News

November 2007 - BetVIEW news - MRG Systems provides punters with greater fingertip information

Finding out the colour of a jockey’s socks in the 3:40 at Newmarket is almost plausible such is the wealth of statistical information now available to today’s bookmaker and punter. The professional punter working from home is likely to call upon a vast array of high-spec databases and up-to-minute websites to select potential winners. The punter visiting a shop on the other hand is often limited to the dishevelled copy of the Racing Post, albeit a good source of information, and random bursts of knowledge from the regulars.

However MRG Systems, based in Stroud, Gloucestershire are looking to bridge the gap between technical advancements for the home-based punter and those in the betting shop. Their solution is a Customer Information Terminal which incorporates the latest touchscreen technology. The touchscreen system enables the user to effortlessly navigate through menus until the required information is located. The terminal relies upon a live feed of statistics generated through a number of sources including Turftrax for racing info and PA Sports iKnowledge for dogs and football.

MRG Systems’ Ian Hunter describes the benefit of their exciting new development. ‘There are a lot of people who will come into a betting shop with no clear idea of who or what they are going to bet on. It’s an easy way, by grazing through different screens looking for something to bet on, to gain informed opinion. For example, Turftrax have a predictor which gives you an idea of a success of a particular horse in a race which is expressed in percentage terms. So it’s a case of picking out that information and making a better informed decision.’

The terminal has now been fully developed and received its full launch during the Betting Show at the NEC last month. Ian has been pleased with the feedback. “We had the prototype last year which just had information on horse form. The interest we received then was phenomenal and that’s what drove it on to this stage. We then went back to the drawing board and developed it further into a much more rounded product. The finished article has been very well received and we will now visit interested shops to demonstrate the terminal in a live situation.’

MRG have also developed the DVP100 which is designed in preparation for the digital switchover. Many bookmakers still use analogue television sets to display their pictures, however, as the switchover takes place, the analogue sets will become defunct and will need to be replaced with their expensive digital counterparts. The DVP100 comes into its own by removing the need to replace the older screens by simply converting the digital signal back into analogue. Ian sees the DVP100 as a cost effective solution: ‘Many bookmakers simply cannot afford to replace their existing sets. The DVP100 is an alternative offering real value, not least because it takes a maximum of one hour to install and won’t require any rewiring of their existing screens. The box has eight decoders inside thus allowing a choice of eight channels being screened simultaneously.’

Early consensus of MRG Systems’ products has been positive with the Betting Show giving MRG an early opportunity to present the products to a wider audience.