Wire One Service Sheds Light On Video-Over-IP

Videoconferencing integrator Wire One Technologies is answering that question with Glowpoint, an IP-based videoconferencing subscription network.

A growing number of customers are signing up for Glowpoint, which has a foundation in the communications integration business where it works with Cisco Systems, Polycom, RadVision and VCON, said Leo Flotron, president and COO of Hillside, N.J.-based Wire One.

Glowpoint sales accounted for about 4 percent of Wire One's nearly $89 million in revenue in 2001. The publicly traded company is on track for sales of $108 million to $110 million this year, Flotron said.

The service is aimed at clients that want to run video-over-IP but don't want to burden networks or IT employees, Flotron said.

"We find that 90 percent of the problems with videoconferencing are related to network problems. Somebody's got to change the network piece of the scenario," he said.

The challenge of delivering high-quality IP videoconferencing in-house stems from the high performance demands users place on it, Flotron said.

"[If you're only experiencing 90 percent uptime, that's not good,particularly if you have a meeting with a lot of people on both sides and you're counting on it to work," he said.

Bolstering an in-house network to carry video traffic can be an expensive venture, Flotron said.

"Video doesn't act the same way data does. These are big bandwidth calls, and they don't happen all day. You don't want to expand the whole network just to handle ad hoc calls," he said.

For a monthly subscription fee, customers can plug H.323-compatible videoconferencing equipment into the Glowpoint network, sending video traffic via Wire One's service, which is dedicated exclusively to video traffic and includes features such as live operator assistance.

Wire One runs the three-year-old service out of network operations centers in New Jersey and California, monitoring a nationwide network that includes local and long-distance service partners such as Cable and Wireless, Covad Communications and WorldCom.

Initially, American Management Services envisioned using the Glowpoint videoconferencing service for internal communications, but that proved to be just the first of many applications, said David Rier, IS manager at the Waltham, Mass.-based business consulting firm.

The company has used videoconferencing for training, client meetings and hiring, and began using Glowpoint about eight months ago, Rier said.

"Employee reaction to it has been very positive. They're now able to make connections with customers or their counterparts within the company without having to rely on physically being in the same room," Rier said.

The 150-employee firm uses Glowpoint services in three of its five offices and is currently considering expanding its use, Rier said.

Battenfeld Gloucester Engineering, a plastics processing equipment manufacturer, recently installed Glowpoint in five offices to cut back travel costs, said Ron Ross, vice president of employee relations at the Gloucester, Mass.-based company.

In addition to saving on travel, videoconferencing technology should also improve the productivity of meetings between the company's design and service engineers, Ross said.

Wire One has dedicated 37 of its 125 sales and support personnel exclusively to selling Glowpoint services, Flotron said.

The solution provider is also considering reseller partnerships with carriers and other smaller systems integrators, he said.

"We have over 700 users on the network, and we haven't lost one customer," Flotron said.

Glowpoint services are sold in four packages, ranging from basic service at $199 per month to $849 per month for unlimited usage.