TicketBiscuit LLC has launched a mobile ticketing service for its clients in the entertainment industry.

The company has added a suite of new features that will provide event organizers and venues with Web pages optimized for viewing on mobile phones and will give their customers the ability to purchase tickets via these mobile-optimized Web pages. The new features will be offered free to new and existing clients of the TicketBiscuit, WhistleTix and BattlePass ticketing systems.

"Our strategy has always been to deliver innovations that help our clients sell more tickets and make more money," said Eric Housh, chief marketing officer of TicketBiscuit, Birmingham, AL. "TicketBiscuit Mobile Ticketing is the latest example of how we're delivering cutting-edge technology to our clients and giving their fans another convenient way to purchase tickets.

"We see mobile as a key future technology in ticketing, especially as PCs and mobile devices continue to converge," he said. "Benefits for our clients are reduced costs, better security to help the fight against ticket fraud and improved environmental footprint by reducing paper [consumption]."

The new mobile features will let clients to stay on the leading edge of technology without the need to invest anything.

When mobile surfers hit TicketBiscuit-powered pages on a client's Web site, they will be automatically directed to a portal optimized for viewing on their device.

From there, visitors can search events, see event details and buy tickets.

Buyers can then choose to print their tickets later or redeem them at will call with a special code.

TicketBiscuit currently serves more than 400 venues, promoters and organizations nationwide, from Mobile Marketing Association events to tourist railroads.

TicketBiscuit's clients include the Georgia Theater in Athens, GA, The Bucks County Playhouse in Pennsylvania and Exit/In in Nashville, TN.

Recently published studies from market researcher Juniper Research indicate that 400 million mobile subscribers worldwide will embrace mobile ticketing by 2013.

However, there is speculation that adoption may be slow to due to some technological hurdles.

For example, no clear standards have emerged in bar code scanning and the existing options are expensive, according to TicketBiscuit. The company claims that this makes investment in mobile infrastructure a risky proposition for venues and promoters.

TicketBiscuit believes that, in the short term, the mobile-optimized Web pages may be more attractive to clients than the ticketing system. As standards emerge in mobile bar code scanning, TicketBiscuit plans to add that piece to its offerings as well.

"Currently, mobile ticketing for entertainment is a very young technology that is posed to explode," Mr. Roush said. "Some analysts estimate that over 400 million users will purchase and redeem up to $92 billion in mobile tickets by 2013.

"It will allow clients to target fans with geo-specific promotions as well as enable last-minute communications to potential ticket buyers," he said. "Most of all, it will make ticket-buyers' lives easier through the integration with entertainment venues, artists and social technologies."

TicketBiscuit's goal is to give its clients a mobile presence that looks and works great on devices from those old clamshells to the sleek new handsets such as the Apple iPhone and BlackBerry Storm.

TicketBiscuit provides online ticketing systems and promotional and marketing services to hundreds of venues and promoters nationwide. It claims to make system enhancements and add new features every two weeks.

"We were one of the first ticketing companies to offer mobile ticketing, and the first to bundle it with mobile-optimized Web pages and make it free of charge to our clients," Mr. Housh said. "The service is automatic for them -- we don't require additional agreements or charge them anything additional to use it.

"In addition, our solution doesn't require a big purchase in bar code reader infrastructure," he said. "In essence, it is a low-risk, easy introduction to mobile ticketing for our clients and their fans."