Through their new partnership, TicketForce will be able to offer clients exclusive Softix technology.
The ticketing industry continues benefiting from updated technology that’s providing added value from both the venue/box office side as well as for consumers.
A new deal with Australian ticketing software platform Softix will allow Mesa, Ariz.-based TicketForce to expand its services to larger arenas and venues.
Softix’s new enterprise system will be offered in addition to TicketForce’s current platform, which has been provided by California-based VisionOne for the past 12 years.
With this evergreen deal, TicketForce will have exclusive North American rights to Softix technology. Financial details were not disclosed.
Softix had a presence in the North American market from the 1970s until it exited in early 2000.
“We left to focus on growth of the ticket technology business, and have been looking for the right partner to come back to the U.S. market for the last five years,” said Greg Fahy, Softix chief technology officer. “We wanted to partner with an established company that could represent us in the American market, as opposed to us going to each venue individually.”
TicketForce has had a five-year relationship with Softix, and the agreement has been in the works for about the last year.
The Softix platform TicketForce will incorporate is a multichannel ticketing system that provides real- time, integrated online, mobile, box office, call center and season ticketing utilizing one scalable platform. Venues can choose the ticketing model and events listed with location-based content that provides easier event discovery, automated marketing services and the ability to partner with Visa, travel sites and other third parties.
“The current system we provide is installed separately at each venue,” said Lynne King Smith, TicketForce’s CEO. “What we see in the market is a need to bring all web traffic to one place.”
The software includes technology not currently available in the U.S., including Invite a Friend, which allows ticket buyers to reserve adjacent seats for others who can purchase tickets later; Full House, which executes e-mails to ticket holders sitting next to open seats in an effort to help sell more seats; and PowerWeb Mobile, a technology that simplifies ticket purchasing on mobile devices.
“Currently, venues have to choose between a product with a big footprint and powerful marketing where there may be a loss of control, full branding or merchandising and a self-servicing ticketing model, where the venue becomes the ticketing agent,” said King. “With Softix technology, we can offer a hybrid solution where there are two places selling one inventory.”
At press time, the database and system were being built and TicketForce employees were undergoing training. The company will be rolling out the new platform in spring 2016.
“With this technology, we only need one license to service the entire market, which can be managed internally,” said King. “Because we’re handling the management, smaller venues can take advantage of this new software as well.”
TicketForce’s current platform is utilized by 300-plus venues and promoters.
Tix Track Introduces Nliven
In other news, in an effort to build out its ticketing platform technology, Los Angeles-based Tix Track has developed Nliven, an enterprise ticketing system that allows venues, box offices and promoters to set up, manage and track ticketed events. The technology also can be integrated with secondary market providers, concessions, seat upgrades and other third parties. Data endpoints from these integrations provide the ability to develop custom features and reports.
“As we started working with more venues, box office staff and promoters, we asked what functions and features they currently were not getting with their ticketing software,” said Steven Sunshine, Tix Track’s CEO. “We decided to build out parts of our Tix Track platform to include features we hadn’t previously focused on.”
The platform’s servers can automatically scale up based on traffic to handle large on sale events and analyze customer behavior to detect suspicious and fraudulent activities.
From the consumer side, the technology provides differentiated buying experiences for mobile and desktop purchasers that is easy to understand and use. This includes fast maps for efficient purchasing of tickets for different types of events.
“Purchase options are displayed in different colors based on price, so ticket buyers can easily see what events are available based on personal value propositions,” said Sunshine. “It’s also easy to toggle between different events, with fast load times of less than one second.”
On the box office side, the program’s key differentiator is the way event setups are accomplished.
Seats are priced out and promotions are created within an interactive venue map.
“The biggest difference is our interface’s ability to create and modify events from the administrator’s standpoint is very visual,” said Sunshine. “It’s much simpler from the back end standpoint for box office personnel, since the pricing functionality is fully integrated.”
The cloud-based system also allows information sharing with third parties, such as Groupon and Living Social.
Interviewed for this story: Greg Fahy, 61 418 664 114; Lynne King Smith, (489) 726-3581; Steven Sunshine, (818) 207-9420