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Success in the sports and entertainment world relies on collaboration and communication—both with coworkers and with fans. A unified communications solution provides the tools and power necessary to connect employees and create an engaging experience that keeps attendance high and customers excited.
Here are two real-world examples of how sports and entertainment venues use unified communications (UC) to succeed.
UC gets 5 stars from Hoyts Cinema
Hoyts Cinema, one of the world’s leading entertainment corporations, operates 48 cinemas across Australia and New Zealand. When it moved its headquarters, Hoyts decided to switch its outdated PABX system to unified communications.
A reliable communications system is critical for cinema operators. Hoyts Technology Director Adam Wrightston described just how critical when he said, “Telephony goes hand in hand with cinema operations. Whether it’s for booking a popular movie or responding to inquiries on show times, an efficient telephony system is integral to the cinema business.”
It took only weeks to replace Hoyt’s outdated equipment with a modern, hi-def UC experience, including:
A simple click-and-dial process that enables employees to make calls from their PC, rather than dialing manually.
An integrated distributed architecture that provides major savings in maintenance and upgrades.
The ability to answer calls from any location using a desktop or a handset.
Call routing to any location, including home and mobile numbers.
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The system came with a bonus: simplicity and ease of installation. “There was no need for extensive training,” Wrightston noted. “The install was an easy plug-and-play experience.”
UC delivered a happily ever after for Hoyts Cinema. Its benefits included faster handling of customer calls, less time spent on voicemail and improved customer service productivity. Inbound call management became more efficient than ever, and unanswered calls are now virtually non-existent. In addition, the reduced overhead produced cost savings, which the company is using to expand the system to all its cinema complexes.
UC supports the Senators from game time to curtain call
Stadiums and arenas aren’t just sports venues. Entertainment is just as – if not more – important to their success. In fact, many venues rely on concert and convention revenue as part of their business model. A classic example is South Florida Stadium, home of the Miami Dolphins, which attributes its recent 13.5 percent revenue growth to “other” events.
The same holds true for Ottawa Senators Hockey Club, which operates the Ottawa Senators NHL team, as well as the 20,000-seat Canadian Tire Centre. In any given week, the arena may host several hockey games before being converted for a concert or family show. Most of these are sold-out events, placing an added burden on the communications infrastructure.
When the organization needed a communications system to support office staff across a range of different operating environments, it turned to a UC solution. Whether it connects the timekeeper’s booth to the upstairs box during a heated moment in a game, or provides concert-goers uninterrupted service on their mobile devices, communications technology simply has to work.
In its system, the Senators take advantage of:
Seamless communication with mobile support, which keeps employees connected using any device across multiple sites or on client visits.
Call routing to connect fans to the right person immediately.
A scalable solution that grows and adapts to the venue’s changing needs.
A reliable solution that keeps staff in constant contact during sold-out events and ensures phone calls go through between suites, the kitchen and even from the stands.
For the Senators, unified communications delivers peace of mind. Said Vice President of Strategic Development Jeff Publow, “Bottom line, we have confidence in our communications system. When we’re hosting a busy concert or a sold-out hockey game, there’s a million operational details to be worried about—and our communications system just isn’t one of them. We know it’s going to work, we know it’s reliable and we know we can focus on what matters most—delivering a world-class fan experience.”
Whether they’re sports fans, concert-goers or movie lovers, the diverse clientele of sports and entertainment venues all want the same thing: An engaging experience that thrills and delights. Venues can’t provide this without the right tools. A unified communications system allows them to deliver better customer service before, during and after any event—and keeps fans connected.
UC is THE ticket to a successful venue operation.
