Barcode uploads (article)

Susana Moleón
Susana Moleón
  • Updated

What does it mean?

TourCMS primary source of supplier-provided barcode references/tickets is via subsystem integrations and there is a secondary source is via upload of barcodes into TourCMS which can be issued at the time of booking, appearing on TourCMS standard voucher and also distributed to OTAs in the same fields as if they were pulled via a webhook from a supplier subsystem.

Thus, if an OTA is already pulling in subsystem barcodes there is no additional work to be done: ​​https://www.tourcms.com/support/api/mp/vouchers_and_barcodes.php 

The uploaded barcodes are also integrated with the API, the booking engine, Viator and Expedia.

Where can I find it?

There is a specific section to upload barcodes under Configuration > System & Setup > select Uploaded ticket barcodes.

 

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What should I do?

Creating a new barcode group 

Before uploading barcodes you will need to create a new Ticket barcode group, a barcode group can be thought of as the tickets for a particular tour/attraction e.g. “Kennedy Space Center” (although multiple TourCMS tours can be associated with the same Ticket barcode group, allowing for different merchandising of the same underlying attraction). 

    • Enter a name for the group
    • Select whether TourCMS should stop selling if there are insufficient tickets remaining, or if it should continue to sell, issuing a standard TourCMS voucher with no specific additional barcodes
    • Choose a barcode symbology. We would strongly recommend QR Code unless there is a specific requirement to support another format.
    • Select which rate types require a ticket (e.g. it’s common for Adults and Children to require tickets, but not Infants).
    • Create new barcode group

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The barcode group screen will let you edit the group settings, view statistics on the remaining barcodes, and upload more barcodes. 

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Uploading barcodes

Now you have created the barcode group, you need to add the barcodes, for that, please follow these steps:

  • First click the Upload barcode  button

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  • Select a File (see specification below)
  • Optionally enter an expiry date, if left blank TourCMS will assume uploaded barcodes to do not expire.
  • Choose which rate(s) the uploaded barcodes relate to. E.g. if you are uploading barcodes for Adult entry, select “Adult”. If you have separate barcodes for Child entry at the same attraction you can follow the same process to upload those to this group once your Adult upload is complete.  
  • Select Upload

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TourCMS will upload your barcodes and return you to the group page. Repeat the process for any additional barcodes you have for this barcode group.

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File format

Barcodes must be uploaded in .csv format. The maximum file size is 1MB and a maximum of 1,000 barcodes can be uploaded per file. To upload more than 1,000 barcodes please split them into multiple files.

The first column of your spreadsheet must contain the barcodes, one per row. Any other columns will be ignored and may increase the size of your file over the limit. You must not include a header row, the first row of your file must be the first barcode.

.csv files can be generated by many popular spreadsheet applications Google Docs, Microsoft Excel, Apple Numbers.

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Deleting uploaded barcodes

Uploaded barcodes can not be deleted, instead, we would suggest de-activating the barcode group and making a new one. 

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Associating barcodes with Tours

The next step would be to inform TourCMS to check/issue tickets for a particular tour. For that, please follow the next steps:

    • Select Products > Tours
    • Head into Setup for your tour
    • Under the Operations / suppliers tab choose your ticket group under the Uploaded ticket barcodes section
    • Save changes

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Please note that this should only be done once barcodes have been uploaded as if the barcode group is configured to stop selling once there are no barcodes left you are effectively taking the tour off sale.

 

Blocking agents who do not support subsystem barcodes

Some agents do not support placing your barcodes on their tickets, if you would like to block them from selling your tour then select that option also on the above page Tours > Setup> Operations / suppliers

 

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No: it means that this tour does not require barcode support, so agents don't need to support subsystem barcodes.

Yes: it means that this tour requires barcode support, so agents who support subsystem barcodes will get the barcodes normally, and it blocks the rest of the agents who do not support them.

 

Viewing barcodes on bookings

The uploaded barcodes are returned to API consumers during the Commit Booking API response. Additionally, they can be retrieved at any time via a call to the Show Booking API. The fields and processes are exactly the same as barcodes returned from supplier subsystems integrated using TourCMS inline booking webhooks, so no further development is required by any OTA already integrating those.

The uploaded barcodes are displayed automatically on TourCMS standard voucher.

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Additionally, they can be viewed in the booking screen, under the Operational / Supplier page in the booking component Edit popup.

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Important notes

  • You must have barcodes for all rates selected as requiring tickets in the barcode group setup
  • If barcodes have an expiry date, and your barcode group is configured to stop selling when there are no barcodes left, the expiry date becomes the last bookable date for your tour 
  • If you run out of barcodes, and your barcode group is configured to stop selling when there are no barcodes left, you may see errors reported by OTAs
  • Uploaded barcodes must be unique within a barcode group. If you need to upload a duplicate barcode you should create a new group.

Report

Now Tourcms allows you to download the report with all of those barcodes used on the vouchers. You will see this new report under Reports - Bookings & Financial Reports. 

 

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If you click there, you will see the following screen where you can filter by date, product filter, agent etc. 

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To see the report, please click on generate report. Here you can see the booking IDs, the components and this new ticket column which is the external barcode uploaded into the system. 

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It is also possible to download this report as a CSV. file by clicking on download report.