Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc. Telecommunication Systems Division

David Shapendonk, manager of Information Systems for IMAX Corporation, said, “At IMAX, we needed a business telephone system that would unify the communications between our corporate headquarters in Mississauga, Canada; and our U.S. offices in Santa Monica, California; and New York City. We wanted to seamlessly network all our offices and eliminate international long distance costs.”

John and Ben Berg, owners of Authorized Toshiba Dealer Transcom Telecommunications of Lakewood, California, recommended Toshiba’s Strata® CIX™ IP business communication system to help IMAX Corporation meet its goals of networking its locations while reducing overall communication costs.

John Berg said, “IMAX Corporation wanted to replace its older legacy systems in Canada and Santa Monica and add a Toshiba Strata CIX100 to its New York City location’s existing system. By going with new Toshiba Strata CIX systems in California and Canada, we knew we’d have a unified system with exceptional cost savings.”

Utilizing Toshiba’s National Accounts Program, IMAX Corporation had a one-stop shop via Transcom, the originating Toshiba dealer, for consistent billing, installation and support of all three systems in the United States and Canada. Transcom has been an Authorized Toshiba Dealer for more than 20 years.

Solution: Toshiba Strata CIX Systems Network Three Major Locations
With installations coordinated by Transcom, IMAX Corporation has a network of Strata CIX IP business telephone systems at three locations: its Canada headquarters and its two U.S. corporate locations in California and New York.

There are more than 700 ports spread across the three systems, which include Strata CIX670 systems in Canada and Santa Monica and a Strata CIX100 in New York City. The company is also updating its theatre locations to Toshiba Strata CIX100 systems.

The Santa Monica location is home to a 12-port Strata MAS media application server, which was able to replace the office’s previous two separate systems by another manufacturer. The Strata MAS hosts Toshiba’s Stratagy® Unified Messaging solution and provides voice messaging to employees located in the Santa Monica office. The three locations are networked over IP using Toshiba’s Strata Net. The Canada system utilizes Toshiba’s Stratagy iES32 voice processing solution.

There is a mix of IP, digital, cordless, and softphones on the system. Mobile users, including territory reps for Asia and Europe, also use Toshiba SoftIPT® softphones on their laptops. The corporate office receptionist uses Toshiba’s Attendant Console system to receive and route the hundreds of calls IMAX Corporation receives each day.

Result #1: Unified Communications for IMAX Employees
“Having a networked system for all of our employees has empowered us to rely on our telephones for unified messaging, conference calls and inter-office communications,” said David Shapendonk.

“Now with the Toshiba Strata CIX VoIP systems, it’s easy for our employees to call in and retrieve messages, call each other with four-digit extension dialing from any of the three office locations, and implement conferencing at the touch of a button. In addition, we also have the ability to transfer calls between each site, making it easier to instantly connect our clients with the right IMAX representatives, improving our client relations as well,” he added.

Result #2: Direct Extension Dialing Between Offices Eliminates Long Distance Costs
Also helping IMAX Corporation save on costs is the system’s four-digit dialing plan for its employees. Regardless of their locations, the direct extension dialing plan allows the employees to dial each other directly just as if they were in the same building.

David Shapendonk said, “We had been dialing long distance between many of the branches. Now with the Toshiba system, we can dial the four-digit extension to reach anyone in any of the offices, helping eliminate the international long distance charges between the offices.”

Result #3: Eliminates System Down-Time
One of the benefits of the new Toshiba business telephone system is its reliability. Authorized Toshiba Dealer John Berg said, “Toshiba systems have all the bells and whistles an enterprise could want, but what really seals the deal is Toshiba’s legendary reliability. There literally is no down time.”

To ensure that the IMAX systems are operational all the time, Transcom installed a battery back-up to keep them up and running in case of a power outage. Transcom also set up a rollover program so calls to the main office in Canada roll over to the California office in case of a phone service outage in Canada.

David Shapendonk said, “Toshiba’s system reliability plus the back-up plans ensure that our phones keep working for us 24/7.”

Result #4: Remote Administration Improves Productivity
Using Toshiba’s Network eManager® remote administration tool, David Shapendonk can now remotely manage the entire telephone system from his desk. He said, “From my desktop, I can see the entire system and make changes as needed, either on an individual or universal basis. I no longer have to travel to the other locations or require our employees to wait for important changes.”

Toshiba’s Network eManager provides remote administration ranging from adds, moves and changes to more complex programming. It is one of the applications on the Strata MAS, a single-server solution for all of the telephony applications.

Bottom Line: Significant Cost Savings and Unified Communications
Toshiba’s Strata CIX IP business telephone system has helped IMAX Corporation meet its goals of unifying its communications between its Canadian and United States locations.

The significant recurring monthly cost savings is based on eliminating international long distance by using four-digit dialing over PAETEC’s MPLS IP network between its offices, using PAETEC PRI for outside calls, and eliminating repair costs annually for its antiquated systems.

David Shapendonk said, “IMAX has revolutionized the experience of viewing films, and Toshiba has revolutionized our communications. Thanks to Toshiba and Transcom, we can count on our telephone system to maximize our internal and external communications, all at a significant cost savings.”