Projects

Teamwork brings improved ticketing solution to BGSU College of Musical Arts

Project Spotlight

The College of Musical Art’s box office contract with Choice Ticketing System was set to expire on August 9, 2017. Choice, a fully-integrated box office ticketing software, had been utilized by the College of Musical Arts for the past five years, but its users were not satisfied with the system’s configuration. This dissatisfaction and upcoming contract expiration prompted the college to inquire with the BGSU Purchasing Department about pursuing a new ticketing application.

With their existing partnership in mind, Purchasing brought in the ITS Applications team for support and together, the three areas (ITS, the box office and Purchasing) began to discuss the issues that the box office was experiencing. Early in the project it became clear that these problems required more than just the support of the ITS Applications team, it was a bigger job! Thus, representatives from ITS Client Services and Security were called upon to assist with the review process. After reviewing a variety of box office solution products, the group determined that the College of Musical Arts would stick with Choice and address all concerns individually and thoroughly.

Purchasing negotiated an extended contract with Choice and ITS immediately began working with the box office staff and the vendor.  ITS imaged and supplied newer computers to be used in the box office and the vendor supplied a printer bridge which ITS installed directly on the box office systems.  ITS and the Controller’s Office conducted a full PCI compliance review (a review of electronic payment processes).  Once all items had been configured, a vendor-lead training, including future enhancements, was conducted.  One-by-one, each previously documented pain point was addressed and solutions were identified.

From request to completion, this project took just over four months. All three ITS teams, in partnership with four different University departments, were involved in making the project a success.  As a result, the university incurred no additional costs and was left with a satisfied functional area with a plan for future growth. Let this project serve as a great example of university departments pulling together and using existing resources to improve a service at BGSU.