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Box Office Ticketing and
Point of Sale Systems
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The Palace Theatre
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Palace Theatre Vital Stats:
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Seating Capacity:
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876 Reserved Seats
No General Admission Seats
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Typical Season:
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50 Attractions
Year Round
70,000+ Tickets Annually
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POS Needs:
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Educational Course Fees
Facility Rentals
On-Line Donations
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Background:
First opened in 1915, today the Palace Theatre is a beautifully restored 876 seat
professional performing arts center. In an area that once had 22 theatres, this
historic building is now the sole survivor of “The Great White Way.” The Palace
holds typically 45-50 shows per season, which runs year round, with an annual paid
attendance of over 70,000.
The Palace first begin using NCS Tick-It! software in 1997, with Tick-It! 97. They
have continually upgraded culminating with Tick-It! Trak Pro in April of 2006. In
2002, The Palace Theatre began using a third party service called CyberSEATS for
internet ticketing integrated with their existing Tick-It! 2K system. This internet
service was discontinued at the end of its contract term (in 2005) for unsatisfactory
performance.
Challenges:
The challenges at the Palace were many. First, the staff had a long history using
NCS Software, going back to one of the earliest versions of the company’s box office
software. The newer Trak Pro system was significantly different, and the smoothest
possible transition from one system to the other had to be worked out. Second, the
Palace had gotten its many customers used to the idea that Internet based ticketing
would be available around the clock. With the demise of the CyberSEATS service,
the Palace management was looking for a “rock solid” integrated system from a single
vendor, so that there could be no “finger pointing” should any problems present
themselves. The Palace also required the ability to accept donations and collect
other fees and facility rental charges, in addition to just selling tickets.
Solution:
Based on a positive nine year relationship, the Palace opted to upgrade their box
office system to a complete Trak Pro installation from New Concepts Software, Inc.,
with optional Inventory and Package Modules, as well as the web based ticketing
system. By bringing the web based ticket sales onto their “in house” server, communication
time lags were removed, as there was no “third party” server to facilitate internet
transactions. Internet sales reliability was dramatically improved, and the Palace
was actually able to collect two thirds of the fees from their internet sales, instead
of paying the entire amount to a third party. This boosted the profitability of
on-line sales for the theatre. With improved internet reliability and reduced per
ticket fees, internet transactions now average about 21% of ticket sales by dollar
volume.
The Palace can now sell Tickets, charge various Production Fees, ring up Camp Registration
Fees, Sell Gift Certificates and Special Memberships all from the same system. Reporting
is available in house, as well as on the internet 24/7.
Here is an example of Palace Theatre’s “Print at Home” ticket. It prints from
the customer’s computer at home as an exact sized, 2 inch by 5½ inch ticket, with
the same “stock” as a thermal ticket produced at the Box Office! The bar code enables
ushers at the Paramount to determine the validity of the ticket upon presentation
for entry.
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