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Admission Tickets as Text Messages
lee1 writes to tell us that InfoWorld is reporting that Smartmachine and their partner Skidata have developed a new way to allow customers to purchase and receive tickets to events. The new ticketing system allows users to "have a ticket sent to their mobile phone via SMS (Short Message Service) in the form of a 2D (two-dimensional) bar code. At the gate, they slide their mobile phone display showing the bar code by a bar code reader." The new technology also claims to help combat the counterfeit, pilferage, and repeat use that can be such a problem for paper tickets.
themselves! And to add value to the consumer, they will (automatically) sign you up for text messages about upcoming events that may be (but probably aren't) of interest to you! Sorry for the cynicism, but I haven't found ticketing agencies to be all that honest (e.g. Fandango signed me up for a subscription to a 3rd party children's website because I clicked on an ad for a few bucks off my purchase. I read the ad and closed it; it wasn't anything I was interested in because I didn't have kids. Unbeknownst to me, Fandango had sent my credit card information to this site and signed me up!)
I sure hope they have taken into account for SMS delay, SMS MIA, deleted SMS, lost mobile phone, hacked/guessed barcode and whatnot. In short, is there a Plan B when someone lost this eTicket, or a cracker guessed/keygened a barcode and used it before the real owner did?
Paperless ticketing, while important, will only cause monetary loss, imagine if a country is crazy enough to adapt paperless voting where voters don't get a "vote receipt" in case something or someone messed up the results.
Virtual Betting on Facebook for non-geeks.
I've seen the same system in use for public transport tickets in Helsinki. People send an sms to some number, and the fare is deducted from their phone bill. As a proof of purchase the get a text message, which can be shown to the conductor on ticket controls..
How will I save my ticket stub for my collection? Ticket stubs are badges of honor among certain fans.
Dedicated Cthulhu Cultist since 4523 BC.
So you buy the ticket on your cell phone, have to bring the phone to the theater with you, and then the first thing they tell you when you sit down is "Please turn off your cell phone"?
Coder's Stone: The programming language quick ref for iPad
The Koreans have been doing this for years. To promote it they gave you a discount if you used the cell phone technique.
It makes a lot of sense. It's convenient to order the tickets, also via cell phone, and then you don't have to wait in line. And everyone there has a cell phone.
Funfact: In South Korea when you buy a movie ticket, you can buy a particular seat, like at a sports game.
Now people will have a REASON for bringing their cell phones to a movie...*Grumble*
I'll form my OWN solar system! With blackjack! And hookers!
Hey man- there's some bad RAM going around out there. Be careful.
What happens if you accidentally delete the message (some phones delete messages if you remove the battery or whatever)? Can they resend it to you, or are you SOL?
P.S. You can order seats here in Greece too, in large multiplexes.
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Dang... we've been using that in israel for movies for years. Just a number in text message, though, no barcode. They type it in and check that the credit card you have with you matches the card that that ticket number is registered under and you're in.
Right, cause no one can figure out how to get a phone to draw a bar code except this company...
They can counterfeit a barcode on a ticket to get into Madison Square Garden. They can most certainly figure out how to draw the image on a phone's screen.
Developers: We can use your help.
Now we can further separate the technocracy from the unwashed masses who don't have cell phones or know how to use them. Holding the population in thrall is becoming easier every day...
...by an NSA agent.
Are you sure they send SMS? Short Message Service is used to send just plain text, while MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) is used to send images as well as music and other nice stuff. I'm not sure you can compose a bar code with an SMS message!
Presumably, the "tickets" are generated uniquely by some mechanism that's "difficult" to hack. And once you go through the turnstile, your "ticket" is scanned and the database to which the scanner is connected marks it as used. This is no different from paper tickets with barcodes that are scanned at the gate.
-a
FTA:
The tickets would be delivered directly to their mobile phones. At the venue, they only need to place their phones on the sensor installed at the gates for entering the stadium. Spice Telecom and Karnataka State Cricket Association, after their "successful" and ongoing joint venture of Future Strokes, have again come together to launch the Mobile Ticketing in association with ConvergeLabs, a Spice Telecom release said.
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Maybe they're ASCII art barcodes.
Step 1 : You sign up for the service
Step 2 : You call a toll ladden phone # and order your MMS ticket Step 3 : You receive your MMS ticket for exactly the same price as if you would have bothered an official ticket sellerIf you are missing an option to order your ticket via a web site free of charge you are probably not alone.
Those blitzes of brilliance with which marketing bozos can come up with truely mystify me at times.
ich bin der musikant
mit taschenrechner in der hand
kraftwerk
You can send SMS via TCP/IP over GPRS. If you have internet but not SMS you can reconfigure your phone to do this, and save a bundle.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
What they really need is a second barcode I can scan for a full refund if I walk out in the first half-hour because the movie is complete crap. Or the sound system is hosed. Or the theatre is populated by talking idiots. Or any of the other myriad reasons people don't like wagering $20 trying to get a little entertainment at a movie these days.
Bar codes seem like techo-glitz rather than the most practical solution,
plus creates equipment limitations on customers.
Why not just use the credit card used for purchase as the "ticket"? The
confirmation code for the credit card transaction is the e-ticket ID.
Alternatively, use a driver's license or other ID. Just swipe the card,
and possibly check the physical card. Radio linked portable equipment with
card reader, keypad, and receipt printer already exists.
One could buy an e-ticket by phone, SMS, https, etc-- it doesn't matter.
If all electronics fails, a non bar code also works with a faxed paper list and pen to cross off admissions. Someone too cheap to buy the scanners
can use the fax method.
Yes, there is the possibilty of credit card fraud, but no other than normal
usage. Adding a smartcard chip to the credit card would be the best technical
solution to fraud by copying the card numbers.