WO2002065358A1

WO2002065358A1 - Ticket selling system

Info

Publication number: WO2002065358A1
Application number: PCT/FI2002/000067
Authority: WO
Inventors: Pekka KÄHÖNEN
Original assignee: Fastway Ticket Ltd. Oy
Priority date: 2001-01-30
Filing date: 2002-01-30
Publication date: 2002-08-22
Also published as: WO2002065358A8; FI20010173A0; FI20010173A

Abstract

The invention relates to a system for purchasing and printing a ticket (10) by means of the Internet (20). An identifier, for example, a bar code, attached to the ticket (10) is read at the event site and is used to check the validity of the ticket. The system includes a local server (27) arranged at the event site (31), to which a copy (25') of the database (25) is arranged to be transferred from the server (24), and to which local server the identifier readers (29) and the validity indicators (38) are connected.

Description

TICKET SELLING SYSTEM

The present invention relates to a system for purchasing and printing a ticket over the Internet. The system includes at least :

- a customer terminal equipped with a printer, to which an Internet connection is arranged,

- a ticket-seller server, in which a database is arranged and a connection to the Internet, - readers and detectors at the event site, connected to the database of the said server.

The purchase and use of the ticket is arranged to take place in the following stages : - the customer downloads a ticket order page from the server to their terminal,

- the customer selects at least one seat and orders a ticket for it using the terminal,

- the completed order and charging request are transmitted over the Internet to the ticket-seller server, to be recorded in the database,

- the customer pays for the ticket using an electronic payment system, which creates a payment confirmation,

- on reception of the payment confirmation, the ticket seller's server sends a ticket file, with identifier data individuating the ticket, to the customer over the Internet,

- the customer receives and prints the ticket file as a ticket containing at least one machine-readable identifier and in which the said identifier of the ticket is arranged to be read by a reader at the event site, the system being arranged to indicate the validity of the ticket from the database, with the aid of the identifier.

At present, tickets for events requiring them are generally purchased at ticket-sales points at the event site. In events with many spectators, the purchasing situation is both time- consuming and stressful from the points of view of both the spectators and the ticket seller, especially when reserving grandstand seats. Usually, ticket sales must commence long before the actual event starts, to ensure that everyone who wishes to watch the event can get in. If the ticket seller does not have the resources to install a sufficient number of ticket-sales points, queues at the sales points will become long. During ticket sales, large sums of cash are handled in connection with major events, which encourages criminal activity and thus creates a security risk.

At present, by means of the known art, the SMS service of mobile stations can be used to permit the booking of tickets over a telecommunications network. The purchase of the ticket still takes place at the actual ticket-sales point and requires the presence of the purchaser and possibly the handling of cash. In addition, the spectator can in no way influence the grandstand seat that they wish, as it is determined by the action of the ticket seller.

JP publication 08359014 discloses a ticket booking system, in which a customer uses a data communications connection to order for themselves from a ticket seller a ticket entitling them to see an event. In the ordering method, payment takes place the customer authorizing the ticket seller to debit a sum, corresponding to the price of the ticket, from an account or similar that they possess. The authorization is transferred, for example, by the customer notifying the ticket seller of their credit card number. The ticket seller is connected to the customer's payment facility, debits the customer's account, then sends the ticket over a data communications network to the customer who prints it and presents when they enter the event site. The validity of the ticket and the customer's payment are checked by the ticket seller from a database over a data communications connection. Another similar system is disclosed in publication WO 00/45348. In both of these, the validity of the ticket is checked directly from a database created on a server. This creates an obvious risk for the organizer should a disturbance in data communications occur just as the event is beginning and the tickets are being checked. In addition, neither publication describes how the event is formed in the database. A third corresponding system is disclosed in publication WO 00/74300, which concentrates of the attachment of a computed check code to the ticket's identifier. By this means, a complex encryption code can be attached to the ticket to prevent copying. The risk of copying is, however, acceptable, provided the purchaser is aware of it and accepts it, taking into account the cash value of the ticket.

This invention is intended to create a system, by means of which the defects referred to above can be avoided. The invention is particularly intended to create an electronic ticket selling system that is simple and reliable from the point of view of the organizer of an event. The characteristic features of the system according to the invention are stated in the accompanying Claim 1. The use of the system according to the invention requires a terminal equipped with an Internet connection, a Web browser, and a printer, as well as an online- payment agreement between the customer and the payment facility, payment for the ticket taking place in the system using an online-payment application that is, as such, known. An online- payment application is a service operating over the Internet and in general use by payment facilities, such as banks, by means of which customers can pay safely and easily for purchases of services from the Internet. The database is trans- ferred to a local server, preferably a microcomputer (PC) , over the Internet 1 - 2 hours before the event starts . The local server, together with its peripheral devices also acts as an identifier reader, if necessary also as the PIN-code input device referred to later, and also as a validity indicator. The system is extremely reliable in operation at the critical moment, i.e. when the customers arrive. Data communications problems cannot then cause the system to crash.

According to one embodiment, the risk of copying is reduced by adding to the ticket a simple customer-defined PIN code, which the customer inputs to the system when purchasing the ticket and again at the event site, when the identifier is being checked.

According to the embodiment referred to above, the local server at the event site comprises a microcomputer (e.g., a PC), preferably a portable computer, to which at least one bar-code reader is connected, the indicator being formed by the display of the computer and the application controlling it. In a smaller system, everyone who has purchased a ticket according to the system is guided in through a single entrance, where the said computer with its bar-code readers is located. Additional bar-code readers can be fitted to the same computer, but in that case a signal lamp or buzzer arranged in connection with the reader must be used as the indicator.

Considerable advantages will be gained if the system according to the invention is used to order and pay for a receipt, which will be referred to in the following as a ticket, giving entitlement to a service, the performance of which requires payment of an entry charge. When using the system, the customer receives the ticket only after the payment facility's online- payment application has transmitted notification of payment by the customer to the ticket seller, and the ticket seller has registered the ticket ordered by the customer in its database. This gives the customer certainty about the ticket, as the ticket cannot be obtained if it has not been paid for and confirmed in the ticket seller's database. The use of an online-payment application is also substantially more certain for the ticket seller, compared, for example, to the credit- card payment used in the known art, because the seller is assured that the customer has paid for the services they have purchased. The system according to the invention can ^'be implemented using small equipment and personnel resources and it is easy and quick for the customer to use. Access to an event based on reading an identifier accelerates the entry of the spectators at the event site and substantially facilitates the work of the gate personnel in checking tickets . Less cash than before is handled at the actual event site, thus also increasing security. Customer can also choose their seat whenever they want from among the remaining seats that are free and booked in real time. It is also easy to use the same ticket for collecting supplementary services and products relating to the event. In addition, the identifier added to the ticket in a machine-readable image format substantially reduces the possibility of ticket forgery.

When, in the following, reference is made to the .Internet , this refers to any communications network suitable for data transmission. When reference is made to the event site, this may be, for example, an ice-hockey match, a cinema, a train, or in general anything at all, entry to which requires a payment to be made. Supplementary services can include, for example, merchandizing products, restaurant services , transportation, or hotels, on sale in connection with the event. As there are innumerable different objects for the ticket and supplementary services, none of the examples listed above and in the following are to be construed as restricting these objects of use.

In the following, the invention is examined with reference to the accompanying figures, which show diagrams of the system and examples of ordering a ticket from a website available on the Internet .

Figure 1 shows a diagram of one system according to the invention, Figure 2 shows an entry ticket to one application object according to the invention, Figures 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D, 3E.'show Web pages according to the system,

Figure 4 shows one way to form a database for a grandstand equipped with offset rows of seats.

Figure 1 shows a diagram of the components implementing a system according to the invention and the connections between them. The invention is preferably built around the Internet 20, which is used as a data transmission channel and is used to transmit data between the various components of the system. The use of the Internet 20 does not exclude the use of other possible data transmission networks, instead any communications network at all can be used in its place. The customer using the system according to the invention has at their disposal a terminal 21, which is equipped with an Internet connection, a Web browser 21.1 suitable for examining Web pages, and a printer 22. The customer should also have an online-payment agreement 23 with some payment facility 26 that provides this.

The ticket seller 39 has a server 24 connected to the Internet 20, which runs a ticket-booking application implementing the system according to the invention, and in which a database 25 formed from the ticket-booking data is recorded. In practice, the event organizer runs the application remotely from their own computer (not shown) and the server 24 handles the ticket sales of numerous event organizers.

The ticket seller can place the local server 27, which contains a copy of the ticket-booking database 25' that is transferred from the ticket seller's 39 server 24 after the end of ticket sales, in the event site 31. This makes it possible to eliminate problem situations caused by possible operating disturbances and slowness due to overloading in the Internet 20. At the event site 31, there is a sufficient number of mechanical identifier readers 29 for reading the ticket 10. The identifier readers 29 include a signalling device 38, which permits the validity of the ticket 10 to be confirmed easily. Such a signalling device 38 can preferably, for example, emit a sound and/or light signal or can control passage through a gate. In some places, the validity of the ticket 10 can naturally be 5 indicated on a display terminal (not shown) , by means of which the entire contents of the ticket 10 can be displayed. A PIN- code input device 29', which is either a number or letter keypad with indicator lights, is shown at one door in Figure 1. An indicator light or similar displaying a message 'enter PIN' 10 can be placed in connection with the keypad. At its simplest, at one entrance door there is a single PC, to which all the necessary input and output devices are connected.

The identifier readers 29 can be connected to the event site 31 15 local server 27, or the database 25', 25 of the ticket seller's 39 server 24, over either a wire or wireless connection. The advantage of a wireless connection is that it gives freedom to locate the ticket-checking points 48 as desired at the event site 31. At the event site 31, there may also be a mechanical 20 identifier reader 30 with a printer capability. The purpose of this is to print the identifier required to obtain supplementary services.

Figures 3A - 3F^" show the stages of the operation of an e bodi- 25 ment implementing the system according to the invention. The figures correspond to an example of the view on the display of the terminal 21. In the embodiment, the customer intends to purchase two tickets 10 to an ice-hockey tournament. The list of things to be purchased also includes supplementary services 30 and products connected with the event, such as a cap, T-shirts, and nights in a hotel .

Figure 3A shows the entry Web page for the ordering session, which the customer downloads from the ticket seller's 39 server

35 24 over the Internet 20. The Web page shows the grandstand seat situation 32, which is updated in real time, in a grandstand A2 selected by the customer from a grandstand diagram (not shown) , which is updated dynamically by means of a database query from the server 24. The entry Web page also includes a Java applet for implementing the grandstand seat query and the order (as well as a possible PIN query) .

The grandstand seat situation is updated by means of a Java applet, which at set intervals sends the latest booking- situation diagram, which is built by the network application of the ticket seller's 39 server 24, to the customer's terminal 21. The seats 34 marked with a cross are seats that have already been booked and paid for, while the seats 35 marked with only a diagonal line have been booked but not yet paid for. A time limit of, for example 10 minutes, within which the order must be paid for to confirm it, is set for these booked, but as yet unpaid for seats 35. If payment does not take place within the set time, the seats 35 can be resold. The customer crosses off one or several of the free seats 33 while the dynamic booking-situation updating runs continuously and updates the bookings made by the customer in the database 25 of the server 24. The customer's own bookings 33 are distinguished from the other crosses, for example by being shown in bold, the seats marked being 17 and 18 in row 2. By clicking again on their own booking crosses 33, the customer can remove the booking from the seat in question. Once the seats are booked, the customer clicks the SUPPLEMENTARY PRODUCTS AND SERVICES' button, which downloads the Web page following the seat-booking page.

Figure 3B shows the Web ordering page for supplementary products and services relating to the event. The supplementary services and products 45 on sale are coded and their unit prices are shown in the column 44. The customer can select the products they wish to order by placing a cross in the squares 43 next to each product and entering the number of products ordered in the space 42 reserved for this purpose. In addition, the page can be used to request and supply additional definitions for the products, such as, for example, the sizes 41 of the T-shirts being ordered, the estimated time of booking in to the hotel (not shown), etc. By clicking on the button 40, it is possible to return to the seat-booking page according to Figure 3A to alter the bookings, or continue forward in the ordering application by clicking the ^λADD TO SHOPPING BASKET' button 37.

Figure 3C shows the customer's shopping basket, which contains the ordered products and services, their possible additional definitions, unit prices, numbers, and the total price of the order. The page also asks for the customer's purchaser information 49, which is required to identify the customer. The customer's company can also be requested, along with other possible additional information. At the bottom edge of the page, there are" links to various payment facilities .within the sphere of an- online-payment agreement, with at least one of which the customer should have an online-payment agreement 23 permitting easy .payment for the purchases on the basis of the order information given on the page. The customer selects a payment facility 26.2 by clicking on its icon, when the network application running in the ticket seller's 39 server^'24 routes the customer over an Internet connection to the online-payment application of the selected payment facility 26.2.

Figure 3D shows the view when the information on the completed order is sent to the online-payment application of the payment facility 26.2 selected by the customer, in which there is a ready-completed payment form (not shown) , which the customer only has to authorize in order for the payment to be made. Once payment has taken place from the online-payment pages, the customer returns to the ticket seller's 39 server 24 by clicking on the link 50, when the payment facility 26.2 sends confirmation of the payment to the ticket seller 39, in order to confirm the order in the server's 24 database 25. Figure 3E shows a summary of the services and products ordered by the customer, which the ticket seller's 39 server 24 creates from the relevant information and then sends a ticket file containing the printable identifier data to the customer's terminal 21 over the Internet 20. The identifier 15 which is machine-readable at the event site 31 is arranged in a graphics file format, for example, in GIF format, identifiable by the Web browser 21.1, and is preferably a bar code. According to one embodiment, the identifier 15 can include a computed check digit, or, according to another embodiment, the identifier can be encrypted. Modular arithmetical methods, that are as such known, can be used to compute these. By means of these identifiers 15, it is possible to discover possible forgeries, because it is difficult for a forger to create valid identifi- ers .

The customer receives a ticket file containing the completed ticket page 10, which they can print on paper as a ticket, either at once, or later, if printing is not possible at the moment. In this case, the customer can be sent a code and password, entitling them to download the ticket file once printing is possible (not shown) . By pressing the 'PRINT TICKET' button the ticket is printed on A4 paper on a printer 22 connected to the customer's terminal 21. Printing can be repeated for as many seat tickets as have been ordered. Besides the services ordered, the ticket may also include supplementary information relating to the event and commercial messages . The possible supplementary products can be marked on the ticket 10 of one member of the party. The printer 22 must have an adequate resolution, for example be an inkjet or laser printer, for the ticket and the machine-readable identifier 15 in it to be clearly readable.

At the event site 31, for example, at the ticket checking points 48 in connection with the entrance, there are identifier readers 29 (for example, Datalogic GmbH's bar-code reader DLL6110-R) with indicators 38 connected to them, which are connected, for example, to the local server 27 and its database 25'. The customer presents the ticket 10 they have printed, at the checking point 48, where the identifier 15 in it, prefera- bly a bar code, is read mechanically by the reader 29. The identifier reader 29 checks the validity of the ticket 10 from the database 25' and emits a sound or light signal set for it. Simultaneously, the identifier reader 29 receipts the ticket as used in the database 25' , to prevent the same ticket being used many times. In unclear cases, the customer's ticket 10 is examined using the check number. The system prevents entry using copied tickets 10, because only the first ticket 10 is accepted. It is also possible to mark the ticket 10 to be read in plain text using a display terminal (not shown) intended for this purpose that shows the ticket information..

The level of security can be easily improved by adding to the ticket a PIN code, which the customer chooses or which the system provides when the ticket is purchased. A separate check digit is computed from the PIN code (e.g., 2 - 5 digits or letters) for the identifier, or it is only recorded in the ticket's data record in the server. At the event site, in addition to the bar-code reader and indicator a suitable input device is required, preferably a reduced input device, for example, a numerical keypad, by means of which the customer inputs the PIN code to the system. The PIN code refers to an actual number, for example, 33' but it can equally well be a word, for example, ^λfox', especially if the customer says it to the person checking the ticket, who will in any case also have a computer keyboard at their disposal. The acceptance of the ticket is now based not only on a valid identifier, but also on a correct PIN code. A method of this kind is, in any event, much simpler than attaching a code based on strong and asymmetrical encryption to the ticket . The input PIN code can appear in a display corresponding to Figure 3E, but it is naturally not printed on the actual ticket. The customer must keep the PIN code separately from the ticket.

A receipt, or a marking on the ticket, entitling to supplementary products and services is issued at a supplementary-service point 36 reserved for this purpose, if it is not located in connection with the ticket checking point 48. The supplementary products can be pre-sorted in bags intended for each purchaser, which are, for example, numbered or otherwise identifiable. At the service point 36, the ticket's 10 identifier 15 is read mechanically and a corresponding supplementary-product bag number or other easily interpretable identifier is printed on the ticket, against which the supplementary service products can be collected, for example, at a sales points (not shown) at the event site. The identifier can also be a sticker, or some other mark that can be easily attached to the ticket 10. At the same time, the database 25, 25' is notified that the identifier entitling to the supplementary service has been receipted as used. In this case too, it is possible to utilize a PIN code given by the customer, if a high level of security is desired.

One embodiment of the system is for the user to be able to use a special identifier to print tickets booked using a separate system. The identifier, especially a bar code, can be printed on a plastic card, for example, for a season ticket. The need for a PIN code will then increase. In one embodiment, the customer can download several events under the same identifier (for example, a club card), by ordering and paying for them through the system.

Figure 4 shows the formation in the database of a grandstand equipped with offset rows of seats. The construction of the grandstand image always begins with a rectangular grid, in this case sized 23 x 4. It is then decided how many rectangles correspond to a single seat, in this case two rectangles. Next, the seats can be activated, the area that does not belong to the grandstand being removed by placing crosses in the corre- sponding squares. In the next stage (Figure 4), the seats are once again reduced to squares, in which case the shape of the grandstand becomes outlined its entirety and the image of the grandstand can be approved by clicking 'Form grandstand' .

In one adaptation of the invention, the server is at the event site itself, so that the entrance PCs have a direct local network link to it and the actual local server is not necessary. This is suitable, however, for only some large and fixed event sites.

The examples described above are some of the numerous embodiments of the system according to the invention. The ordering pages relating to the example can differ substantially, in both structure and properties, from those used in other connections.

Claims

1. A system for purchasing and printing a ticket (10) by means of the Internet (20) , in which the system includes at least - a customer terminal (21), equipped with a printer (22), and with a connection to the Internet (20) arranged to it,

- at the ticket seller, a server (24) , in which a database (25) and a connection to the Internet (20) are arranged,

- at the event site (31) , readers (29) and indicators (38) connected to the server's (24) database (25), and in which system the purchase and use of the ticket (10) is arranged to take place in the following stages :

- the customer downloads the ticket's (10) order page from the server (24) to their terminal (21) , - the customer orders the ticket (10) using the ^■• terminal (21),

- the completed order and billing request is transmitted over the Internet (20) to the ticket seller's server (24):, to be recorded in the database (25) ,

- having received the payment confirmation, the ticket-seller's server (24) sends a ticket file individuating the ticket (10) , together with identifier data (15) , to the customer, over the Internet (20) , - the customer receives and prints the ticket file to form a ticket (10), this containing at least one machine-readable identifier (15) , and in which system at the location of the event (31) the identifier (15) of the ticket (10) is arranged to be read with the aid of a reader (29) , the system being arranged to indicate the validity of the ticket (10) with the aid of an indicator (38), from the database (25) on the basis of the identifier (15) , characterized in that the system includes a local server (27) arranged at the event site (31), to which a copy (25') of the database (25) is arranged to be transferred from the server (24) , and to which local server the identifier readers (29) and the validity indicators (38) are connected.

2. A system according to Claim 1, characterized in that the local server at the event site (31) comprises a microcomputer, in which case at least one indicator (38) comprises the computer's display and the control application controlling it.

3. A system according to Claim 1 or 2 , characterized in that the ticket order page is arranged to update the seat-booking situation (32) in real time.

4. A system according to any of Claims 1 - 3 , characterized in that, the ticket (10) is arranged to include supplementary services (16) , in addition to a grandstand seat '(11) .

5. A system according to Claim 4, characterized .in that, in order to receive a supplementary service, the ticket (10) is arranged to be marked, using devices (30) , with an identifier entitling to the supplementary service (16) .

6. A system according to any of Claims 1 - 5, characterized in that the identifier formed by the server is a previously computed permanent identifier, or is formed for several events, such as, for example, a season ticket.

7. A system according to any of Claims 1 - 6 in connection with a seated grandstand event, characterized in that the bookable seats of the section of the grandstand are formed into a rectangular grid corresponding to the outer dimensions of the grandstand, in which the squares other than the actual seats cannot be selected.

8. A system according to Claims 1 - 7, characterized in that the machine-readable identifier (15) is arranged as a graphic format file, for example, in GIF format.

9. A system according to Claims 1 - 8, characterized in that the server (24) is in the possession of a particular service provider and the actual ticket seller uses the system over the Internet by forming the event into a database of the grandstand server (24) and by initiating and closing ticket sales, as well as by copying the database (25) , before the beginning of the event, to the said local server (27) .

10. A system according to Claims 1 - 9, characterized in that the network application to be run of the server (24) and the seat booking situation (32) to be updated in real time are programmed using Java.

11. A system according to Claims 1 - 10, characterized in that it is arranged to request the customer for a .PIN code, or to select it to be attached to the data of the ticket,' and that the PIN code is arranged to be requested at the event' site.