Christie®
, a leader in creating and delivering the world’s best visual and
audio experiences, and Gold Sponsor of the Independent
Cinemas Australia
(ICA) Conference 2018, is fully committed to supporting independent exhibitors in
Australia and New Zealand through its proven technology and solutions-driven
service in collaboration with the ICA.
Christie
and ICA first partnered in support of independent exhibitors through the Christie-ICA Network Operations Centre (NOC) in
2012. It provides 24/7/365
monitoring of hardware such as projectors, players, IMBs, theatre management systems
and networks that connect all these components, and offers round-the-clock
telephone support for all technical issues, including day-to-day operational
questions. NOC operators are fully connected to the equipment on site to
quickly fix problems remotely with log files and thus help to free up employees
at the cinema to deal with their customers during the delay.
The Christie-ICA NOC complements the
comprehensive support offerings of Christie’s main NOC located in Los Angeles, USA,
which has been the backbone of service for the exhibition industry in North
America. Drawing on over 85 years of experience working with Fortune 1000
companies, Christie’s NOCs keep track of more than 500,000 individual showings
and provide comprehensive remote monitoring and management of devices, along
with technical phone support solutions, to local exhibitors around the world.
“Since our collaboration in
2012, Christie has been playing a critical role in helping our members make the
transition from analogue to digital as seamless and painless as possible, and delivering value-added services such as remote software, firmware
upgrades, patches and hot fixes to customers’ equipment,” said Adrianne Pecotic,
chief executive officer, ICA. “We are fortunate to have the genuine commitment of
such a professional partner dedicated to supporting and being responsive to the
needs of independent exhibitors, some of which can be unique, demanding and
always pressured.”
Michael Bosworth, General
Manager, Christie Australia, commented, “Over the years, we have developed a
strong and enduring relationship with ICA and our collaboration in the
Christie-ICA NOC is a case in point. I’m pleased to note that our NOC
membership continues to grow in Australia and New Zealand, and customer
satisfaction remains high.”
Tom Schwartz, Senior Director,
Global Managed Services, Christie, also noted how much he was looking forward
to attending the ICA Conference in Sydney from March 19-22, and meeting with many
independent exhibitors and service providers during his stay. “We welcome
customer feedback and are fully committed to continual improvements making the
Australia NOC one of the most efficient and reliable in the region. I look
forward helping Christie support and celebrate the vibrant Australian and New
Zealand independent industry throughout this week’s event and at the Gala
Dinner on Wednesday.”
The hub and vital component of Christie Managed
Services
Schwartz added that the US NOC –
which has been in operation since 2003 – is the hub and vital component of Christie Managed Services, where turnkey deployment and implementation
services, as well as remote and local support of digital cinema, onscreen
advertising and digital signage are provided.
“By utilising a proven suite of
tools, Christie’s NOCs allow remote monitoring of the health and status of
customer systems. They also manage the configuration of systems, provide
help-desk services to customer staff, and access to local technicians with
local parts to provide on-site repair and support. In addition to the command
centre, Christie’s NOCs are also equipped with system integration spaces,
dedicated training rooms, climate-controlled rooms built to industry standards
for data and connectivity, as well as power redundancy to maintain 24/7
readiness,” he said.
Christie’s experience has shown
that remote monitoring has clear cost benefits by reducing the need for on-site
support. Through the NOC, updates can be remotely administered and between 30
and 40 percent of all reported problems have
been resolved without the need for on-site technical response. Service
contracts are also customisable to help customers choose the level of service
and response time that is right for their application and budget.
YourChristie mobile app for NOC customers
As an enhancement to NOC
customers’ remote monitoring subscription, Christie has rolled out a mobile app
that brings the power and convenience of Christie’s NOC to customer’s
fingertips.
Known as YourChristie Mobile, it helps to keep customers close to the status
of service cases and equipment, anytime, anywhere. Important day-to-day
business are not interrupted as YourChristie
Mobile tracks near real-time case management information, delivers
equipment alerts, and gives access to system profile information.
Schwartz added, “Remote
monitoring of digital equipment is cost effective and dramatically reduces the
need for on-site visits from third party service providers. In this regard, YourChristie Mobile provides customers
with another important tool in the management of mission critical equipment.”
YourChristie Mobile is available for free download for Android
and iOS users on the Google Play store and Apple iTunes store respectively.
