Background

From operating one of Australia’s first drive in cinemas in 1954, to becoming the country’s leading entertainment and media companies with 32 sites nation-wide, Village Roadshow is a household name. Among its vast portfolio of ventures is producing and distributing film, alongside offering Australians experiences in cinema, exhibition, and theme parks, including Sea World and Warner Bros. Movie World.

The nature of the Group’s vast operations makes reliable, always-available communications critical. The company engaged Rapid Circle to improve its cross-site coordination and enhance stakeholder responsiveness with a modern Microsoft Teams Phone solution, designed and delivered to improve productivity and customer experience.

The Challenge

Old enough to watch The Matrix unaccompanied, Village Roadshow’s former 15-year-old communications infrastructure was proving unfit for the business. With an incredibly diverse and dynamic range of brands, Village Roadshow recognised there were inefficiencies and redundancies in its internal communications infrastructure network, which hampered communication within the organisation. It sought to establish a system capable of promoting intelligent and robust communications without the complexity.

Ben Parker, IT Operations Manager at Village Roadshow said, “not only was it requiring cumbersome daily restarts, but our handsets operated on six different PABX systems. This complex, legacy environment was costly to maintain, and it wasn’t conducive to providing a reliable service. Our strategic partnership with Rapid Circle came together to improve and streamline the everyday working experience of our staff, introducing Microsoft Teams telephony and a better way to communicate.”

Solution

Village Roadshow Group engaged Rapid Circle to replace its legacy platforms, including handsets located at all 32 of Village Roadshow’s cinema sites, introducing Microsoft Teams Phone System to the entire business. Deploying the Microsoft-powered unified communications platform earned the entertainment organisation a centralised voice, video, and messaging platform. In scenarios where existing platforms could not be replaced, Rapid Circle’s approach ensured tight integration, an example being phones supporting guests in Sea World Resort’s more than 400 apartments.

Outcomes

Parker said, “We’ve secured ourselves a safety net with Rapid Circle. Its competency in Microsoft communications technologies helped us turn an out-of-the-box product into a tailored, trustworthy solution. An integral part of our Microsoft Teams environment, the modern telephony capabilities grant our field, customer service, operations and administrative staff a single phone system, and the ability to make, receive, and transfer calls from anywhere”.

“Previously, our main reception phone was so plagued by issues that around half of external callers trying to connect with us were successful. Transfer issues within head office were also a common issue being reported. We’ve managed to resolve these key issues and more with Rapid Circle, resulting in a better experience for our customers and staff alike”.

Rapid Circle’s approach to the deployment also provided change management support for Village Roadshow employees. This was not only instrumental in completing the telephony project, but also put Village Roadshow Group in a position to get across best practices and reduce the learning curve.

Key Benefits

1. Improved User Experience: Staff across the Group have access to a reliable communications infrastructure network; a single phone system for field, customer service, operations and administrative staff to optimise their collaboration.
2. Bolstered Customer Experience: External callers are no longer disconnected when trying to reach one of the Group’s brands, driving higher satisfaction before guests even arrive at a venue.

Collaboration and Innovation

George Stavrakakis, Managing Director for Australia at Rapid Circle, said, “Iconic Australian powerhouses – with long histories and a broad range of output – typically build their empire so organically, it’s easy for a simple cog such as communication to get lost in their greater machinery. Village Roadshow has certainly exemplified the power of prioritising strategic communications to finetune its well-oiled capabilities. From a reduction in costs associated with IT management, to improved user experience for staff and customers alike, the transformation of its telephony infrastructure is supporting its greater efforts to prioritise productivity and safety at every touchpoint.”