PatronManager Help

How to Deal with Live Event Emergencies

Updated on

Use this link to share with your colleagues:

How to Deal with Live Event Emergencies: https://help.pm.leapevent.tech/a/1633400

Are you getting ready for or in the middle of a live event and encountering an emergency?

We've got your back! Click on the link below that matches up with what you're experiencing:

Are you getting an error message? Check our All About Errors article to see what to do.

We can't access Salesforce

If you’re attempting to log in to your PatronManager system and are unable to because you receive an error or the page doesn’t load, take these troubleshooting steps below: 

  1. If you’re having password issues, try to reset your password using the "Forgot Your Password?" link on the login screen, as described here
    • If you're unable to reset your password using that link, reach out to someone at your organization with System Administrator access and ask them to reset your password with the steps outlined here
    • Use this link to log in: https://login.salesforce.com/
  2. Try another website to see if it loads. If the other website doesn’t load, or if it loads slowly, troubleshoot your internet connection.
    • You can reset your router to fix your internet connection.
    • Try using a different network to connect to the internet.
    • If your internet is the issue and you’re unable to get it back up and running where you need it, jump down here for our suggestions

Want to check your internet speed to see if that’s the issue? Try speedtest.net or testmy.net.

  1. Log into PatronManager using another recommended browser. 
    • Recommended browsers include Google Chrome and Firefox. 
  2. Restart your computer.
  3. Have all users attempt to log in.
  4. Try all available computers to attempt to log in.
    • If all users at all workstations are unable to access PatronManager, or if the system performance is degraded significantly, there may be a Salesforce outage or service interruption.
    • You can check if there's a Salesforce performance interruption for your server using the Salesforce Trust Status. You can use the Quick Find search to look for your server, and click into it to find more information. 
    • Salesforce treats system interruptions with the highest urgency, and will be working diligently to resolve the issue as swiftly as possible. You can check back on that issue report for updates, but in any case, you should immediately read on to keep your operations going using alternative methods. 
    • If you don’t know your server, then you won’t be able to keep up on Salesforce’s progress on resolving the issue, but read on and get solutions in place.
How to Check People In

If you've set up emailed or printed reports, like the Door List or Who's Sitting in What Seat reports, use those to see which seats in your venue are open and check people in.

In particular, the Who’s Sitting in What Seat reports are, by default, set up to show you all seats, whether or not they’ve been sold. Because of this, this report will not only be useful to check people in, but also to know which seats are still available to sell.

If you haven’t set up emailed reports, to check people in you’ll want to keep a running list of as much of the following information from your patrons’ physical tickets:

  • Patron Name
  • Ticket Order Number
  • Ticket Order Item Number
  • Section, Row, and Seat information (for Reserved Seating events) or Ticket Allocation and Price Level (for General Admission events)

Having a list of this information will allow you to go back into PatronManager and manually mark patrons’ attendance from their Ticket Orders.

If you scan tickets, you can scan barcodes in "offline" mode and the scans will be uploaded to PatronManager once the system is back up and your scanning device is connected to the internet.

How to Take Payments

A Salesforce outage will also prevent you from processing payments, so use spreadsheets to take patron information.

If you haven’t set up your emailed or printed reports to track how many seats you have available to sell, you will need to count people as you sell tickets to ensure you haven’t oversold the house.

If you're taking payment info in real time using another payment processing system, like Square or Ticketleap, use the Ticket Orders tab of this template to take patron information to easily import the data into PatronManager later.

Make sure to gather the following fields for easier importing later:

  • Email Address
  • Last Name
  • An External Order ID (a string of numbers to identify a single Ticket Order
  • Ticketable Event Name
  • Event Instance Name
  • Unit Price

If you're not using another payment processing system, we recommend taking contact information (but not credit card information!) down for patrons. Then you can contact them later and process the Ticket Orders with payment information over the phone, much like you would with other phone orders.

After the event and once you're able to access PatronManager again, you can input the data into PatronManager.

Credit card device or swiper is not working

For Leap Merchant Services terminals

If your BBPOS WisePOS E isn't working, try going through the troubleshooting steps linked here.

If that still doesn't work, you can use Keyed Entry instead to take payments, as if you were entering a phone or mail order.

For SREDKey Devices

If your SREDKey isn't working, clear the cache and cookies in your browser. Here's how to clear your cache in a few common browsers:

If that didn’t do the trick, here are alternatives:

  • Use your Public Ticketing Site to take orders, as if you were a patron purchasing online
  • Use spreadsheets to take patron contact information and get in touch with them after the show to process payments.

If you’re not using another payment processing system, we recommend taking contact information (but not credit card information!) down for patrons. Then you can contact them later and process the Ticket Orders with payment information over the phone, much like you would with other phone orders.

  • Use another payment processing system, like Ticketleap, which is quick, and easy to set up
    • Ticketleap set up should take about 5-20 minutes and make sure you have the name of your event, a description, image, and Price Levels for your event.

Here are some articles from Ticketleap’s Support to get you started:

If you’re taking payment info in real time, using another payment processing system, like Ticketleap, use the Ticket Orders tab of this template to take patron information to easily import the data into PatronManager later.

Make sure to gather the following fields for easier importing later:

  • Email Address
  • Last Name
  • An External Order ID (a string of numbers to identify a single Ticket Order)
  • Ticketable Event Name
  • Event Instance Name
  • Unit Price (per ticket; corresponding with your Price Levels)

If you used spreadsheets, you can input the data into PatronManager after the event and once you're able to access process payments again.

For WisePad 3 Devices

If your WisePad isn't working, make sure that your WisePad is paired with your Android device with these steps.

If that didn’t do the trick, here are alternatives:

  • Use your Public Ticketing Site to take orders, as if you were a patron purchasing online
  • Use spreadsheets to take patron contact information and get in touch with them after the show to process payments.

If you’re not using another payment processing system, we recommend taking contact information (but not credit card information!) down for patrons. Then you can contact them later and process the Ticket Orders with payment information over the phone, much like you would with other phone orders.

  • Use another payment processing system, like Ticketleap, which is quick, and easy to set up
    • Ticketleap set up should take about 5-20 minutes and make sure you have the name of your event, a description, image, and Price Levels for your event.

Here are some articles from Ticketleap’s Support to get you started:

If you’re taking payment info in real time, using another payment processing system, like Ticketleap, use the Ticket Orders tab of this template to take patron information to easily import the data into PatronManager later.

Make sure to gather the following fields for easier importing later:

  • Email Address
  • Last Name
  • An External Order ID (a string of numbers to identify a single Ticket Order)
  • Ticketable Event Name
  • Event Instance Name
  • Unit Price (per ticket; corresponding with your Price Levels)

If you used spreadsheets, you can input the data into PatronManager after the event and once you're able to access process payments again.

Ticket printer issues

The printer is printing blank tickets

Here’s what to try first:

  • Run through these troubleshooting steps 
  • Try printing from another browser
  • Adjust your settings so that the ticket PDF downloads to your computer, instead of opening up directly in your browser. Then open up the PDF from your computer, and print from there. 
Tickets are printing upside down

Change the ticket orientation for your printer using these steps.

Tickets aren't printing at all

If your printer isn’t working at all, you can use blank ticket stock to write seating information for patrons or use a generic roll of tickets to give to patrons granting them admission.

We can't scan patrons in

If you’re using a scanner to scan tickets and the scanner isn’t working, start with these troubleshooting steps to get your device working.

If that didn’t do the trick, here are alternatives:

How do I print a report?

1. Go to the report you want to print

2. Click the arrow next to Edit, then select Export

Click Export

3. Select your export option to download and print

Formatted Report

A Formatted Report keeps all of your groupings and headers in place and can only be exported as an .xlsx Excel file.

Details Only Report

A Details Only version of the report only exports the detail rows and will not include any groupings or headers. This version of the report can be downloaded as an .xls or .xlsx Excel file or a .csv Comma Delimited file.

After the event or once you've manually checked people in, you can mark patrons as attended in PatronManager from the Print tab of Ticket Orders using the Record Attendance button.

Our events aren't showing up for sale on our Public Ticketing Site

If your event isn’t showing up for sale on your PTS, start by going through these steps to make sure everything is set up properly.

If the steps do not make the event available for sale, you can take orders from your Box Office using the PatronManager Box Office (PMBO). If your PTS is still accessible, you can tell your patrons to call your Box Office instead of using the PTS by adding language to your landing page with instructions to call you instead.

If you’re unable to process Ticket Orders from the backend PMBO too, check out these troubleshooting steps.

Is your PTS displaying a "This page is obsolete" error? You'll need to secure your PTS by following these instructions.

We don't have internet

If you can, find the nearest available Wi-Fi or internet hotspot to gather resources to bring back to your box office.

To track attendance and control your inventory for walk-up sales

Export reports to download and print to have on hand.

Which reports should I print and/or download?

If you are unable to access the internet in your venue, use spreadsheets to take information using the template below. Specifically, you’ll want to note the following information:

  • Patron Name
  • Patron Contact Information (i.e. Email Address, Billing Address, Phone Number)
  • Ticketable Event Name
  • Event Instance Name
  • Seating Information
    • Ticket Allocation and Price Level for General Admission events
    • Section, Row, Seat, and Price Level for Reserved Seating Event
  • Quantity of Tickets

You can use the Ticket Orders tab of this template to take patron information to easily import the data into PatronManager later.

We recommend taking contact information (but not credit card information!) down for patrons. Then you can contact them later and process the Ticket Orders with payment information over the phone, much like you would with other phone orders.

The emergency is over!

Once your event and the emergency is over, hop on over to our Preparing for Emergencies article to help be even better prepared the next time the unexpected occurs.

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