Station Casinos in Las Vegas is trying to work its way out from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and a number of recent IT investments is helping it reduce costs and boost revenue, reports Computerworld's Mike Hamblen. The hotel and casino chain, which operates 18 facilities that cater to local residents rather than tourists, has deployed new unified communications tools and unified computing technologies as well as wireless systems.

Station Casinos has managed to consolidate 12 data center server racks into one by using Unified Computing System technology from Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO), Hamblen writes. The consolidation not only simplified the company's infrastructure, but it lowered the data center's energy demands as well. Consolidation in the reservation and telephone systems operations has enabled efficiencies in call management.

The company's network includes 15,000 devices, including surveillance cameras and some slot machines, which are linked to a data warehouse. Recent IT investments have improved network resilience and adaptability, paving the way for some new gambling innovations.

In the fall, the company plans to operate a system that lets customers place bets on sports events from their computers at home or over the phone via Station Casino's Intranet. Customers will set up their own accounts and will be given a PIN code to place bets, using a system similar to online banking. Called Sports Connection, the new initiative was made possible by Cisco's Unified Computing System technology.

For more:
- see Mike Hamblen's article at Computerworld

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