Xtend IVR
Xtend IVR is Rapid Application Development toolkit developed for automating customer transactions over phone. This toolkit has extensive support for telephony voice cards like PIKA, Ocha, Synway, Donjin, SIP, NMS, Diva Server, Ai-Logix, H.323, Dialogic, TAPI, Sangoma etc.
Xtend IVR Features
- Full-fledged developer edition
- TTS and speech recognition
- Highly scalable to 4000+ Ports
- Automatic call distribution
- Support for multi-lingual prompts
- Works with proprietary EPABX
Xtend IVR
Ticket Reservation System for Movies
The origin of the name 'film' comes from the fact that photographic film has historically been the primary medium for recording and displaying motion pictures. Many other terms also exist - motion pictures (or just picture), the silver screen, the cinema, picture shows etc. But the most commonly used term is movie.
Movie is considered the world all over by many as an important art form. Movies entertain, educate, enlighten and inspire audiences. The visual elements of cinema need no translation, giving the motion picture a universal power of communication.
Profit is a key force in the industry, due to the costly nature of filmmaking; yet many filmmakers strive to create works of lasting social significance. The making and showing of motion pictures became a source of profit almost as soon the process was invented. Films quickly came to be used in education, in addition to lectures and texts.
Today, much of the film industry in United States is centered on Hollywood. Many other regional centers exist in many parts of the world. The Indian film industry, primarily centered around Bollywood, annually produces the largest number of films in the world. Though the expense involved in making movies has led cinema production to concentrate under the auspices of movie studios, recent advances in affordable film making equipment have allowed independent film productions to flourish.
A movie theatre or cinema is a venue for viewing movies. The film is projected with a movie projector onto a large projection screen at the front of a specially designed auditorium with high quality sound system and acoustics. Most cinemas are commercial operations catering to the general public. Public can watch the movie by purchasing a ticket. Some movie theatres are now equipped for digital cinema projection, removing the need to create and transport a physical film print.
Present Scenario
In the present scenario, a person who wants to watch a movie in a theatre has to reserve the seat in advance or should reach the theatre premises, before the show starts, to stand in a queue to purchase the tickets for the show. For advanced booking, he/she should first know the reservation time of the theatre and then has to go to the theatre in person to book the tickets. For purchasing a ticket by standing in a queue, he/she should first know the show time of the theatre and then reach the theatre well in advance to avoid any disappointment. To know the timings, whether it is show time or reservation time, the viewer has to either go through the daily newspapers or make a phone call directly to the theatre. Nowadays, some theatres have started ticket reservations through telephone.
For these kinds of bookings, there are many disadvantages for the public as well as the theatre management. One, the theatre management has to provide sufficient personnel to manage the manual type of reservation system. Two, the theatre premises will be flooded with people which will naturally create unnecessary traffic jams in that area. Three types of people will be there in the theatre premises - those who booked tickets in advance, those who stand in queue to buy tickets and those who leave the theatre after watching the movie. Since the people does not know how many tickets are booked and how many are left for sale to those who stand in the queue for hours, a majority of the people standing in the queue have to return back or wait in the queue for the next show.
Role of an IVR System
The problems faced in the present scenario can be solved by the deployment of an interactive voice response (IVR) system to automate the ticket reservations for movies and other shows. This can replace labour-intensive manual activities. The new system can streamline and standardise the ticket reservation process at a substantial cost savings.
IVR based automated ticket reservation systems in theatres using ordinary phones are becoming very popular and affordable these days. Instead of relying on word of mouth or publications which are quickly out of date and expensive, automatic phone messaging lets you contact the right point and get most accurate information instantly!
There can be two scenarios where an IVR system can be implemented for the reservation of tickets for movies and other shows. One, an agency can make use of an IVR system to provide ticket reservations for currently running movies in a particular area. Two, a theatre management can implement an IVR system for reserving the tickets. Let us see an example of both the scenarios in detail.
An Agency Implementing an IVR System
Let us assume that an agency is running the business of ticket reservations for the currently running movies in a city. An IVR system can be used for this purpose.
A person can easily reserve the tickets using an IVR system. When a person dials the number from an ordinary telephone, he is automatically taken into the IVR system because the telephone line is connected directly to it. After the welcome message, the system will first ask the caller to select the movie from a list of those presently running and then to enter the date of show. Next, the caller will be asked to select which show he/she wants to reserve the seats. Now, the caller has to enter which class he/she wants to book and the total number of tickets when prompted by the IVR system. Then the system will provide the booking code/number to the caller. If tickets are not available, the caller will get a message saying that the tickets for that particular show are fully booked. The caller will then get the chance to select another convenient timing. Before the caller exits from the system, it will also inform the caller about when and where should he/she pay and collect the reserved tickets.
The caller can any time get the status of the reserved tickets by keying in the booking code/number allotted to him/her. Provision for the cancellation of tickets can also be incorporated by customising the IVR system. The automation can be customised in any way according to the needs of the theatre management. Linguistic problems can be solved by adding the multi-lingual features.
Ticket Reservation System can now be accomplished quickly, efficiently and cost effectively using the latest IVR technology from Xtend Technologies.
A Theatre Management Implementing an IVR System
Let us assume that a theatre management has decided to automate the ticket reservation system in their theatres. An IVR system can be used for this purpose.
A person can easily reserve the tickets using an IVR system. When a person dials the number from an ordinary telephone, he is automatically taken into the IVR system because the telephone line is connected directly to it. After the welcome message, the system will first ask the caller to select which show he/she wants to reserve the seats. Now, the caller has to enter which class he/she wants to book and the total number of tickets when prompted by the IVR system. Then the system will provide the booking code/number to the caller. If tickets are not available, the caller will get a message saying that the tickets for that particular show are fully booked. The caller will then get the chance to select another convenient timing. Before the caller exits from the system, it will also inform the caller about when and where should he/she pay and collect the reserved tickets.
The caller can any time get the status of the reserved tickets by keying in the booking code/number allotted to him/her. Provision for the cancellation of tickets can also be incorporated by customising the IVR system. The automation can be customised in any way according to the needs of the theatre management. Linguistic problems can be solved by adding the multi-lingual features.
Ticket Reservation System can now be accomplished quickly, efficiently and cost effectively using the latest and most modern IVR technology from Xtend Technologies.