Ticketor is made to match the needs of all types of event organizers. From one-time small event planners to big concert or festival planners to all sizes of venues, we have the solution.
As a result, Ticketor is compatible with a wide range of equipment and a wide price range.
You can use Ticketor with absolutely no specific equipment or buy professional equipment that match your specific needs.
If you need help finding the right equipment, you can contact us.
Barcode scanning
This section discusses purchasing the right scanning equipment. To learn about scanning, check out Control Panel > Help & Support > Help & Instructions > Gate Control & E-Ticket Validation
Remember that you may have as many gate checkers, using different types of scanning equipment to perform the scanning.
1- Camera:
The easiest way to scan tickets is to use a device, connected to internet, with a camera. A smartphone, maybe your personal phone, is a perfect option. Simply launch the gate control app and point your camera to the QR code to scan it and see the result on your display. Use a modern phone with a decent camera and auto-focus functionality for best result.
Any device with a modern browser like Chrome, Firefox or Safari that is connected to internet, Wi-Fi or cellular data (4G, 5G), is suitable for this purpose.
2- Barcode Scanner (Bluetooth / USB):
The only issue with using the device camera for scanning, is that the camera may take a few seconds to focus and scan the QR code and the camera should be hold close to the ticket to focus and scan. For high-traffic events, you can simply connect a small, low-cost, handheld barcode scanner that connects to your device (smartphone) via Bluetooth (or maybe USB) and can read the QR code very quickly and from a longer distance and submit the data to the device (phone) for validation. The result will show up on your device screen.
For this purpose, you can use lower-end devices or phones without a decent camera
The barcode scanner should be able to connect to your device and submit the barcode and / or QR-code as simple text followed by an ENTER (newline). A 2D barcode scanner can read both barcodes and QR-codes while a 1D scanner can only read the barcode. The best option is to use a smartphone with a Bluetooth 2D barcode scanner that can read from a phone display as well as paper tickets.
After connecting / pairing the scanner with your device, simply launch the gate control app, set the focus in the barcode box and point the barcode scanner to the barcode or QR code and scan. The result will show up on your device.
Considerations in choosing a phone:
- Connectivity: Are you going to use network data (4G / 5G) or Wi-Fi? If network data is being used, make sure the phone is compatible with the data provider you have in mind and the data provider has proper reception in your area. If Wi-Fi is not available in the gate area, you may consider getting a hotspot. A hotspot uses mobile data from a network provider and creates a Wi-Fi in the area and several devices can connect to a single hotspot.
- Display size
- Battery life
- If you are planning to use camera instead of a Bluetooth barcode scanner, you need a high-quality camera with auto-focus.
- In general, we recommend Android devices over IOS as the Android operating system is more open and flexible.
Compatible Barcode Scanners:
Any Barcode scanner that can connect to your device (through USB or Bluetooth) and can work in HID mode and can scan CODE-128 barcodes and optionally QR codes can be used with Ticketor.
HID (human input device) mode, means that the Barcode scanner can work as a keyboard and enter the barcode in any text field. In other words, it should send the barcode information to the device as clear text.
The best practice is to use a Smartphone as the device. In that case, make sure the Bluetooth barcode scanner is compatible with your device. They should specifically mention that they are compatible with IOS or Android.
2D (2 dimensional) scanners that are capable of scanning QR codes, give you the flexibility to scan either the Barcode or the QR code and may scan faster.
Most barcode scanners can scan from a phone display. Getting a barcode scanner that can read from the phone screen will give you the flexibility to scan tickets from the attendees’ phone and not require them to print the tickets.
You can buy a compatible Bluetooth barcode & QR-code scanner, that works with Android / IOS / Windows and can read from paper and phone display, and is suitable for one-handed scanning from Ticketor's Store.
For more professional use cases, you may want to consider SocketMobile Attachable Barcode Scanners (S840) that comes with variety of accessories including Klip cases, Dura Cases, chargers, etc.
Point of Sale Device
To sell tickets or merchandise in-person, you can use any computer / laptop, tablet or phone, preferably touch-screen and big enough to easily fit the POS page and your seating chart.
Point of sale device should be connected to the internet (wired or wireless) and should also connect to other POS equipment such as the ticket printer and the credit card reader.
Some devices may only work with Windows devices while some other may only work with Android / IOS. If you choose network ticket printers and credit card readers, you can use them with any operating system as the devices communicate over the network and there is no need for special ports / drivers or applications to be installed on the device.
Ticket Printing
Depending on your budget and use-case you can choose what type of ticket printers you need. You may get away with no printer at all, or a regular office inkjet or laser printer, or a professional thermal ticket printer or depending on the use-case, a portable or wearable receipt or label printer.
No Printer (Email or Text Tickets):
For small events, you may get away with no ticket printing. When you sell tickets, you can choose the tickets to get emailed to the buyer and the buyer can either show them on their phone or print them at home.
Home or Office Printers:
You can also use a home / office regular printer and print tickets on regular paper and hand them out.
Thermal Ticket Printers:
For professional use-cases, you want to use a thermal ticket printer. These printers can print tickets quickly, on thermal stock ticket papers. Besides barcode and QR code, the stock papers may also be secured by other security features like black-light holograms.
You can use a wide range of thermal printers and papers with Ticketor.
Boca, Zebra, Citizen Thermal Ticket Printers:
We natively support Boca printers (or other printers compatible with FGL) and printers supporting ZPL language, including Citizen, Zebra, and many other brands.
Check out Ticketor Store for compatible Boca and Citizen ticket printers and secure stock thermal papers in beautiful design and 6 colors.
Both Boca and Citizen printers are good for POS and transactional ticket printing. However, the Boca printer comes with a hopper to collect the printed tickets and can hold about 200 printed tickets which makes it more suitable for printing tickets in bulk.
We recommend purchasing a printer with Ethernet network connection so it will get connected to your router and can be shared by multiple POS devices regardless of their operating system.
For bulk ticket printing you need a Windows-based computer.
Other Thermal Printers:
Other thermal ticket printers or receipt printers are supported through the printer driver.
You can use them with standard stock ticket papers or with thermal role (receipt or label) continuous paper.
Credit Card Readers
When you are ready to check out, you will be asked to enter the payment method.
You can select cash or check option and receive the cash or check. You can also accept and charge a credit or debit card.
Using the keyboard:
If you don't have a credit card reader, you can fill out, or ask the buyer to fill out the credit card information in the proper fields through keyboard and the payment will get processed using your payment processor.
For faster and more professional operation you can add a credit card reader. The credit card reader that you use must be compatible with your payment processor and Ticketor.
Stripe Card Reader
Stripe offers a professional, countertop credit card reader that supports touch (NFC), chip and swipe. It processes the card as 'Card Present' which qualifies you for lower transaction fee and lower chargeback responsibility. The card reader gets connected to your network (LAN) through Ethernet or Wi-Fi and so is more suitable for your permanent box-office, where you have a LAN network. You can use Stripe Verifone or BBPOS WisePOS E credit card readers with Ticketor. Since these card readers connect to your network, they are compatible with all devices and operating systems.
Purchase the card reader here
Square Card Readers
Square offers a range of portable Bluetooth card readers for Android and IOS. They are perfect solution for selling on-the-go, on mobile, or in temporary ticket booths. They process the card as 'Card Present' which qualifies you for lower processing fee and since they connect to your device directly through a physical connection or Bluetooth, there is no need for LAN or Wi-Fi and you can use them with your devices data. You can use any Android or IOS Square card reader with Ticketor.
Purchase the card reader here
Generic Card Readers
Generic card readers read the magnetic stripe on the credit card and fill the information in the proper fields on the website. You will need to manually enter the CVC and zip code and the card gets processed as an online (card not present) transaction. For this purpose, you can use a compatible MagTek card reader. It is a USB card reader, compatible with Windows or Mac and does not require network or Wi-Fi. It is compatible with payment processors like Stripe, Authorize.net or Braintree but not PayPal and Square.
Purchase the card reader here
Other Card Readers
To use any other non-compatible credit card readers, like the ones you may already own for in-person transactions, you can charge the buyer using the external terminal and mark the transaction in Ticketor as cash. Ticketor issues the tickets and you will receive the money using your external card reader / terminal.
