The Hoyts Group has installed an improved and fully immersive, connected cinema experience, using Optus network technology to better serve millions of movie-goers. Customer experiences including tickets sales, in-cinema food and drink orders and flexible payment options increasingly rely on a secure and dependable network, in addition to supporting functions such as scheduling of movies, trailers and pre-show content.
Hoyts’ self-service channels now account for three out of every four transactions, with customers preferring to purchase tickets online and through digital kiosks meaning a robust and reliable network solution has never been more important.
Ben Vella, vice president of enterprise and mid-market at Optus said, "Hoyts is a perfect example of a traditional business that has evolved their operations by taking a digitally led approach and backed it with the resilience of software designed wide area network. That network now operates across 59 cinemas in Australia and New Zealand, with 497 screens and more than 59,000 seats."
Adam Wrightson, group IT director at the Hoyts Group said, “Optus is at the core of every dollar we make at Hoyts. In today’s digital world, there is not a single interaction that Hoyts has with staff or customers that doesn’t rely on Optus infrastructure.”
In addition to SD-WAN connectivity, Optus led the domiciling of data centers and a complete re-architecture of the existing network to include dual fiber and 4G redundancy.
Vella said “Hoyts is the region’s most progressive and innovative cinema exhibition company and as their trusted telecommunications partner, we have an obligation to ensure that Hoyts continues to deliver the best cinema experiences to its customers.”
In addition to the cinematic offering, the Hoyts Groups advertising arm, Val Morgan, relies on 2,500 Optus SIMs to manage and schedule content across its 10,000 plus screen digital out-of-home network.
All aspects of the network including content delivery, network management and connectivity for its audience measurement devices, which provide real-time telemetry data about audience demographics and volumes to deliver programmatic real-time advertising content - depend on the reliable, performant, and secure network that Optus provides.
Optus has implemented a Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN solution across Hoyts’ network, with dual Optus and nbn fibre plus Optus 4G backup as well as redundant hardware for added resiliency and Cisco Umbrella cloud security for 24x7 vulnerability assessment and response.Following the Optus-led implementation, Hoyts has seen a significant advance in network uptime and internet performance.