Interplay Theatre and LS12 Creative

About Interplay

Interplay National Sensory Theatre is all about performances that place the audience at the centre of the experience, creating immersive environments and productions working across art forms and all five senses. The Theatre tours SEN schools across the country, bringing the magic of theatre and multi-sensory shows to young people with disabilities. Closer to home, LS12 Creative is the locally-based arm of the business, engaging with the local community in Leeds in the shape of high quality arts experiences and events exploring theatre, film drama and music, encouraging young people to explore their creative strengths. The company`s HQ in Armley is also used as a venue for live music events and visiting productions.

A comprehensive tech upgrade

With the arrival of a new management team at Interplay, the directors recognised the need for a complete tech changeover. The existing systems meant that data and files were stored locally on individual and ageing iMacs, making it difficult to find and retrieve information when required.

Working closely with the management team at Interplay National Sensory Theatre, PCM Systems has assisted with a complete update of tech facilities for the business. This work included moving Interplay to the Office 365 platform giving them access to files from any location, secure storage, improved communications, business continuity and centralised collaboration. In addition, implementation of a VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) telephone system has increased efficiency and reduced cost.

Moving to the Cloud and Microsoft 365

'The directors knew exactly what they wanted to achieve, and approached PCM Systems to see how practical the demands were and how quickly the new system could be implemented,' explained Sarah Jacques. 'The team at PCM looked at what we wanted and how it could be achieved, and put forward a comprehensive solution.'

'One of the challenges was to move all the locally stored data from a single drive storage to a Cloud-based SharePoint, together with all the correct access permissions,' explained Lukasz Kisala from PCM Systems. 'This allowed Interplay to share and collaborate on their documents easily and from any location. In addition, it centralised all the information in a single place instead of storing on individual computers.'

Transformational benefits

Sarah says this change has been transformational, making it so much easier to find information and work collaboratively with colleagues. For Interplay, the benefits are easy to identify. 'Moving to the Cloud means we have no requirement for locally stored servers,' she stated. 'Although we do work primarily from our base in Leeds, remote working is now easy and secure when required. We can collaborate live on documents and files, we enjoy business-class security and business continuity. It`s all about improved communications, and we`re already reaping the benefits.'

As part of the upgrade, PCM also implemented a centrally managed antivirus software called BitDefender. This is being actively managed to ensure that Interplay Theatre systems operate seamlessly and enjoy a high level of protection against cyber threats.

Implementing VoIP telephony

As part of the project, PCM Systems upgraded all Interplay devices from ageing iMacs to modern Windows 11 machines, achieving significant performance improvements. Moving away from traditional telephony to a VoIP phone system was also an important element of the project. 'VoIP has given us a vastly improved service which is efficient and flexible, coupled with real reductions in cost over our original PSTN system,' confirmed Sarah.

Lukasz outlined the additional benefits of a VoIP system. 'As well as being cheaper, the voice quality is better, there`s increased security, it`s easily scalable if you need to introduce more users and helps to enhance productivity,' he stated.