Bar codes 'SMSed' to cellphones are just the ticket

8 September 2004 Telecoms, Datacoms, Wireless, IoT

DEX, Mobiqa and Computicket have entered into an agreement to offer mobile ticketing facilities to the South African market. People wanting to attend events can now receive tickets directly on their cellular phones, in the form of bar codes, eliminating the need to print, collect or process traditional paper tickets. Standing in queues to buy tickets to the movies or sports events may be a thing of the past.

With the system a customer purchases tickets online and then receives a bar code on his/her cellphone instead of collecting printed tickets at the box office. At the venue, the cellphone screen is simply scanned with a bar code reader to confirm the validity of the tickets. The bar code can be sent in several formats says DexData Technologies managing director, Jans Wessels.

"The current proposed bar code will be a normal one-dimensional bar code delivered to the phone as an EMS or picture message," says Wessels. "All current handset models can display these formats. In the few cases where the handset does not support picture messaging, the code of the ticket will be sent as text message (SMS), allowing entry of the number at point of entry instead of scanning the bar code. This then links to database which validates the validity of the ticket."

Wessels says that alternative 2D (PDF417) and QR formats are also available. These will allow the inclusion of more data in the bar code. This can include ID numbers, biometric and facial images etc, to be used for verification when bar code redeemed.

Wessels confirms that most newer model phones have resolutions and screen contrast of more than sufficient quality. Due to curvatures of cellphone screens, some older handsets are a bit more difficult to scan but still work, and several specialised scanners are being produced that overcome these issues.

For more information contact Jans Wessels, DexData Technologies, +27 (0)11 644 6549.

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