Datacom enabled THE EDGE® to build an entire ticketing business from the ground up.
THE EDGE® is the trading name of the Aotea Centre Board of Management, a statutory authority responsible for managing, maintaining and promoting the Aotea Centre – providing cultural activities, performing arts and entertainment events. In addition, THE EDGE® also manages The Civic, Auckland Town Hall and Aotea Square on behalf of Auckland City Council.
In order to better meet its statutory obligations and the aspirations of its stakeholders, in 2007 THE EDGE® initiated a new, broad-reaching CRM strategy. At the core of this strategy was tighter management of THE EDGE®’s dialogue with its patrons – which in turn meant direct control over event sales and marketing. Previously, THE EDGE® had worked with 3rd-party ticketing service providers; that function now needed to be brought in-house.
An entire ticketing business needed to be built from the ground up: box offices, call-centre, web-sales and back-end ticketing applications. THE EDGE® needed a technology partner capable of covering all the bases.
The Solution
Datacom had been the IT infrastructure provider for THE EDGE® for many years, and was quickly able to marshal the call-centre, telephony, web development, networking and systems infrastructure resources necessary to help THE EDGE® build the infrastructure required for this major new initiative.
The solution delivered by Datacom comprised:
- - A new phone system and contact centre plus help to establish a whole new team at THE EDGE®. The Datacom team consulted on the contact centre systems and processes and helped to train the contact centre staff. They then supplied and installed a fully managed and scalable VoIP solution covering all business and contact centre’s telephony, system and fax needs.
- - A robust and scalable infrastructure to host THE EDGE®’s chosen ticketing application, Tessitura. Datacom implemented the servers, networks, databases and middleware required by the application, facilitated the integration with external service providers (such as credit-card acquiring banks) and worked with the application team to support testing and deployment.
- - A redesigned self service website. Datacom designed and delivered a self service website comprising the ticketing purchase process, an innovative real time ‘select your own seat’ tool, and an integrated web content management system including marketing tools such as email and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).
- - Data Centre hosting of the core infrastructure, providing highly resilient power, Internet connectivity, air-conditioning, fire-protection and physical security.
- - Ongoing management of the entire systems, telephony and contact centre infrastructure. Datacom monitors, manages and controls all of the infrastructure components to ensure that this mission-critical 24x7 business keeps running
The Benefits
By partnering with Datacom, THE EDGE® was able to work with one capable partner to build a completely new dimension to its business in a very short time-frame. Utilising Datacom’s resources and expertise in business process innovation, call-centres, telephony, networking, web-design, application development and systems management—managed with Datacom’s renowned agility and ability to respond flexibly to changing business priorities—THE EDGE® had in place a completely new multi-channel, high-volume line of business within eight months.
Within just a few weeks, ticket sales through THE EDGE®’s ticketing business were comparable with that of the established players. And the organisation’s CRM strategy—core to its goal of being the home and the catalyst for excellence in the performing arts, entertainment and conventions—is firmly under way.