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Installing the Spektrix Box Office App

Dave Carr
Dave Carr
  • Updated

To print tickets and take Chip & PIN payments in person with Spektrix you'll need to install the Spektrix Box Office App. 

The App must be installed on each PC that has a wired connection to a ticket printer, cash drawer or PIN Pad (also known as card machines, Chip & PIN, Contactless, PDQ machines and PEDs).

In this article you will learn how to install and set up the Box Office App.

TIP: You only need to install the Box Office App on computers physically connected to a printer, PIN pad or cash drawer

 

Before you install the App, make sure you are familiar with these Support Centre articles:

WARNING: The Spektrix Box Office App is a Windows-only application; it can't be installed on a Mac

 

Pre-installation checklist

  • Ensure the computer is connected to the internet
  • Check to see if the Box Office App is already installed on the computer

  • Read this section for help finding the Box Office App on your computer:

    1. Click the Start button in your Toolbar.
    2. Click on Settings.
    3. Click on Apps.
    4. Check to see if the Box Office App appears in the list. You will need to scroll down - it usually appears as Box Office App.

    You can view the above steps in this video:

     

    Note: this video uses Windows 10 Pro. Your screen layout may vary depending on which version of Windows you use.

If you find a previous installation of the Box Office App on your computer, read and complete How to Uninstall the Spektrix Box Office App before continuing.

 

Permissions needed for installation

To download, install, and register the Spektrix Box Office App, you'll need the following permissions:

  • Windows Administrator permissions for the computer on which you're installing the App. If you are unsure if you have this, check with your IT team.
  • The General Administrator user role in Spektrix. To check whether you have the General Administrator user role, click the control panel (bottom left hand corner of Spektrix). Seeing Admin indicates that you have the General Administrator user role.

Watch this video to see how to check you have the General Administrator role:

 

 

For more information on User Roles in Spektrix, visit our article Adding and Editing Users.

 

Proxies and firewalls

If your organisation uses a proxy server or a firewall, your IT team may need to set exceptions to allow the Box Office App to communicate with Spektrix. Ask them to set an exception for:

  • *.service.signalr.net on port 443

They should also add boxoffice.spektrix.com to their trusted devices list.

You can find more information in our article How To Access Spektrix.

A document providing a technical overview of the Spektrix Box Office App for IT teams is attached to this article.

 

How to install the Box Office App

First, download the version of the Spektrix Box Office App from our Software Downloads article.

Open the Downloads folder on your PC and double click on the file to run the installation.

TIP: During installation you may see a Windows User Account Control screen pop up asking "Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device?" Click Yes to proceed.

The program will usually install to C:\Program Files (x86)\Spektrix Ltd\LocalApp. 

You should see the App icon appear in the system tray, bottom right-hand corner of your screen.

The icon will be orange, with a red exclamation mark, like this:

 

App_not_running1.jpg

 

You can see the install process in the following video:

 

Note: this video uses Windows 10 Pro. Your screen layout may vary depending on which version of Windows you use.

REMINDER: A red exclamation mark means the App isn’t connected to Spektrix. This is because the App hasn’t been registered yet. If you see the exclamation mark once you’ve registered the App it means the App is not connected.

 

How to register the Box Office App

After you have installed the Box Office App, you’ll need to register it to your Spektrix system.

To register the App, right-click the App icon in your system tray and select Register. 

You'll see this pop-up:

 

Register_with_Spektrix1.jpg

 

Enter the following information:

  1. Your Spektrix clientname.
  2. Your Computer name: This does not have to match your Windows computer name. Instead, choose something easy for your team to identify, for example Box Office 1.
  3. Your Spektrix username: the one you use to log into Spektrix.
  4. Your Spektrix password: the one you use to log into Spektrix.

TIP: You can use any Spektrix login with the General Administrator user role to register the App. You only need to register once, regardless of how many people use Spektrix on that computer.

Once you've filled in all four fields, click Register. If you've filled in everything correctly, you should see the App icon appear green in the system tray, like this:

 

Note: this video uses Windows 10 Pro. Your screen layout may vary depending on which version of Windows you use.

If the App still isn't showing, please refer to The Box Office App has crashed or isn’t showing on the screen section of our Box Office App troubleshooting article.

 

How to add devices to the Box Office App

After you’ve installed and registered the Box Office App, you need to connect the hardware.

Make sure your hardware is correctly installed before proceeding. You can use these articles for guidance:

Once you’ve installed your hardware, you need to add it to the Box Office App.

Double-click the Box Office App icon in the system tray and you will see a screen with four tabs. These are: Printers, Chip & Pin Terminal, Cash Drawers and Connection.

 

Box_Office_App_Available_Printers2.jpg

 

If you cannot see the buttons 'Test Printer', 'Ok' and 'Cancel' when you open the App, read My App has missing buttons in Troubleshooting the Spektrix Box Office App.

Click on the sections below for specific guidance on adding each type of hardware to the Box Office App:

  • Read this section for instructions on Adding a Printer to the Box Office App (users in all regions):

    1. Open the Box Office App.
    2. In the Printers tab, you will see Available printers in the left column.
    3. To add a printer for use with Spektrix, select it from the Available printers list on the left, then click the > button to add it to Spektrix printers on the right.
    4. A new Add/Edit Printer screen will open.
    5. Create a Spektrix printer name - this is the printer name that will appear in the Spektrix system. Choose a name that your team will easily recognise in the system, for example Box Office BOCA 1.
    6. Under Ticket Layout, leave Translate by X and Translate by Y fields as 0. You can change this number to adjust the printing position of your tickets. However, you will normally use the Ticket Design Tool in Spektrix for this purpose.
    7. You can tick Print reverse to flip your ticket design 180 degrees. Normally, you will leave this checkbox unticked.
    8. FGL (Friendly Ghost Language) allows you to use particular features, such as cutters, on certain BOCA printers. Leave this box unchecked unless you have used FGL in your ticket designs. For more information see Setting Up and Installing a BOCA Ticket Printer.
    9. When you're happy with your settings, click OK.

    You can view the above steps in this video:

     

    Note: this video uses Windows 10 Pro. Your screen layout may vary depending on which version of Windows you use.


    Next, run a test print from within the Box Office App:

    1. Select the printer you want to test from within the App
    2. Click the Test printer button

    Test_Printer_Button.jpg

    A test ticket will print if this is successful.

    If the test print doesn't work, return to the top of this section and check that you have followed all the steps in the process.

  • Read this section for instructions on Adding a PIN Pad (Chip & PIN Terminal/PED) to the Box Office App (users in UK, Ireland and US).

    While you can connect multiple printers to a single Box Office App, you can only connect one PIN Pad per App.

    First you’ll need to find out which payment service provider you're using; you can check this with your finance team. This will usually be SagePay (Opayo) in the UK and Ireland and Element (Vantiv) for Worldpay in the US.

    Next, open the Box Office App and click on the Chip & Pin Terminal tab. You will see four options:

    1. None - this is the default selection
    2. YesPay (YesEFT) - no longer in use
    3. SagePay (Integral) - select this if using Opayo (UK and Ireland)
    4. Element (Vantiv) - select this if using Worldpay (US)

    Chip_and_Pin_Terminal_Tab.jpg

    SagePay (Integral) - users in UK and Ireland

    To add a Sagepay (Opayo) PIN Pad to the Box Office App, select SagePay (Integral).

    Chip_and_Pin_Terminal_Settings1.jpg

    Enter the following information:

    • Terminal name: this is the name of the PIN Pad, so choose something memorable, like Box Office 1
    • Merchant name: your organisation's name; this will display on card receipts
    • Address: your organisation's address; this will display on card receipts
    • Guardian V14: tick this checkbox if you're using a P400 Chip and PIN pad

    Click Ok to save your settings.

     

    Element (Vantiv) - US users only

    To add a Worldpay PIN Pad (Chip & Pin/PED) to the Box Office App, select Element (Vantiv).

    Chip_and_Pin_Terminal_Settings2.jpg

    Enter the following information:

    • Terminal name: this is the name of the PIN Pad, so choose something memorable, like Box Office 1
    • Merchant name: your organisation's name; this will display on card receipts
    • Address: your organisation's address; this will display on card receipts
    • Lane Id: Leave unchanged
    • Config file path: Leave unchanged
    • Terminal Port Fields: Leave unchanged

    Click Ok to save your settings.

  • Read this section for instructions on Adding a Cash Drawer to the Box Office App (users in all regions).

    Spektrix can integrate with USB-powered cash drawers, so that when you take cash payments, the drawer automatically opens. Spektrix integrates with the following models:

    • SS-102-B-USB - International Cash Drawer
    • SS-102 Cash Drawer

    TIP: You'll need to order cash drawers directly from the supplier, not from Spektrix

    To add a cash drawer for use with Spektrix, follow these steps:

    1. Ensure your Cash Drawer is connected to the PC
    2. Open the Box Office App
    3. Select the Cash Drawers tab
    4. Click on the drawer in the Available cash drawers on the left and add it to Spektrix cash drawers on the right using the > button
    5. Click Ok

How to select hardware devices in Spektrix

The first time you use a printer, cash drawer or PIN Pad, you’ll need to select it in Spektrix.

  1. Open the Control Panel in the bottom left-hand corner of your screen
  2. Click Change local settings
  3. Select your printer, Select Chip and Pin Terminal and Select cash drawer
  4. Select the device(s) you need, then click OK

You can watch these steps in the following video:

You won't need to Change local settings again unless you want to choose a different device later.

 

How to connect to printers from other computers

After you add ticket printers to the Box Office App, they become available to users of Spektrix across your organisation. You just need to keep the Box Office App running on the PC the printer is connected to.

TIP: There is no need to connect ticket printers to networks. Just connect each ticket printer to one computer running the Box Office App. Then, anyone logged into your Spektrix system can print to it.

 

Box Office App Automatic Updates

The Box Office App will automatically update itself either after four hours of inactivity or upon startup.

The app will turn itself off, update, and then turn back on. However, before using any device connected through the Box Office App, we advise to allow a bit more time than usual. This is to ensure the Box Office App is fully updated.

 

How to uninstall the Box Office App

Occasionally, you may need to uninstall a previous version of the Box Office App.

TIP: Jump ahead to our Uninstalling the Box Office App video for a guided walkthrough of this process.

To uninstall the App, follow these steps: 

  1. Click the Windows Start button in your toolbar.
  2. Click Settings.
  3. Click Apps.
  4. Scroll down to find the Box Office App. Some older versions of the App may appear as Spektrix App, so search for this too.
  5. Click Uninstall to remove the App.
  6. Open the folder where the App was installed. This is usually C:\Program Files (x86)\Spektrix Ltd.
  7. Find and delete the Spektrix Ltd folder.

 

Occasionally, a problem occurs while attempting to uninstall the Box Office App. This is usually because the App is still running. If this happens, follow these additional steps:

  1. From the Windows start menu, search for Services
  2. In Services, find the Spektrix App service
  3. Right click Spektrix App service and choose stop

You can also stop the Spektrix App by clicking the Windows button in your toolbar and typing Task Manager. Open Task Manager and click More details. Scroll down until you see BoxOfficeAppGui (32 bit). Finally, click End Task.

 

Task_Manager_End_Task1.jpg

 

TIP: You should then repeat steps 1-7 in this section to complete the uninstall.

 

Uninstalling the Box Office App Training Video

If you would like a guided walkthrough of the entire process, watch our Uninstalling the Box Office App training video. Each chapter will build upon each other, it is recommended to watch the entire video. 

This video covers:

  • Uninstall Prep Work
  • Where the Box Office App is on your computer
  • How to stop the Box Office App
  • How to uninstall the Box Office App

 

VIDEO TIP: With our training videos you can stop, restart or move to specific chapters. Click the CC option to turn on captions. Click in the Settings menu cog icon to control speed, captions and quality.

You may also find the following articles helpful:

You now have the information to install, uninstall, and connect hardware to the Spektrix Box Office App.