Ticketing Central System

The central system can be configured in either single or multi-company mode. In the latter case, the data is appropriately partitioned so that each company accesses only the information relevant to them, and manages their commercial and accounting data independently and confidentially.
The Central System is open and highly modular because it is service-oriented and supports the main market standards. It is multi-modal and multi-service because it supports the sale, validation, and control of tickets related to public transport, metro, Gran Turismo, rail, navigation, parking, ZTL, bike rental, taxis, NCC, shuttles, and much more. It is also multi-channel, supporting sales through a variety of channels: App, web, ticket offices, resellers, TVM, bank ATMs, third-party issuance systems.
The system is hardware independent: it allows for the maximum utilization of existing devices or the identification of the optimal devices for the Client’s expressed needs.
Each operator and device access data and functionalities based on their role (Role-Based Access Control). Each company has an administrator user who defines the access policies within their organization.
Fare configuration
“The Central System allows for the configuration of the entire fare policy: topological data necessary for ticketing, tickets, associated media, associated prints/receipts, user categories to which it is sellable, sales channels, tariffs, geographic restrictions, time restrictions, and much more.
For calculating the fare for route tickets, the system is based not only on polimetric/polizone data but also on the weights assigned to individual lines and routes with special pricing (e.g., airport shuttles). This gives the Operator greater control, allowing them to favor more profitable travel solutions or those that are more functional to their business objectives.”
It is possible to define fare discounts, where certain user categories pay a reduced fare, and one or more third-party entities cover the remaining share. At the end of the period, the system generates the invoice to the various debit entities.
The Central System allows for the creation of promotional fares dedicated to specific services, channels, tickets, user categories, or time periods, or a mix of the above. Loyalty mechanisms can also be introduced, based on point accumulation schemes or other rules that make the marginal price more convenient as the services are used more frequently.
Customer database and user profiling
The structure of entities and attributes that describe customer data is rich and articulated. For each loyal user, it is possible to enhance an account, a personal data sheet, payment preferences (e.g., registered credit cards), and billing data. Each time the user activates a service, he or she values its associated attributes: for example, managing the LPT season ticket may indicate the references of a pre-existing transport card, or create a new virtual card; to activate the parking payment service, he or she indicates the license plate. Then the system asks from time to time to valorize only the portion of the profile needed to activate the requested service, simplifying registration operations.
Reporting, collections, and clearing
The platform not only records sales transactions, but tracks and monitors all financial aspects following the sale, up to the financial reconciliation of sales with receipts and export to accounting systems.
This logic applies to all sales, regardless of the channel used (App, web, TVM, ticketing, resale, etc.) and the fare product in question (travel tickets, sanctions, parking tickets, and others). Registration is based on importing ticket issuance data, generated internally or from third-party systems. Alternatively, employees enter entries manually, as combinations of sales, receipts, and title movements; this is done by indicating appropriate causals and counterparts that guide compilation and prevent inconsistent data entry.
With each sales entry, the system automatically calculates amounts, commissions and VAT on commissions. The payment entry can be concurrent with the sale or with subsequent transactions; the system always tracks the link to the sale that originated it.
The system also manages the distribution of physical tickets, tracking timely transfers and stocks of each title warehouse involved, to be associated with the Carrier (e.g., central warehouse, peripheral warehouse), a reseller (merchants, drivers, etc.) or an external distributor.
The system generates all the fiscal documentation required by current regulations in relation to accrued commissions. It also generates the SEPA file with the amounts to be collected from resales net of commissions. Retail sales with invoice request from the end user is also managed.
The system allows the configuration of all accounting parameters relevant to ticketing: chart of accounts, cash registers, vat rate codes, etc. In an interoperable multi-carrier, multi-accounting scenario, each company can manage a different accounting distribution of the same sale.
Each company for each period then processes its own sales and receipts data for accounting purposes, generating the first note entries of receipts, the financial side, commissions and invoices. This processing generates data in intelligible form for Accounting, ready for export.
There is also an accounting process that allocates subscription revenues based on the validity period, feeding into the analytical accounting.
Finally, the Clearing management ensures the allocation of revenues based on various parameters, using both sales data and travel data.
Peripheral device management
This is an asset management module specifically created for the inventory, configuration and supervision of electronic ticketing and localization equipment.
The system also manages the data exchange between the center and devices to ensure operation even in the absence of connectivity. The center distributes parameters and lists and acquires logs of activities performed locally by the devices.
Data exchange and monitoring are unmonitored activities, thanks to an automatic data transfer and alarm generation system.
During configuration, to facilitate the entry of a new device, a guided procedure has been created to support the operator step by step. Once the device type and brand are selected, the system automatically inherits numerous other parameters.
During normal operations, the central system automatically acquires from the devices the operating and update status of each piece of equipment. For the more complex devices, it manages the status of the main individual components (e.g., contactless reader, POS, etc.).
The back end has synoptic displays that show at a glance the operating and update status of the devices, also with the aid of appropriate color codes. The synoptics are differentiated by device type: validators, TVM, etc.

The administrator can configure the alarm type registry, and for each the workflow of resolution paths and possible maintenance procedures. They also define the notification rules.
The operators then manage the alarms operationally, tracking all maintenance interventions carried out. The application tracks the history of all maintenance activities performed on a piece of equipment and thus the status changes.

Business Intelligence
The operations of company staff on management modules and user activity on B2C modules generate a large amount of data that constitutes valuable information for the company. Extracting knowledge from this data and supporting business decisions is the challenge that Business Intelligence aims to meet.
Business Intelligence consists of modules and functionalities that can essentially be grouped into the following areas:

  • Data warehouse
  • User portal

The Data Warehouse is the data backbone of the Business Intelligence system. In this module, the data produced by the ERP is transformed and related to each other. The complex structure of operational databases, optimized for ERP operations, is transformed into a structure designed for the analysis of large amounts of data.

The informational content of the Data Warehouse is made available to users through a user portal. Pluservice has experience in providing Business Intelligence on a wide range of commercial products; SAP Business Objects, Hitachi Pentaho CE, Microsoft Power BI, Qlik View, Tableau. Typically, the user portal is configured as a web portal that allows for the processing and visualization of informational dashboards, KPIs (Key Performance Indicators), and reports. Authorized users are profiled for access to their respective business areas. The contents of the data warehouse can be explored independently and easily by authorized operators.
Evaluating and improving the performance of the transport company has become a point of growing interest and relevance. The introduction of service contracts makes it necessary to measure many aspects of management that go beyond the economic results deducible from balance sheets.
Business Intelligence is the central and certified point of data dissemination in the company. All company operators can monitor the performance of their areas of responsibility, highlight critical issues, and develop corrective actions to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of management.

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