For more than a decade, theatre management software has been the backbone of every cinema that made the transition to digital projection technology, which is to say, virtually every movie theatre in the world. Many different manufacturers provide their own approach to the challenges that TMS was designed to address. I recently spoke with five TMS manufacturers and asked if they thought exhibitors were getting the most from their TMS, where their TMS fits in a movie theatre enterprise and, most of all, what new ideas in TMS can we expect to see when the industry gathers in Las Vegas next week for CinemaCon 2017. We’re presenting the companies alphabetically and will be offering their answers over the next five days. Today’s company: Dolby.
Digital Cinema Report: Do exhibitors fully understand all the benefits that TMS can provide?
Jed Harmsen, Senior Director, Cinema Products, Dolby Laboratories: I believe exhibitors do understand that TMS is one of the key tools that allow them to drive their operational workflow with playlist, content and KDM management, as well as real-time monitoring and reporting.
With that said, there are features today, and on the horizon, that will enable exhibitors to utilize a TMS both to manage their content in a complex, and optimize their profitability. The capabilities of cinema exhibition software will continue to evolve beyond the current TMS offerings, with increased scope, better and more automated workflows and greater integration with other systems.
DCR: Can TMS be used to manage and improve the lobby experience or POS purchasing?
JH: Dolby’s TMS4 product doesn’t currently support lobby display playback or “pushing” data to a POS sale. We do, however, integrate with several POS systems to establish linking of contextual POS titles and content that has arrived at an exhibitor’s location. That linkage enables a TMS to seamlessly transfer content in the event of a screen change through the POS system. This type of functionality provides comfort to exhibitors, allowing them to focus on optimizing show times and ticket sales. In short, the TMS can certainly evolve to be part of the set of tools that maintenance and customer-facing staff uses to help provide a better experience to customers.
DCR: Can TMS help exhibitors grow and maintain customer loyalty groups?
JH: Much like with POS purchasing and/or lobby experiences, there will likely be new tools and solutions not only in cinema exhibition software, but also content development, advertising and interactivity in an auditorium that could interact with a TMS for improved customer loyalty.
DCR: What improvements and advances in TMS can we expect to see at CinemaCon 2017?
JH: I believe we’re in a transition period specific to cinema exhibition software. What Dolby is focused on with our TMS4 offering at CinemaCon is improved and simplified usability and tighter integration with customer’s POS systems. At Dolby, we continue to explore new software development paths that look to optimize exhibition’s profitability through increased box office and more efficient resource management.