MOBILE BASED TICKETING PROCESS

Ticketing Process

• Travel plan – Enquiry• Blocking ticket• Purchasing ticket• Mode of payment• Authority to Travel• Checking during Travel• Checking at Destination

Travel Plan - Enquiry

• Internet• Manual Static counter• Telephone – IVRS, Manual• Automated Ticket vending Machines (ATVM)• Mobile – SMS, Application, Internet• Manual Mobile counters – PDA based

Blocking ticket

• As the status keeps on changing due to multiplicity of counters, the blocking of tickets should be a part of enquiry process and should be exited as soon as enquiry is exited without confirmation

• Confirmation should be done from any of the enquiry mode

Purchasing ticket

• Purchasing process start from blocking process• Blocking is required only for limited number of

seats• For other tickets like Platform tickets, Retiring

room tickets or Pre paid taxi tickets, purchasing can be done even without blocking

• Same enquiry platform should be a single window service provider

Mode of payment

• Cash• Credit card – ATVMs, PDAs• Rail cards – rechargeable• Mobile service providers• Internet based operators

Authority to travel

• Tickets on printed form• Printed tickets at home• Printed tickets from mobile devices• Bar code on mobile phone• Authentication on Rail card

Checking during travel

• To be checked in train and then at destination• Manual checking of paper tickets• PDA based checking of paper tickets• Bar code scanners for Mobile tickets• A must to prevent ticketing frauds• Very helpful in reducing ticketless travel

Mobile ticketing

Mobile ticketing is the process whereby customers can order, pay for, obtain and validate tickets from any location and at any time using mobile phones or other mobile handsets. Mobile tickets reduce the production and distribution costs connected with traditional paper-based ticketing channels and increase customer convenience by providing new and simple ways to purchase tickets. Mobile ticketing is a prime example of horizontal telecommunication convergence.

Advantages of Mobile Tickets

• Reduced costs of ticket printing/mailing.• Improved consumer convenience.• Reduced infrastructure costs.• Increased revenue by increasing accessibility

to tickets.

Proposed Implementation

• Step 1 – SMS based printed tickets• Step 2 – PDA based ticketing at stations• Step 3 – PDA based ticketing in trains• Step 4 – Mobile Application based ticketing • Step 5 – Mobile and cards as tickets• Step 6 – Holistic unification and filling gaps

Step 1

• Platform ticket, Retiring room ticket, Pre paid taxi and unreserved journey ticket can be booked by sending SMS

• One code would be relayed back by SMS• On arrival feed in the code in machine to get a

printed ticket• Revenue to be deposited by service provider• Operational in Banglore for Platform ticket

Step 2

• PDA based devices to be deployed at stations to distribute and check all type of tickets

• Devices would be connected to server via a secured Wi Fi network

• It would have four in one functionality – Printer, scanner/Barcode reader, credit card reader and mobile phone

• This would ease ticket distribution, provide all enquiry and check ticketing frauds

These devices are very portable and its proliferation at all check points at a station with Ticket collectors would ensure entry and exit with proper tickets only and pressure on booking windows would be reduced

Step 3

• Deployment of PDAs in running trains• Connectivity would be through GPRS• Apart from collecting excess charge, vacant seat

position or requirement of other services can be relayed for proper action

• All money transactions would be on PDA only• It would help in identity verification, enquiry

information and send live feed during unusual

Step 3 ….

• PDA can act also as information warehouse as Window Mobile can operate all office documents

• Timely information of vacant berth position can save its non utilization as berth gets confirmed in advance

• This project is under implementation as a pilot project in few section of Indian Railways

Step 4

• Reserved tickets can be generated by running a mobile based application with internet connectivity

• A code can be given to mobile phone• Printed ticket can be generated on feeding the

code in ticketing machines or at home• Mode of payment can be credit card also• Ticket can be printed at any time before travel

Step 5• Printed tickets can be replaced by any mobile

travelling authority• A mobile phone, credit card or rail card can be

used as travelling authority• Ticketing servers or PDAs can sent these tickets• Tickets on mobile phone can be send in form of

Bar code and can be scanned through PDAs• Tickets on cards can be credited by service

providers and can be scanned through PDA• Collection of printed ticket can be avoided

YOURRAIL is doing it in UK

YourRail is the first company to successfully supply a train operator - Chiltern Railways - with a full system for purchasing, retailing, fulfilling and validating train tickets electronically in the UK. By April 2008, 18,000 customers have signed up and more than 40,000 eTickets have been sold.

Procedure

How to scan your ticket at the gate• Open the barcode message so that the barcode is visible on-screen.• Ensure that the backlight is on.• Hold the phone flat against the rubber surround of the scanner with

the phone screen facing into the glass window.• Ensure that the barcode is approximately central to the glass

window.• Hold the phone still - do not move or wave it around.• If it does not scan immediately, lift the phone slightly away from

the scanner.• Once the gate opens, please walk through so the gate can close for

the next person.Pasted from <http://www.yourrail.co.uk/Ticket-Scanning.html>

Step 6

• Unification of different mode of ticketing on one single platform through service provider’s network

• Service modules to be added – Catering, Road transport, Hotel Booking etc

• Banks providing mobile E – cash services• Wi Fi in all trains and stations

Conclusion

Mobile ticketing and loyalty specialist ActiveMedia Technology has launched new mobile ticketing software which it claims could reduce the cost of implementing mobile ticketing by more than two thirds. The new barcode software is designed to encourage take up of mobile ticketing by dramatically reducing set-up and running costs, while simultaneously creating a highly-scalable, easy-to-deploy infrastructure.

Conclusion ….

“Mobile delivery and redemption can reduce the cost of ticketing by as much as 80% compared to paper based tickets” adds ActiveMedia Managing Director, Ariya Priyasantha. “There are obvious fraud reduction benefits too, as there is no middle-man to interfere with the delivery process The question is not so much if, but when, this technology will become mainstream. With such a low price point for such secure, proven technology that answer has to be very soon.”

Future is mobile based

So be mobile

Thank You