Eden adopts mobile ticketing

The Eden Project, the UK’s third largest tourist attraction, has become the first organisation in the country to offer permanent mobile ticketing.

Mobile tickets have mostly been used in trials at events including a Guns N’ Roses concert last month and England’s rugby Internationals last autumn.

The technology will allow the Cornwall-based educational charity to cut its paper, printing, postage and administration costs, and to reduce queues.

Visitors receive their tickets instantly in the form of a picture text sent directly to their mobile phone, allowing fast-track entry.

Jon Curry, head of IT at the Eden Project, says the technology will allow the charity to be more environmentally friendly.

‘The reduction in paper ticket waste supports our commitment to becoming waste neutral,’ he said. ‘But mobile ticketing will also allow us to sell tickets directly to customers rather than through third parties, which take a commission.’

Curry says the school holiday period is the busiest time of year, and mobile ticketing could be used as a queue-busting tool by directing customers to the alternative fast-track system.

The Eden Project uses PayPoint electronic point-of-sale software bolted on a bespoke advance ticketing system. It has added Swiftpass technology to handle mobile purchases.

‘Customers can phone the box office to purchase their ticket and a picture text that looks like a square of dots is then sent to the phone,’ said Curry. ‘A Swiftpass scanner is installed on fast track tills and it is read the same as a barcode.’

If the phone cannot accept a picture text, a link is sent that enables customers to download a barcode or, as a last resort, a reference number is sent via SMS.

Forrester Research analyst Jenny Lau says mobile ticketing is only the beginning of purchasing goods with mobile phones.

‘In some parts of the world, people can purchase products just by waving their phone at an advertisement,’ she said. ‘But the biggest barrier is going to be interoperability between handsets and the ticketing system.’

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Further reading

Project clocks on to timekeeping

Robots fly high at Eden Project

IP network for Eden Project