Electronic payment solutions company Virtual Card Services (VCS) has been awarded the contract for processing credit and debit cards for the new ticketing system developed by Dimension Data for the United Cricket Board.
The system has gone live at some grounds and will be live at all UCB grounds by mid-2002. This will give all concerned the opportunity to iron out any teething problems and to enhance the system in the light of experience, so as to be ready for the biggest cricket event ever held in Southern Africa, World Cup 2003.
"The Cricket World Cup is obviously going to be a huge event, attracting hundreds of thousands of spectators, many of whom will be paying for their tickets by credit card," said VCS managing director Gordon Ashby. "Our background in developing systems for high-volume business, such as that which mail-order companies experience, has provided us with the skills needed to ensure we can process thousands of transactions quickly and cost-effectively."
The DiData system is a complete software package licensed by the UCB and will be available at all UCB grounds. But while it has been customised for cricket , the system is flexible enough to handle other types of function, such as rock concerts.
In UCB`s case, the system will be implemented in stages, ultimately giving fans the ability to book for matches in a variety of ways, including via the Internet - once they have registered.
"Registration is essential as it will reduce the incidence of fraud, which, unfortunately, has become quite prevalent at major sporting events," said Ashby.
From next year, fans will also be able to buy tickets at the ground on the day of the match from dispensers sited at the turnstiles.
"This is a highly sophisticated system that integrates video. This means, for instance, that fans will be able to see on screen the view they will have from the particular seats they buy. This will be important, particularly at the World Cup, where many of the spectators will be strangers to the venues."
Another neat function is a bar code which will let the holder out and back into the ground. The system will not, however, allow the holder to re-enter the ground unless it has previously recorded that he or she had actually previously left - putting an end to the abuse of passing a ticket back through the fence for someone else to use.
Yet another advantage is that the system will give officials a much more accurate count of spectators - useful both for security, public information - "Come on down to the match, there are still a couple of thousand seats available" - planning and security.
More information about Virtual Card Service is available on the company`s web site, www.vcs.co.za
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