Sony and Envysion Offer Movie Theaters Video-Based Business Intelligence

Innovative, SaaS Solution Enables Cinema Operators to Optimize Operations

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Sep 20, 2011, 04:11 ET

PARK RIDGE, N.J. and LOUISVILLE, Colo., Sept. 20, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --Sony's Security Systems Division and Envysion, the leading Managed Video as a Service (MVaaS) provider, are teaming to provide video-based business intelligence services to movie theaters. This joint solution combines Sony's industry-leading lineup of surveillance cameras and video analytics with Envysion's best-in-class MVaaS technology to deliver instant and actionable business insights to a theater's loss prevention, operations, marketing and human resources groups, without straining the IT department or network.

Envysion integrates video from Sony's leading suite of cameras with an organization's business systems, such as point of sale. This gives theater operators the unfiltered, visual context behind every transaction and customer interaction. Armed with this information users in every department of a cinema can identify new ways to improve theater-level operating procedures, marketing promotions, employee training, loss prevention investigations and other operating processes, which can in turn lead to profit maximization. The resulting enterprise solution transforms video surveillance from a niche security application into a strategic management tool that can contribute to improvement of a theater's bottom line.

Sony: Serving Up Solutions

This cinema initiative is the first result of the joint Sony/Envysion effort announced last spring and reflects Sony's focus on delivering end-to-end solutions that leverage Sony's security products for vertical markets.

"The movie theater industry is a perfect fit for this technology application," said Mark Collett General Manager, Sony Security Systems Division. "Our expertise as a pioneer in 4K digital cinema projection technology, combined with our more than 20 years in the video surveillance industry, makes this joint solution with Envysion a natural extension of Sony's digital cinema offerings, and can also be tailored to other applications."

"This solution can help movie theaters leverage powerful video-based intelligence across the entire organization to gain a complete understanding of theater-level issues impacting the bottom line," added Gary Johns, senior vice president of Sony's Digital Cinema Solutions Group. "As a result, what were once expenditures for security video become a valuable investment in a strategic business initiative."

Envysion: Turning Security Costs into High Return Investments

"We are excited to announce our first joint solution with Sony," said Matt Steinfort, president and CEO of Envysion. "This initiative will accelerate our ability to help the theater industry achieve demonstrable profit impact similar to that realized by other Envysion customers, such as Cinemark USA and Chipotle Mexican Grill. Our easy-to-use, scalable MVaaS solution makes video a cross functional tool that empowers every user to drive improvements in his or her area of responsibility. Theater managers can increase gross sales by ensuring an accurate mix of full price and discount tickets, loss prevention teams can cut down on the cost of concessions sold by reducing shrink and HR can increase productivity by identifying employees with common traits, including excessive ticket voids or above average transaction times, which indicate the need for additional training."

Steinfort is confident that that Envysion's MVaaS represents a market disruption that, when fully realized, will fundamentally alter the video surveillance marketplace. He adds that Envysion's software as a service approach enables rapid innovation cycles and the ability to create and deploy impactful video solutions that capitalize on Sony's advanced technologies at a pace that traditional video providers cannot match. As the larger MVaaS industry emerges, video surveillance will be recognized as a truly enterprise tool in which security applications will be seen as one specific component.

About Envysion

Envysion enables businesses to increase profitability by putting easy-to-use, video-based business intelligence into the hands of the entire organization. Envysion's Managed Video as a Service (MVaaS) solutions transform traditional video surveillance and enterprise business intelligence from niche applications used by a handful of users into a strategic management tool that provides instant and unfiltered business insights to users across operations, loss prevention, marketing and human resources. Today, Envysion's solutions are driving bottom line profitability improvements for large, national retail, restaurant, cinema, hospitality and convenience store operators. For more information, visit www.envysion.com or call 877.258.9441.

About Sony Electronics Digital Cinema Solutions

Sony Digital Cinema Solutions combines a full range of Sony technologies, alternative content offerings, training and service to provide a broad range of solutions for exhibitors. The world's leading manufacturer of commercially available 4K resolution digital cinema projection systems, the group also offers Sony's TMS (theater management system); digital signage hardware, software and content development; security systems and Network Operations Center (NOC) services for the exhibition community. Sony also offers flexible financing including a lease program and exhibitor-managed finance program leveraging Sony's VPF administration, that can make converting to digital easier and more affordable than ever before. For more information, visit www.sony.com/digitalcinema.

SOURCE Sony Electronics