In the entertainment industry, the phone is a primary tool for multimillion-dollar business deals. Timing and responsiveness are crucial. The ability to manage calls can make a difference in closing a deal. As one of today's most successful entertainment production companies, Jerry Bruckheimer Films produces films and television programs that engage audiences worldwide. The company has enjoyed worldwide revenues of more than $12.5 billion in box office, video, and recording receipts. Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Jerry Bruckheimer Films has a permanent staff of 30 employees, plus associated staff and partners who come and go based on the requirements of specific projects.

"In some cases, if an executive is kept on hold for just a few seconds, it can be too long," explains Jeremiah Steen, facilities manager at Jerry Bruckheimer Films. "Speed and responsiveness are a huge part of how we do business."

With stakes this high, problems with a phone and messaging system can quickly become a liability. In 2004, it became clear that the existing system at Jerry Bruckheimer Films could no longer support the business. Every time a new production began, a technician had to be brought in to change phone lines or add new voice mailboxes. And the existing system didn't support the new applications and multimedia conferencing tools that the company wanted to use.

Jerry Bruckheimer Films contacted LA Networks, a Cisco Systems partner certified in the design, implementation, and support of Cisco Unified Communications solutions. After examining the business needs of Jerry Bruckheimer Films, LA Networks recommended migrating to a converged network and IP phone system to achieve the following benefits:

• Provide the optimum mix of responsive performance, flexibility, and manageability
• Manage frequent moves, adds, and changes more easily
• Scale to add new lines as needed
• Accommodate a variety of multimedia conferencing applications

New Solutions

Film and television executives use a distinctive conferencing system called "rolling calls," in which administrative assistants rapidly connect two executives with one another. Working closely with Jerry Bruckheimer Films, LA Networks customized the Cisco CallManager solution to support this unique phone etiquette so executives could collaborate using the new phone system but without changing the way they did business. In an industry where image and visual impact are critical, executives were particularly impressed when, on the first day of operation, their LCD phone displays included the Jerry Bruckheimer logo.

"We really like the conference-list feature," says Steen. "You can select who's on the call, who you can drop, and who can remain on the call. It's very visual, and we can support more participants than we could before, which is a huge benefit."

"Our executives are often on the road, working at different studios or from different cities, so to have a secure phone and network connection where you feel like you're at the main office is very useful," says David Leener, Jerry Bruckheimer Films executive. "Callers can dial the same number to get to you wherever you are, and the interaction appears seamless to them."

Business Value

"The Cisco solution has delivered cost savings with long-distance and conferencing services, as well as improved employee productivity. As a small-business owner, this is a huge business advantage," says Jerry Bruckheimer, president of the company.

"The Cisco solution integrated seamlessly with our existing systems, and it hasn't forced us to change our core business processes," adds Steen. "We're still learning what we can do with the system, and I'm sure it will be able to keep stride with us wherever we go."

The Web-based management of the phones is reducing administrative expenses, while enabling the company to accommodate the needs of a constantly changing staff and roster of associates. "Suppose a movie is conducting casting for three or four weeks at our offices," explains Steen. "When a new staff person comes in, we can plug in their phone, set it up, and five minutes later their first and last names will be on the phone display and in our receptionist's system."

The new messaging systems are enabling staff to respond more quickly to callers and document business conversations more effectively. "Cisco Unity gives us the ability to save and archive voice messages as files in our [Microsoft] Outlook mailbox, which is a real benefit," explains Steen. "It lets us document our business more effectively, because we can use these message files to verify agreements and assign project ownership and responsibility."

Future Plans

"We're building a new conference room, and we anticipate videoconferencing will play an important role at the new facility," says Steen. "We're expanding our facilities now, working on a huge remodel that will open up more offices," continues Steen. "I feel confident the Cisco solution will not only be able to keep up with what we need in the future, but will also provide us with the right foundation to get there."

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iQ Magazine, First Quarter 2006