenders.
• Refer to matched faces enrolled in the database.
• Identify masked faces during the height of COVID-19.

Not only does it make investigating easier, but eConnect helps security and surveillance flow seamlessly. As Jonathan put it, “When you work at the property level, you're all there to give the customers the best experience and also to protect your customers as they gamble.”

But these are more than nice-to-have features. As someone who’s worked directly with our platform, Jonathan sees the value of the data eConnect pulls in to detect money laundering activities and ensure compliance. 

Title 31 and suspicious activity reports? eConnect brings all the necessary data together, matching casino activities with faces. 

“You can go into the eConnect system, look at all those transactions, document that footage, and then you can ... view those transactions when they're printed from the machine,” Jonathan told Chris, adding that, “You can actually see if that person is actually playing at the machine or if they are just stuffing bills.”

Advice from a Provider

Jonathan knows facial recognition comes with its own unique challenges. His biggest advice as a provider? Robust technology is important, but so is implementing it the right way. 

Practical considerations, such as lighting and camera placement, matter. Facial recognition relies on clear views of faces, so cameras can’t be placed up above and should be active at specific choke points with good lighting and high traffic.

As to the future of the industry? He wrapped his conversation with Chris and Tribal Gaming and Hospitality Magazine by discussing possible new roles to support traditional surveillance operators on the front lines, including:

• Operators to manage data
• Associates to investigate using data analytics
• System administrators to manage the facial recognition system

Facial recognition gets better by the day, and we have an exciting future ahead for the surveillance industry. Want to see the full interview between Jonathan Locy and Chris Faria? Tap the link to watch now!

Be Part of the Future of Casino Surveillance

From customer to eConnect expert—It’s a perspective you just can’t match, and we’re glad to have Jonathan by our side. eConnect is transforming casino surveillance. Won’t you join us? Schedule a call with one of our experts to get more information about our services and see how we can tailor the eConnect platform to meet your needs.