PromotingBingo.com

[Manager in Fife]

We are seriously considering switching from traditional flashboards to projector/screen displays. I would appreciate comments from anyone who uses a projector and screen to display typical flashboard data.
What are some of the pros and cons of making this switch?

Is the information bright enough in a brightly lit bingo hall

How animated can the projection be before upsetting the older players

[Terrie]

We recently installed projection equipment at our hall. This was a process. However I am pleased with the finished product. As always, being a test case you have pro's and con's.

Cons:
First I would suggest speaking directly with the vendor of your current electronics. We ran into many difficulties with our vendor not giving the proper rights to our board vendor so that information could flow freely and accurately. This resulted in a lengthy process. We advised our vendors in April we wanted our projections up and running by June and it did not happen until virtually the end of August.

We did require facilities to remove a few lights from our ceiling to remove shadows and glares.

Have a back up plan, incase your boards go down. Fortunately for us, we learned this early on. Make sure your vendor gives you the option of Manual play as well as linked. This allows you to still utilize the boards even if the source they are reading from is down.

PROS:

Flashtrak provided a nice bright bingo board. You have the option to alter the colors and choose themes to match your halls overall design.

It is the future. Our guests are very pleased with the boards. They are bright and large. We have four projection screens in a hall that has 400 seats. There are no issues with guests not being able to see.

I would suggest a dark background as it makes the numbers project clearer.

Our boards not only project the numbers called from the master panel, but they also project the ball call directly into the top left hand corner of the screen. This has eliminated monitors in our hall completely and adds to the over all quality of the presentation.

We also have the ability to advertise within the board. Currently our logo is centered between the ball call and current pattern. This makes it unique to your hall.

This has been a tremendous change to our hall. With a recent remodel it really made everything come together and look more hi-tech.

I find this is also more appealing to the younger generation of players. It is one more tool we can use to attract them to a new and improved game. Many patrons peek into our hall from the casino and realize from seeing the boards so large that this isn't an older generation game and it is progressing with the times. It provokes questions and new players on a weekly basis. Too often we are still faced with the stereotype of hard cards and beans as markers. The new hi-tech equipment available aids each of us in making the game attractive and viable to a new younger generation of players.

If anyone has further questions, please don't hesitate to contact me.
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Terrie

[Manager in Fife]

Thank you very much. This information will help a lot. I will make sure we have a backup method to display bingo information in the event of a technical glitch.

I believe the projector and screen is the way of the future. The old archiac flashboards will be obsolete very soon...

Thank you again.

[Manager in Fife]

Gulf Coast Games offers new software that will take the data from your bingo ball blower and transmit it to your screens through your projectors and display the information in an graphically entertaining way.

The Flash-Trak website (listed below) simulates a static view of the projector and screen system image. The actual software can be utilized to make the display as animated as you design. Add graphics, colors, fonts or select a theme for a particular game or session.

Between sessions, you may choose to advertise upcoming specials, other departments or sell advertisement to local businesses in your area.

www.gulfcoastgame.com