
Q. How does your print-at-home ticketing
work?
It all starts with bar
codes, like most other attempts at print-at-home
ticketing. But our system takes the bar code to places that
it's never been before!
When you install our system at
your venue, it includes a bar code scanning system that uses
fraud-proof, proprietary (patent-pending) technology to guarantee that
each ticket is valid. Through a super-fast, secret communications
protocol, our host computer is able to keep in contact with your venue
system at all times, keeping it up to date not only on which tickets
are valid, but what exactly they are valid for, which tickets have been
already scanned (to prevent photo-copying), which tickets have
been issued credit card refunds, and much much more.
The bar code scanning system
is normally located right at a ticket-taker location, which means your
on-line customers won't have to stand in line at the box office or at the will-call window to pick up their
tickets. We call it our Bypass the Box Office™
technology, and customers love
the convenience!
Q. Do I need an
expensive dedicated phone line to your computer
system?
No. Because our
communication protocol is so fast, all you really need is a
simple dial-up
modem connection to the Internet. We strongly recommend DSL,
cable or T1 connection for
best performance.
Q. You say the system will work with my existing web
site. How does that work?
When your
customer is ready to select an event, event time, and ticket, he will
click on a link on one of the pages in your web site. This link
will send him to our web site to make his selection, purchase his
ticket, and print it on his own printer. Because our system
knows the customer came from your web site, we can make our site look
just like yours does. 99.9% of the time, the customer never even
realizes that he is working with another web site. When the
purchase is complete, we'll send the customer back to your web site
again.
Because our
technology runs completely on our web server, you won't need to add
any programming to your web site. As far as creating the links on
your web site, we'll even provide you with the right HTML code to
paste right into your web site.
Q. What if I don't already have a
web site?
If you're not already up and running with
your own web site, you're not alone. Many venues have not
yet designed an Internet presence. Our consultants can help you
get on-line right away. Depending on your needs, we can design a
brand new site just for you
from the ground up, or we can set
you up with
one of our many pre-existing site
designs.
After it has been designed, you can choose to
host your web site on any web server. Many ISPs offer web hosting
space. We also offer web site hosting services for a small
monthly fee. However, your web site does not need to be
hosted on our servers to work with the PrintTixUSA™ "Online Box
Office™" Ticketing Engine.
Q. Do I need an on-line credit card
merchant account?
No, we actually set ourselves up
to re-sell tickets to your customers, and since we are technically
the ones selling the tickets, all credit cards are
processed using the PrintTixUSA™
merchant account, which appears on customer's billing statements
as simply "Internet Tickets." We then forward money to you on a
pre-arranged schedule via electronic funds transfer - right into your
bank account - and send you an e-mail statement showing how many
tickets were sold, to what events, and for
what amount.
Q. Will your system
hook into my existing software for my box office?
The PrintTixUSA™ system was
designed from the ground up to be used as either a completely
stand-alone system OR to be fully integrated into existing box
office software. Our proprietary Application
Programming Interface (API) and easy-to-use OCX and ActiveX
controls are designed specifically to make it extremely
easy to integrate any box office
software with the PrintTixUSA ticketing engine.
In fact, many
box office software makers have already integrated their systems
with ours. If you would
like, we would be happy to contact your software provider and show them how easy it is to integrate our two systems
together. Depending upon the programming language, a really
good programmer can have the job done in as little as a week!
To find out if your box office
software has already been fully integrated, check out our list of box office software partners
!
Q. Does your system work
with any type of venue?
Yes, our system is designed to
work with virtually any kind of venue imaginable. The technology has
been most heavily tested for general admission venues and events, but
we are currently completing modules to allow for sales of
reserved- seating events.
Our technology is always
under development. Even if our system needs additional features
to work in your specific situation, we'd still like to discuss
the possibilities with you. If we decide that the features you
need would improve our product, we will add the features you request at
no charge to you.
Q. How do I know
how many tickets have been sold on-line?
With PrintTixUSA™, you always
maintain complete control over the ticket-selling process. The
computer system we provide has control buttons and displays that allow
you to monitor on-line ticket sales and cut them off any time you
want to.
If you run our system
in stand-alone mode, we usually recommend that you simply set
aside an allotment of seats for us to sell on-line. Once we
reach the limit you set, our system will shut itself down
automatically. You can still cut off on-line ticket sales at any
time using the control buttons on the venue computer system.
Of course, our API provides a
complete set of commands that your software provider can use to query
the number of seats sold on-line and stop and restart ticket sales at
will. With these features, your software provider can normally show
you both the number of tickets sold at your box office windows AND the
number of tickets sold on-line - all on one screen.
Q. I've heard that
you can sell concessions on-line too. Is that
true?
Yes, our on-line box office
system allows you to sell concession stand gift certificates on-line,
too. This is a sure up-sell, since your customers will almost
always want to buy snacks, and when they buy them on-line, they
won't have to bring any cash to the event. You can sell
dollar-value gift certificates, individual items, combo meal deals, or
all three! Your customers will love the convenience of buying
concessions with the same credit card they use to buy their
tickets!
Q. Can I sell other
stuff on-line, too?
As long as what you are selling
includes an event ticket, we can usually figure out how to include
other items as well. In some cases, we have to charge a little
extra for these features because they require
custom programming. In order to tell you more, we would need
to know more about exactly what you would like to
do.
For example, some venues sell "package
deals" that include event tickets, concessions, and a restaurant meal
all for one price. This type of situation works because it
includes an event ticket.
Q. How much would it cost for us
to sell tickets on-line?
We will work with you to create a program that meets
both of our requirements. Exactly how much you pay for our
system will be negotiated with our sales representative
when it's time to put together the final deal. We have leasing
programs available to help ease the up-front expense, improve your tax
situation, and get
you up and running right
away.
Everything you need to redeem PrintTixUSA™ tickets is
included regardless of what or how you pay for your system.
When you're ready to get
details on pricing, go ahead and
contact us and we'll work with you to
prepare a customized quote just for your venue or
venues.
Q. This sounds like just what we need! How
do I get started?
All you need
to do is contact us for more information.
We'll send you some detailed information, including a service contract to
review. We'll also take a look at your existing web site (if you
have one) and help you figure out which of our products you will need
to get the system up and running. We look forward to hearing from you!
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1998-2005, Internet Ticketing Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.
PATENT PENDING
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