Handel Information Technologies, Inc. began working with the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Commission of Uncasville, CT in late 2008 to provide them an easier, more secure, more streamlined, and faster way to license employees for their casinos in Connecticut.

In 1994 the State of Connecticut signed a compact regulating Class III gaming, but the Mohegan Tribe was left with the responsibility for their Class II gaming and licensing as well as the physical records of their 3,000 licensed employees. The Tribe set up an internal management process for licensing new employees that entailed an applicant interview with the human resource personnel; application form and PHD (Personal History Disclosure) form to be reviewed by a licensing specialist; file containing applicant photo, signature and fingerprints; and a background check by a commission investigator. Final approval for a commission license is given by the Tribal Commission and approval for a state license comes from the State of Connecticut. The Tribe began their process by conducting everything manually. Fingerprints, photos, signatures, license badges and the PHD were all done by hand and stored in folders, boxes and file cabinets.

By 2008 with over 10,000 employees, the tribe realized they needed a more efficient solution. They began looking for a system that would be user-friendly, would interface with the casino HR database, would be easy to access, would reflect their precise licensing workflow, could be changed without major programming, could set multiple security levels for display of data, and could provide the functionality to display and control data. Handel’s RiteTrack solution met every single one of those needs.

Now using RiteTrack, Tribal Gaming Commission employees have complete but easy control of their licensing process. Each step is carefully documented and completed in RiteTrack. The human resources department can now import their data including all license applications into RiteTrack. In addition to the integration with HR, RiteTrack also integrates with a system used to keep track of all security documents, such as fingerprints, signatures and background checks. All of the information is automatically exported from the other systems and imported into RiteTrack on a daily basis, allowing employees to find all up-to-date information in one location. It is now much easier and much quicker to find, track and work with all the application and license files. With the old system of paper files, applications were assigned to designated employees to complete, but with RiteTrack, more employees can share more responsibilities for processing multiple applications and RiteTrack helps them from missing steps and/or making errors in the process. Using RiteTrack has resulted in better efficiency among employees and applications move along much more quickly. Before, only certain employees could work on an application due to the sensitivity of information and paperwork required. With the security capabilities of RiteTrack and ability to retrieve applications at any time, anybody can work on an application to keep the process moving along at a quick pace.

RiteTrack has given the Tribe good security for their licensing process and files. First off, access into RiteTrack is strictly password protected. Next, storing everything electronically instead of in storage boxes keeps applicants’ personal information safe. RiteTrack security can give all employees access to certain parts of all applications, and it can limit access to other parts containing sensitive data and limit who can see what in a file. Digital signatures are also a great feature of RiteTrack’s security. This feature allows only authorized employees to sign applications with their password-protected signatures.

RiteTrack interfaces with the State of Connecticut’s system, so Tribal office locations are no longer an issue for the Tribe. The RiteTrack web access to the state system is as quick and easy as the Internet connection of any PC, and this means quick and easy access to applications. The interface with the state also helps with provisional status of applications. If the State has not approved a license within 10 days, it issues a temporary license to the applicant. Thus, since that information is stored and accessible in RiteTrack, it allows the applicant to begin work sooner rather than later.

RiteTrack has other functionalities that are proving to be beneficial for the tribe. It provides the ability to handle exceptional situations such as tribal gaming disputes, hearings and revocations. It also generates reports within the system that remind employees when they need to renew their licenses or green cards, so it is easy to keep everything current and valid within the system.

Overall, the RiteTrack Employee Licensing System has had a dramatic impact on the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Commission and its license applicants. The transition to the new system has been extremely smooth, has saved a lot of employee time and cut down on the storage space for those old paper files.