The Big Bus Company

ECR is proud to provide a truly global system to the Big Bus Company operating across an extensive fleet of buses in 19 worldwide locations.

Big Bus agents and drivers alike today use the exclusive Go2 all-in-one handheld terminal, supporting ticket sales in cities such as Las Vegas, Budapest, Shanghai, Sydney, Paris, Miami, Dubai and Hong Kong, London and New York.

Overview

The fully mobile, contactless and mobile-wallet enabled handheld terminals are used by street vendors and drivers to sell a wide range of tour as well as attraction tickets to tourists.

The solution integrates with the client’s international online booking service and processes sales, validates tickets and offers a range of options supporting upselling and fraud management.

The fully PCI and EMV certified terminals request transaction approval online via 4G connectivity, allowing for a smooth and rapid transaction for customer and operator. They include a fast, silent thermal printer to issue receipts and a QR code scanner meaning any form of ticket (on-screen, printed at home, e-tickets as well as those purchased on-street), can be instantly validated and the client admitted without delay.

The solution uses a dynamic QR code system preventing ticket duplication, and enabling inspectors to identify when a ticket is at the end of the validity period – for example a 24-hour ticket which becomes valid from the first scan.

From head office, sales are monitored in real time and by location, city-wide. This enables management to pinpoint hot-spots and deploy agents from quieter to busy areas throughout the day.

Ticket usage can be monitored, as can a wide range of data be mined from the extensive reporting available on ECR’s back office reporting tool.

Benefits of the system include:

• Tickets can be printed from the same device that is used to process card/cash payments
• QR Codes issued from online bookings via third-party sites are instantly recognised and validated
• Easy to use and intuitive, with screens designed by Big Bus’ own head office users
• The on-board software is easy to adapt and translate for the growing number of destinations
• Ability to profile each route, including origin locations, using the data, for effective route planning and sales forecasting
• Staff can be deployed to specific locations to meet higher demands
• Additional tours can be added or removed from locations depending on sales

Results

The control and management information has proved invaluable for the Big Bus Company. They have seen significant upturn in credit/debit card transactions, whilst staff have been provided positive feedback about the additional features that the terminals have given them.

Additionally the light and easy to transport devices have seen the profitability of their sales agents’ increase, whilst the number of customers processed and migrated onto their buses continues to increase steadily year-on-year.