The future of the casino business belongs to those who embrace and push for cutting-edge technology to improve customer service and back-of-the-house efficiencies.

That's the word from an executive whose company this year issued a card that players can use to accumulate gambling points at one casino, redeem them an hour later for show tickets at another casino and charge dinner to their hotel room at a third casino that night, with all data updated every 8 seconds.

"They (customers) love it," said Jim Murren, president of Las Vegas casino giant MGM Mirage.

Murren was keynote speaker at the Gaming & Technology Conference, an annual confab where industry wonks discuss the most profitable ways of getting customers to spend more.

MGM Mirage uses sophisticated software programs for a variety of tasks to service its behemoth casino hotels on the Las Vegas Strip.

It's that kind of thinking that prompted InformationWeek magazine to rank MGM Mirage 68th on its list of the most technologically innovative companies in America, tops among gaming or hospitality companies.

Murren urged casino companies to buy technology solutions before building them, saying it's cheaper and more flexible to use outside vendors