SMS text on phone or PDA
With this technology, travel tickets can be sent to the customer’s mobile or personal device.
The customer makes an online booking or purchases a fare product online. This may be at the transit agency’s website or at the website of an authorized vendor or agent. In some cases, the user must first download an applet to their mobile device, and they can then use this applet to make their purchases and to receive the SMS.
When the payment has been processed and verified, an SMS or other communication is sent to the customer’s nominated device. This is usually a mobile phone or a PDA.
The most typical modes of operation are:
- Customer receives a code or control number in the SMS. At the entry to the vehicle or controlled transit area, the customer calls out the number to the driver. The driver enters the number into the ticket machine or console, which then checks that it is valid for the intended travel.
- Customer receives a code or control number on the SMS. At the platform or entry to the transit area, the customer enters the code into a self-service machine. The machine issues a ticket or receipt for the travel.
- Customer receives a code or control number on the SMS. This code can be shown as required to a ticket inspector to confirm the authority to travel. The system typically has a built-in delay, such that a passenger cannot purchase ticket when he becomes aware of an impending inception and thus demonstrate his fare validity.
- Customer prints the SMS or e-mail and presents the document to the driver at entry to the vehicle or at another control point.
- Travel document may include a reserved seat number, though this would not apply in conventional urban transit.
These forms of e-ticketing tend to be used either where the inspection / control point is separate from the point of boarding the vehicle (to avoid delays and longer dwell times); or on long-distance and regional routes where the boarding and dwell times are not significant relative to the overall travel time.
SMS ticketing is increasingly used in conjunction with other online reservations and service purchases (e.g. rail ticket, cinema, concerts) where the travel document is sold (or given complementary) as a corollary to the activity the customer will engage in.
Benefits of SMS texts to mobile phones and PDAs are:
- Customers can acquire their tickets online, without having to visit booking offices or vendor/agent points.
- For the transit agency, it exploits the users’ technology platform (internet, mobile phones, PDAs) at very low cost.
- Savings in distribution costs and vendor/agent commission.
- SMS technology is robust and well-established.
- There is full transaction data and audit record.
- SMS sales can form part of a broader Customer Relationship Management program.
- Reduces the amount of cash transactions on-board, and can offer a viable alternative for infrequent travelers if wishing to eliminate on-board cash.
Cautions with regard to SMS texts to mobile phones and PDAs are:
- Delays at point of boarding when the customer is required to call out the code from the SMS.
- System cannot provide revenue integrity for on-board validation of pre-purchased tickets if the ticket can be purchased and shown during a ticket inspection action.
- Potential for delays in transmission of the SMS when the network is busy.
- Accidental deletion of the message by the customer.
- SMS ticket cannot be accessed if the battery runs out on the customer’s mobile phone or PDA.