Nscan and Self Service Admission Scanners?

I asked Tessitura support about scanner stands or any other solutions for self-service admissions, and they basically said that their developers are exploring options, and they are taking note of interested parties to inform when they have more information. This is the solution that was offered by Tess:

Technically, you can set the scanners to be "constantly on" meaning the laser part of the scanner is always active. You would want to set that up on some sort of permanent holder/stand.  With that said there are a few caveats to consider:

• you are trusting the patron to scan, and current messaging (both validating or not validating the scan) are not very user friendly, so you would probably want someone present to validate as needed 
• battery life may be an issue since having the device set to be "constantly on" with the laser active may drain resources (specifically for Android-based devices)
• potential wear and tear as overall usage lifetime of the device would increase

But in general, the functionality does not exist today as NScan currently requires user intervention. The products team is actively reviewing the possibility of adding this functionality to the NScan application and are currently in discussion with a few vendors to assess needs and development requirements to complete.  

Hi Brittany, 

Thank you for sharing this information. It is what I expected, but it's good to know that it is something that is being explored!

I definitely wouldn't trust patrons to self-scan. We still have issues with ushers not understanding the messaging and letting people in. I wonder how far away the scanner would pick up the barcode? I doubt it would be six feet but you might be able to play around with the size of the barcode. Maybe the QR code would pick up easier? I believe that you can type in one of the ticket numbers into the NSCAN device instead of scanning. I'm not sure which data point it is and it might cause major backups at the doors.

Those are my fears as well. I've seen self-service kiosks mentioned here in this forum, but I'm not sure how practical that is to implement in such a short time frame. You're right - I don't think scanners could pick up 6 feet so I wonder if plexiglass guards would be practical. And wouldn't switching to QR codes be a design overhaul?

Hi Jessie! Like you, I have a hard time envisioning patron scanning going smoothly but we recognize that we may have fewer ushers volunteering when we are allowed to reopen. I  know they can pick them up a foot or two but not sure how much more. We talked about plexiglass guards to make the ushers and patrons feel safer and also about having patrons tear their own tickets and scanning them in later but I am not sure how practical or reliable that is. 

Hi Everyone! 

Chiming in to let you know that we've accelerated our research on improvements to NSCAN that would allow unattended scanning, as Brittany Basden indicated.

Here are a few more details about what we're looking at. 

We are working on a proof of concept that would leverage devices in the Zebra TC line which many of you already own. The objective is to potentially allow self-scanning with the lowest amount of change and investment from members, given the current state of the sector.

The mounts that we are currently investigating are from a third party, hold the existing Zebra device, and provide power to the devices. 

We are also looking at how how we can improve the device software interface so that it is simpler for a patron in a self service environment. 

This is all in investigation and proof of concept mode at the moment, so currently there is no associated timeline. It is actively being worked on with the aim of having something to release  later this year based on the outcome of the proof of concept. 

I've added your organizations to the list of interested members and may reach out to gather input or demo what we've done as things progress. 

Thank you, 

Chris Szalaj
Product Owner, Business Facing Products
Tessitura Network

I have also been trying to wrap my head around this, and even if we can implement some sort of self-scan kiosks, our normal process has been ushers and stanchions.  Not sure how we are going to prevent people from entering without a ticket and/or with a ticket that does not scan correctly.  I mean, you can only trust people so far (as much as I would love to believe that people would be honest).

Hi! We are considering plexiglass at the Museum of Science--Has anyone tested to see if NScan will scan through it? Most of the Museum is still working from home but we are trying to set up some testing--in the meantime, just curious if anyone has tried it and if it was successful? Thanks!

Hi Amy,

Your question was a very good one so we sent someone to test it out at our organization.  They found the scanning distance with our Zebra TC20 scanners is normally 13-14 inches without any barrier.  They tested with 1/8 and 1/4 plexiglass as a barrier and the scanning distance remained the same 13-14 inches.  They also tested with glass and the scanning distance was reduced to 8-10 inches.  

Thanks Terry, how big are your barcodes? I believe that is a variable in the mix here too, where larger barcodes are able to be scanned from larger distances. 

Thanks, 

Chris Szalaj

Product Owner, Business Facing Products

Tessitura Network

They are quite small.  I have inserted our barcode element. We did not test our print-at-home which has a larger barcode. 

Hi Terry, Thank you so much! I really appreciate it! 

Chris, would we be able to get Mystic onto that list? We'd like to have the self-scan option if possible. 

Things are hectic as we adjust to the current times and whatnot, but please let me know how/if I can help!

Hi Chris,

Can you add Omaha Performing Arts to the list as well? We've been looking at a third party to see what could be done as we are looking at self-scanning options. THANK YOU!

Ashley

I've added you, thanks!