Digital Tickets

[Gordyola]

Good luck to anyone who renewed. This digital ticket nonsense was just one of several reasons I've deferred. Quite frankly it's a liberty too far to expect all fans to have the technology and knowhow in place to deal with this concept. It's clearly an attempt to wean away the older fan base and I suspect there are hundreds, if not thousands of older fans, who pay by Direct Debit and who dont frequent forums, who are completely unaware this is inbound. Can you imagine their horror come the arrival of the season and no Seasoncard has arrived and they are panicked into trying to purchase new phones or spending hours on the phone requesting a card that should have been supplied in the first instance!

It's just so poor as a customer relations exercise that it's frankly staggering. I can't see capacity crowds at City for some time to come regardless of restrictions lifting. I'm not sure we'll be privy to the numbers but I can see deferrals being anywhere from 10-20% and there will be countless others who wish they had deferred too when the horror of arrival times and failing digital tickets kick in.

If it's not broken, don't fix it City.

Sorry but that conspiracy theory is utter nonsense
How did you feel when we moved to the stadium, going from zero tech paper ticket books with the number required displayed on metal plates above the gates to the first NFC gate entry system for a stadium in the country, if not the world? NFC was in its infancy then, now most people without knowing it use it ever day I suggested that there was the option of using smart phones to gain entry about 3 years ago once Apple opened up the secure NFC enclave to API How many forget their cards each game compared to how many forget their smart phone? Yes there will be teething problems 40K+ to process will lead to issues any system any organization will experience it when these type of numbers are involved Getting rid of plastic is a big step forward opens up all types of options so don't dismiss it Just think of the benefit to the environment of not having to produce and post out all those cards You wont loose your card and I'm sure there will be a method of lending to a mate

Why you think the cub are expecting fans to buy new phones is beyond me there will be a transition phase probably with the option of using a smart phone or having a plastic card just like there is today with debit an credit cards The company I work for are developing a smart employee app for site entrance as we use NFC the only thing stopping it at the moment is we use the same card with a chip for secure PC logon but we are currently tailing a smart authenticator the cards cost £10 each people loose them they get damaged moving to an app based system will save ten of thousand pounds a year Do you think that is also a conspiracy?

"I suspect there are hundreds, if not thousands of older fans"

Before you dismiss the "older fans" I'm in my 57th season and I know plenty of older people, in general, who happily embrace technology I see plenty using smart phones to pay for goods in shops its so much more secure than plastic

 

[Gordyola]

The 99.99% will have spent 45 minutes standing behind the 0.1% waiting to get in.

I'd like to think I'm wrong, but first home game of the season I forsee 10,000 fans stuck outside the ground as the game kicks off as our shite IT systems fall to pieces.

Even if they don't, as it will take people (especially those with phones in cases) many attempts at least to get the NFC working there will still be massive disruption at the entry points.

I bet there isn't
NFC will work fine unless they have a metal case

 

[GortonBlue62]

Sorry but that conspiracy theory is utter nonsense
How did you feel when we moved to the stadium, going from zero tech paper ticket books with the number required displayed on metal plates above the gates to the first NFC gate entry system for a stadium in the country, if not the world? NFC was in its infancy then, now most people without knowing it use it ever day I suggested that there was the option of using smart phones to gain entry about 3 years ago once Apple opened up the secure NFC enclave to API How many forget their cards each game compared to how many forget their smart phone? Yes there will be teething problems 40K+ to process will lead to issues any system any organization will experience it when these type of numbers are involved Getting rid of plastic is a big step forward opens up all types of options so don't dismiss it Just think of the benefit to the environment of not having to produce and post out all those cards You wont loose your card and I'm sure there will be a method of lending to a mate

Why you think the cub are expecting fans to buy new phones is beyond me there will be a transition phase probably with the option of using a smart phone or having a plastic card just like there is today with debit an credit cards The company I work for are developing a smart employee app for site entrance as we use NFC the only thing stopping it at the moment is we use the same card with a chip for secure PC logon but we are currently tailing a smart authenticator the cards cost £10 each people loose them they get damaged moving to an app based system will save ten of thousand pounds a year Do you think that is also a conspiracy?

"I suspect there are hundreds, if not thousands of older fans"

Before you dismiss the "older fans" I'm in my 57th season and I know plenty of older people, in general, who happily embrace technology I see plenty using smart phones to pay for goods in shops its so much more secure than plastic

You're ignoring the human aspect here, most people aren't early adopters of new technology. They gradually accept incremental progress which is why the current low tech solution doesn't need to be binned so quickly.

There's also the 'City' aspect to this. Our club is shockingly bad at implementing anything IT based. Very few fans trust the club. It'll almost certainly end in tears.

Technology doesn't exist in a vacuum it needs to take people with it. (Almost 40 years since I did my MSc in Computer Science and I've worked as a professional software developer continuously ever since, so I'm not a technophobe, just an FOC ;-) ).

 

[wahablue]

As a MOC & FOC and deaf what use is a phone to me.,put a phone near my hearing aid and all I hear is a loud whistling sound.Are the club buying me a “smart” phone and paying the monthly payments soI can wave it near a receiver 2 or 3 times a month.I will ask and need a card.

 

[GortonBlue62]

As a MOC & FOC and deaf what use is a phone to me.,put a phone near my hearing aid and all I hear is a loud whistling sound.Are the club buying me a “smart” phone and paying the monthly payments soI can wave it near a receiver 2 or 3 times a month.I will ask and need a card.

I think the more of us that ask for cards, the clearer the message we will send to the club.

 

[Citizen of Legoland]

I think the more of us that ask for cards, the clearer the message we will send to the club.

I've just been doing a bit of googling about how the plastic cards work and I can now see why the club might want to move to a more secure solution (also why they have been changing them every year - think how the little card is programmed once every year vs a phone that can change every game). That said it's an issue for those with hearing problems and don't need a phone, as has been raised, so they'll need to continue with some cards or provide other solutions. I reckon they'll offer print at home or they'll print one out and send it to you (or have pick up booths).

 

[cassyscooterboys]

So just for clarification, will i get sent both my sons digital ticket and my own to my phone or is it one ticket per phone?? Cheers

 

[Del_Bosque]

I much prefer everything on my phone to be honest, paying, tickets etc.

I'm dreading how much longer it's going to take to get in the ground though given the demographics of our fanbase.

 

[Prestwich_Blue]

You're ignoring the human aspect here, most people aren't early adopters of new technology. They gradually accept incremental progress which is why the current low tech solution doesn't need to be binned so quickly.

There's also the 'City' aspect to this. Our club is shockingly bad at implementing anything IT based. Very few fans trust the club. It'll almost certainly end in tears.

Technology doesn't exist in a vacuum it needs to take people with it. (Almost 40 years since I did my MSc in Computer Science and I've worked as a professional software developer continuously ever since, so I'm not a technophobe, just an FOC ;-) ).

Like you, I've spent many years in system design and development and I'm 100% in agreement with you. You don't just introduce something like this when you've got a perfectly good existing solution that no one is complaining about. Nothing is broke and therefore it doesn't need to be fixed. The way to approach this is to invite people to pilot it but give them a killer app or reason for using it. For me, that would be the ability to easily pass your ticket on to someone connected to you at the touch of a button, rather than piss about with handing over cards and getting them back.

If you want to introduce something like this, there needs to be a good reason for it, which needs to be clearly communicated to the users. "Because we want to" isn't a good reason. They've still not learned the lesson that we at City Matters have been banging on about almost since the day we started, which is communication has to be timely, clear and structured with the end-user very much in mind. What recent history says to me is that it won't be any of those things.

 

[Gordyola]

You're ignoring the human aspect here, most people aren't early adopters of new technology. They gradually accept incremental progress which is why the current low tech solution doesn't need to be binned so quickly.

There's also the 'City' aspect to this. Our club is shockingly bad at implementing anything IT based. Very few fans trust the club. It'll almost certainly end in tears.

Technology doesn't exist in a vacuum it needs to take people with it. (Almost 40 years since I did my MSc in Computer Science and I've worked as a professional software developer continuously ever since, so I'm not a technophobe, just an FOC ;-) ).

My point is it is not new tech it’s all around tap to pay this is no different than that, also they are not going to force this on everyone there will be an option to continue with plastic just like debit / credit cards Some on here are almost hysterical about it Look at the banks early adverts of tap to pay no mention just a guy going round tapping.