National Lottery bets on web reporting

Camelot is using web monitoring technology to improve the online experience of players using its National Lottery website.

To retain current players and attract new ones, the company needed a way of collecting information about the 'last mile' of its online service.

Camelot network manager Mike Pellett told silicon.com: "We needed to know in advance if we had people struggling to access the website. So we needed to be more proactive."

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Given that the company provides just one service - selling National Lottery tickets - it was essential that the buying process be made as easy and convenient as possible, Pellett said.

The site is a major revenue-generator too - in the 2006/07 year, it saw sales of $290m, a 35 per cent rise from the previous year.

Camelot chose web monitoring tech from software maker Gomez to gain more insight into what players were experiencing on the National Lottery website - and ultimately to improve the online service.

The lottery company had previously worked with reporting tools from Gomez in early 2006 to monitor its disaster recovery site - and was pleased enough with the results to stick with the vendor, according to Pellett.

Thanks to the monitoring software, Pellett's team was able to make some 'quick-win' improvements - such as shortening download times on the site - which in turn reduced the load on communications hardware.

Pellett said: "It allowed us to improve what we have. It gives us the chance to enhance and polish up the website."

Future plans for the Gomez tech include building reports that Camelot staff can use to keep an eye on site performance.