Outbox is a Montréal-based company that builds cloud ticketing software for live events, venues and attractions. Its white-label platform handles timed-entry and reserved-seat ticket sales, inventory and distribution, and the company says it has sold over 500 million tickets. Venues and attractions using Outbox include One Times Square in New York, Cirque du Soleil, the Bell Centre in Montréal and Treasure Island Las Vegas. To learn more about partnering with Outbox visit outbox.com.

This operator connection (also referred to as backend) allows you to connect with operators using Outbox as their ticketing system to resell their products through Ventrata more efficiently and automatically. The capabilities of this connection include:

Syncing time slots, availability and pricing from your operator's Outbox system.
Posting bookings and cancellations from Ventrata to Outbox.
Receiving tickets (QR codes and PDF tickets) from Outbox and issuing them to your customers.

Outbox's external API used for this connection is a custom XML-RPC API that does not follow the OCTO API standard, which may limit certain functionality and capabilities.

Required Role Permissions: See Operators, Modify Operators, See Products, Modify Products

Configuring Operator Backend

Before You Begin:

Ensure you have a commercial agreement with the operator whose products you want to resell.
Ensure the operator is created as an operator in Ventrata.
Ensure the products of this operator are created in Ventrata. The connection syncs time slots, availability, pricing and bookings, but it does not automatically create products in Ventrata.

Contact your operator using Outbox and request your API credentials for Ventrata, which should include:
- API Key. Identifies you as a sales channel (reseller) in the operator's Outbox system and controls which onsales (products) and which currency are available to you. Each reseller needs its own API Key; keys cannot be shared between companies.
- API URL. The address of the operator's Outbox API, usually on the operator's own ticketing domain and ending in /extapi/ (for example https://tickets.onetimessquare.com/extapi/). It must start with https://. Staging and production use different URLs and keys, so make sure you receive the production values.
Credentials are issued by Outbox. Your operator requests a new API channel for you from their Outbox account manager, who also sets up the onsales and inventory you are allowed to sell. Production inventory is set up separately from staging.
In the Ventrata Dashboard, navigate to Products → Operators, and select the Outbox-powered operator for which you would like to set up the connection.
In the Backend Partner section, choose Outbox from the list of available partners and enter the API Key and API URL you've received.
Click Update Operator to save the configuration.

Mapping Products

Once the operator has been configured with its backend, you can proceed to Product Mapping—the process of connecting your Ventrata products, options and units with the corresponding onsales and price types from the operator's Outbox system.

Outbox content is received in Ventrata as follows:

Product: each Outbox onsale made available to your API Key.
Option: a single default option per onsale. Outbox time slots (price levels) are received as start times within this option, not as separate options.
Units: the onsale's Outbox price types (for example Adult or Child). If the onsale has no price types, a single Standard unit is received.

In the Ventrata Dashboard, navigate to Products → Products and select the product you would like to map to the operator's Outbox system.
Edit the product and ensure the Operator is set to the correct operator to which this product belongs, where you have already configured the backend.
Check Backend Connected for this product to use the API connection (backend). To pull time slots and availability from Outbox, ensure Backend Availability is checked; to pull pricing, check Backend Pricing. Click Update Product to save.
Because Outbox sells timed-entry seats, we recommend always using Backend Availability. Without it, bookings can be made for time slots that do not exist or are sold out in Outbox and will fail.
The product page will now display a Mappings tab. Navigate to this tab and map your Ventrata product, option(s), and units by selecting the corresponding products, options, and units from the dropdown lists as received from Outbox. Ensure that no fields are left empty (unmapped), and click Save Changes.

TIP

Make a test booking after mapping and ask the operator to confirm it arrived in their Outbox system, with the correct time slot and ticket types.

Supported Capabilities (Detailed)

Availability	✅	When Backend Availability is enabled Ventrata will pull time slots and availability from Outbox. This works as follows: Availability Check (via Outbox `extapi.clientOnsaleInfo` and `extapi.priceLevelSeats`). When a user interacts with the availability calendar in Ventrata (e.g., selects units and clicks through the dates in the dashboard, web checkout, terminal, etc.), Ventrata will make a live request to Outbox to retrieve the events and time slots for the given dates, along with the number of seats left in each time slot. A time slot shows as sold out when it has no seats left, or when the number of tickets requested exceeds the maximum Outbox allows in a single booking for that slot. The calendar may display cached (non-live) data from the previous time it was requested before the user interacts with the calendar.
Pricing	✅	When Backend Pricing is enabled Ventrata will pull retail pricing from Outbox. This works as follows: Availability Check (Pricing Capability). Retail prices per price type are returned with each time slot and shown to the user and cached / stored in Ventrata as API generated fares. Prices received from Outbox are tax-inclusive and include any Outbox service charges configured for your channel. Outbox provides retail pricing only. Net (wholesale) pricing is not received via the API, so the net rate you pay the operator should be agreed commercially. Each API Key operates in a single currency, set by Outbox for your channel.
Booking	✅	Bookings and cancellations made in Ventrata for the Backend Connected product will be automatically sent to Outbox. This works as follows: Booking Reservation (via Outbox `extapi.sessionCreate` and `extapi.search`). When a product is added to the cart in Ventrata, the requested seats are locked in Outbox for the hold period Outbox returns. Each Outbox order covers a single time slot. Booking Confirmation (via Outbox `extapi.sell`). After the payment step, a request to confirm the booking will be made with the customer's contact information. First name, last name, email address and country are required by Outbox. Phone number and postal code are passed on when available, and the customer's language is set to French or English based on their locale. The Outbox order number will be recorded as Supplier Reference. Tickets. Outbox returns a barcode per seat, which is issued as a QR code on each ticket in Ventrata, plus a PDF with all tickets for the order. The QR code values match those printed on the Outbox PDF. Booking Update (via Outbox `extapi.reissue`). Outbox does not support changing an existing order via API. Updating a confirmed booking reissues its tickets only; to change the date, time slot or number of tickets, cancel the booking and create a new one. Booking Cancellation (via Outbox `extapi.cancel`). When a confirmed booking is cancelled, an API request to cancel the order will be made to Outbox. Cancelling an unconfirmed (on hold) booking releases the locked seats.
Redemption	❌	Booking status from Outbox (for example if a ticket is scanned / redeemed) is not currently communicated back to Ventrata after the booking is confirmed.
Pickups	❌	Pickups are not currently supported.
Promotions	❌	Promotions are not currently supported.
Extras	❌	Extras are not currently supported.

Troubleshooting

Issue	Possible Solutions
Error when updating the operator to save the backend configuration.	Likely the API Key or API URL is incorrect, or test credentials were used with a production URL (or vice versa). Double-check these details with your operator. If the issue persists, contact us for support.
No Backend Connected checkbox in product settings.	Likely the operator selected for the product doesn't have a backend configured. Check the backend configuration and try again. If the issue persists, contact us for support.
The product/option/unit I want to map is not in the dropdown, or the dropdown is empty.	The dropdown list is pulled from Outbox based on the onsales assigned to your API Key. Ask your operator to confirm with Outbox that inventory is set up for your API channel in the environment you are using (staging and production are configured separately). If the issue persists, contact us for support.
Products, options or units appear as "Undefined" in the mapping dropdowns.	The names come directly from the operator's onsale setup in Outbox. Ask your operator to add titles and price type descriptions in Outbox.
Booking confirmation fails with "Country code is required".	Outbox requires a country on every order. Make sure the checkout, booking form or reseller connection selling this product collects the customer's country, then retry the booking.
Prices differ from what the operator expects.	Outbox returns tax-inclusive prices that include service charges for your channel. Check the price tables and service charges for your API channel with your operator.
No time slots are shown for a date.	The operator has no event or no seats released for that date in Outbox. Check with your operator.

Partner Information

Outbox Technology Inc.

3575 Boulevard Saint-Laurent, Suite 705

Montréal, QC H2X 2T7

Canada

Partner ID 01a06240-f33b-7362-b04f-35ed782cee0e

Outbox Operator Backend