Case study · Digital Arts Media Services
AI Chatbot for Tessitura
A box office that never closes
- Sector
- Performing arts
- Built on
- Sectorly.ai platform
- Integrates with
- Tessitura REST API, TNEW
- Channels
- Website, TNEW pages, voice
The challenge
Patrons buy tickets and plan visits at all hours, but box offices keep office hours. Many calls are the same few questions — what’s on, which seats are left, where is my booking, can you resend my tickets, where do I park — and audiences increasingly expect answers in their own language.
A generic website chatbot can’t help with most of this: it doesn’t see live availability or a patron’s bookings, and when it guesses, it can be confidently wrong about prices and policies. Arts organizations also need their board, IT and finance teams to be comfortable with what the assistant can see and do.
The solution
Digital Arts Media Services built a box office assistant that works directly from live Tessitura data and the venue’s own approved content. It answers patrons around the clock, by text or voice, and takes them as far as a ready-to-pay TNEW cart.
Everything it can read or change in Tessitura is switched on deliberately, every instruction change is approved, and payment never leaves TNEW — so the venue keeps control while patrons get immediate, accurate help.
How it works
Patrons
- Website & TNEW widgetOne line of code
- VoiceHands-free, any supported language
- Full-screen & mobile
Box office assistant
- Approved knowledgeFAQs, policies, venue info, program notes
- Personas & segmentsTone, branding, page awareness
- Read & write gatesOnly the Tessitura actions you allow
Your systems
- Tessitura REST APICatalogue, availability, bookings, memberships
- TNEWCart and checkout — payment stays here
- Approval workflow
- Transcripts
- Trending questions
- Watch words
- Retention & auto-delete
1. Ask. A patron asks a question on the website, on a TNEW page or by voice. The assistant knows which page they’re on and what time it is.
2. Answer. It replies from the venue’s approved knowledge or, where allowed, looks up live data in Tessitura — performances, availability, the patron’s own bookings.
3. Act. If the patron wants seats, they’re added to their TNEW cart and the patron checks out on TNEW as usual. Card details never pass through the chat.
What patrons can do
Shows, dates & prices
The season calendar, performance times, run times, prices and availability — straight from the Tessitura catalogue.
Seats into the cart
Best-available or specific seats, packages and promo codes added to the patron’s TNEW cart, ready for checkout.
Bookings & memberships
Signed-in patrons see upcoming bookings and seat locations, check memberships and renewal dates, and resend tickets or confirmations.
Giving
Donation levels, campaigns and funds, explained in plain language.
Plan the visit
Parking, accessibility, dining and venue policies, answered from the venue’s own approved knowledge base.
Live voice
Hands-free voice conversations on phones, in the website widget or full screen, switching language mid-conversation.
Governance and security
Approval workflow
Changes to the assistant’s instructions are reviewed and approved before patrons see them.
Read & write gates
Each Tessitura read or write is switched on deliberately — nothing is available by default.
Transcripts & trends
Conversation transcripts, trending questions and watch-word flags show what patrons ask and where answers need work.
Isolated per organization
Each venue has its own environment — knowledge base, history and Tessitura connection — with encrypted data and secure staff sign-in.
No card details in chat
Payment always completes on the venue’s own TNEW checkout.
Bring your own AI key
Venues can use their own OpenAI, Google or Anthropic account and billing.
Rollout
Connect
Link to the Tessitura REST API with a dedicated user, starting in the test environment.
Teach
Load FAQs, policies, venue information and program notes.
Shape
Set the tone, branding, segments and which reads or writes are allowed.
Launch
Add one line of code to the website and TNEW pages.
Refine
Review real conversations together and improve the answers over time.
What it delivers
- Patron questions answered when the box office is closed
- Fewer calls for bookings and ticket resends
- Consistent, on-brand answers from current data and approved content
- Multilingual access for diverse audiences
- Controls that board, IT and finance can review
Built for
Related: the MCP Server for Tessitura gives staff the same governed access from Claude, ChatGPT and Gemini.
Tessitura® and TNEW are trademarks of Tessitura Network, Inc. This solution is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tessitura Network.
More case studies
- Digital Arts Media ServicesMCP Server for TessituraA governed bridge that lets box office, marketing, development and leadership teams ask Claude, ChatGPT and Gemini questions of live Tessitura data.Read the case study
- Sectorly.aiSectorly.ai PlatformA multi-industry AI platform: governed chatbots, a hotel concierge, appointment scheduling and AI-assisted practice management.Read the case study
Contact us
Want something similar?
Tell us about your organization and the systems involved — we’ll show you what’s possible.
- 202.747.3355
- [email protected]
- 1717 K St., N.W. Suite 900, Washington, DC 20006