"Video" Ticket Machines

[SpacePhoenix]

Got the train yesterday and just outside the station there was a ticket machine covered over out of use with a notice about a video ticket machine coming soon. What's the difference between a "video" ticket machine and a "normal" ticket machine (the existing one is on the platform)?

 

[swt_passenger]

SWT by any chance?

The new machines include a camera and a separate video screen above the touch screen for two way communication with a help centre person.

 

[SpacePhoenix]

SWT by any chance?

The new machines include a camera and a separate video screen above the touch screen for two way communication with a help centre person.

Yep, SWT.

So if a person is having problems, they press some button on the touch screen and someone from the help centre walks them through the transaction? Apart from that are they the same as a normal machine?

 

[MrB]

SWT by any chance?

The new machines include a camera and a separate video screen above the touch screen for two way communication with a help centre person.

Sounds like a lot of hassle when you could just have a bloke in a ticket office!

 

[Flamingo]

Sounds like a lot of hassle when you could just have a bloke in a ticket office!

Wages in India are cheaper...

 

[RichardN]

Wages in India are cheaper...

Basingstoke, not Bengaluru. Whether it stays that way is another matter, of course.

 

[SpacePhoenix]

Sounds like a lot of hassle when you could just have a bloke in a ticket office!

The ticket office has very limited opening hours (basically Mon-Fri mornings only)

 

[maniacmartin]

Does anyone know if the help centre be able to remotely press interact with the TVM, selecting the ticket that is asked for, or if the video part of the TVM will be electronically separate from the ticket vending part?

 

[mbreckers]

Does anyone know if the help centre be able to remotely press interact with the TVM, selecting the ticket that is asked for, or if the video part of the TVM will be electronically separate from the ticket vending part?

In theory interaction with the TVM would not be that difficult. In theory.

 

[furlong]

Does anyone know if the help centre be able to remotely press interact with the TVM, selecting the ticket that is asked for, or if the video part of the TVM will be electronically separate from the ticket vending part?

I thought the idea would be that the remote operator could issue remotely a wider range of tickets than the machine would normally offer through its touchscreen. (I.e. similar to an instant TOD but taking payment from the inserted credit card.)

 

[WatcherZero]

My understanding was while able to take control the emphasis was on them tutoring the person to use the machine so they wouldnt need help again in future.

 

[Commuter66]

I think the video call is directly related to ticket office opening times. The station I get off at in the morning is in a village which is unstaffed after lunchtime. This has a video machine. In my home station, a large town, they have the same machine but no video call module and has staff for most operating hours.

One thing I think would be useful is an intermediary screen when you press the assistance button as these machines go straight to a call centre. That way when you are investigating the machine to see what it offers compared to the old model you don't waste a call handlers time saying "Sorry, I was seeing what options are available on this machine"

 

[Bletchleyite]

Basingstoke, not Bengaluru. Whether it stays that way is another matter, of course.

It needs to. There would be no value in it at all if the person at the end of the phone had no comprehensive local knowledge.

 

[AlterEgo]

It needs to. There would be no value in it at all if the person at the end of the phone had no comprehensive local knowledge.

What local knowledge would they need to give remote assistance to selecting a ticket?

Remember a TVM is not an impartial retailing outlet...

 

[Bletchleyite]

What local knowledge would they need to give remote assistance to selecting a ticket?

Recognising names of stations and common confusion between station names for one.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[AlterEgo]

Recognising names of stations and common confusion between station names for one.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Given that telesales is usually done in India at most TOCs I don't see why it would matter to a TOC...

I agree with you though. I've seen a lot of errors in the past; issuing tickets to Conwy instead of Conway Park was a good one.

 

[jon0844]

Remember a TVM is not an impartial retailing outlet...

This in itself is worrying, as by getting rid of the only impartial methods, you can make it very easy to be offered/sold the 'wrong' ticket.

Rather like the long time before FCC upgraded its TVMs to sell super off peak tickets. Go to the counter and you'd be given one, use a machine and it wasn't even an option.

(In fact, it even extended to group save tickets and I think even today not every TVM offers them)

 

[WatcherZero]

Why would a ticket seller in a window and one on a screen be any less impartial if both employed by the same company? TVM are covered in Toc branding.

 

[AlterEgo]

Why would a ticket seller in a window and one on a screen be any less impartial if both employed by the same company? TVM are covered in Toc branding.

A staffed ticket office is bound by the TSA to sell the full range of tickets and to follow impartial retailing rules.

A ticket machine is not. It can sell whatever tickets the TOC likes, it may give prominence to the TOC's own tickets, it might not sell other TOC tickets (especially direct competitors).

The DfT and ORR need to correct this but sadly industry innovation has overtaken their regulation.

 

[SpacePhoenix]

Probably the only way that ticketing could be made truly impartial would be for a separate company (separate from all the TOCs) to manage ticketing. The in theory any TVM or ticket office desk anywhere would be able to sell any ticket

 

[jon0844]

A staffed ticket office is bound by the TSA to sell the full range of tickets and to follow impartial retailing rules.

A ticket machine is not. It can sell whatever tickets the TOC likes, it may give prominence to the TOC's own tickets, it might not sell other TOC tickets (especially direct competitors).

The DfT and ORR need to correct this but sadly industry innovation has overtaken their regulation.

It does sound like someone has found a 'loophole' or at best is taking advantage of the slow pace of regulators.

A video machine may pretend to be the same as a real person, giving unstaffed stations the feeling of having real people, but I bet it's also to restrict choice! Oh, and reduce staff (just a handful of people in a call centre now covering tens of stations!).

 

[AlterEgo]

Probably the only way that ticketing could be made truly impartial would be for a separate company (separate from all the TOCs) to manage ticketing. The in theory any TVM or ticket office desk anywhere would be able to sell any ticket

LOL!

The TSA does not state that third parties should be impartial retailers either. It'd be like insurance comparison sites - impartial of course, except when they're paid by insurers not to be.