Pilgrim
05-30-2007, 12:03 PM
High-Tech Tattle-Tale Device Hits NYC Theaters
Regal Cinemas' Solution? Point, Click & Wait For Cavalry
Hazel Sanchez
Reporting
(CBS) NEW YORK Has this happened to you? You go to a movie and someone is making too much noise, or the picture or audio goes bad.
So you have to leave the theater to report the problem and you miss part of the film. Well, that's all about to change with the click of a button.
Every moviegoer has his or her theater etiquette pet peeve.
Whether it is a cell phone ringing or a baby screaming, there's always something that has the potential ruin your movie going experience.
Regal cinemas say you can now silence those interruptions with the Regal Guest Response System -- a virtual remote control to mute that annoying patron who's ruining your silver screen sanity.
"I get enraged, and I often want to tell them to shut up," moviegoer M. David Levin told CBS 2 HD.
Theatre employees at Battery Park Stadium now handle that duty without patrons missing a second of film. A hand-held pager is given to a random member of the Regal Crown Club Loyalty Program who's attending each movie.
"If any situation does arise they can just press a button which goes directly to the pager which the manager will have and they'll signal it and they'll go right into the theater and handle the situation," theater manager Heather Dematteis said.
"This device can be used for more than just reporting loud patrons," Dematteis added. "It also can be used to report problems with the picture, sound and even piracy."
Some theater patrons love the idea, but others think it's overkill.
"I think it's a little bit too much," Alexander Sodon said. "I think people should just go to the movies and just watch the movie and not worry about pressing a button to solve their problems."
Regal Cinema says its never pinpoints the guest reporting the problems, and the successful program is now being used in 114 theaters across the country.
The Regal Guest Response System is being used in seven theaters in the New York area.
Regal Cinemas' Solution? Point, Click & Wait For Cavalry
Hazel Sanchez
Reporting
(CBS) NEW YORK Has this happened to you? You go to a movie and someone is making too much noise, or the picture or audio goes bad.
So you have to leave the theater to report the problem and you miss part of the film. Well, that's all about to change with the click of a button.
Every moviegoer has his or her theater etiquette pet peeve.
Whether it is a cell phone ringing or a baby screaming, there's always something that has the potential ruin your movie going experience.
Regal cinemas say you can now silence those interruptions with the Regal Guest Response System -- a virtual remote control to mute that annoying patron who's ruining your silver screen sanity.
"I get enraged, and I often want to tell them to shut up," moviegoer M. David Levin told CBS 2 HD.
Theatre employees at Battery Park Stadium now handle that duty without patrons missing a second of film. A hand-held pager is given to a random member of the Regal Crown Club Loyalty Program who's attending each movie.
"If any situation does arise they can just press a button which goes directly to the pager which the manager will have and they'll signal it and they'll go right into the theater and handle the situation," theater manager Heather Dematteis said.
"This device can be used for more than just reporting loud patrons," Dematteis added. "It also can be used to report problems with the picture, sound and even piracy."
Some theater patrons love the idea, but others think it's overkill.
"I think it's a little bit too much," Alexander Sodon said. "I think people should just go to the movies and just watch the movie and not worry about pressing a button to solve their problems."
Regal Cinema says its never pinpoints the guest reporting the problems, and the successful program is now being used in 114 theaters across the country.
The Regal Guest Response System is being used in seven theaters in the New York area.