Case Study: Empire Cinemas centralises communications, slashes costs and unlocks new revenue with 8x8

Empire Cinemas Gives Hosted VoIP the Red Carpet Treatment

Empire Cinemas, the UK’s largest private movie-theatre operator with 17 sites and 146 screens (including the flagship Empire, Leicester Square), needed a modern communications platform to handle thousands of customer enquiries and bookings each week plus routine back-office and inter-site calls. The chain required a centralised, highly flexible and easily managed solution that supported automation, improved internal communications between satellite theatres and head office, generated new revenue-number opportunities, and reduced call costs—requirements their existing PBX could not meet cost-effectively.

8x8 delivered a cloud communications solution (with QoS and Cisco hardware) deployed across all 17 sites, centralising management and simplifying automation and inter-office calling. The rollout opened new revenue streams, drove internal call costs down to almost zero, and delivered superior functionality and control; Empire’s Head of IT reported nearly £100K in projected savings in the first 12 months from reduced line rental, maintenance and call costs.

Empire Cinemas

Julian Timm

Head of IT