Pipeline Profile: Michael Brandofino

SCTE member since 2005 Title: Chief Technology Officer and Executive Vice President, GlowPoint Broadband Background: Brandofino joined GlowPoint in 2000 when the Johns Brook Company was acquired. He previously co-founded Face to Face Communications, which, coincidentally, was acquired by the Johns Brook Company in 1997. How large is the videoconferencing market? How rapidly is it growing? The market for room-based video is very large. According to some researchers, there have been around 500,000-700,000 room-based video systems sold worldwide in the last 10 years. Room-based systems are systems commonly found in conference rooms and used for group meetings. The most recent number shows approximately a 20 percent yearly growth. More recently, the proliferation of IP and the hype about VoIP has contributed to the growth of video communications on the desktop or through personal video systems. We believe that the widespread expansion and adoption of video communications by consumers will probably be driven by the younger generation who have grown up in front of cameras and are not afraid of new technology. The key factors that needed to be available in order for personal video communications to take off are lower cost and widely available broadband access, affordable hardware and software-based video codecs, and underlying services that provide telephony-like features. What does the recently announced deal with Sony entail? GlowPoint and Sony have collaborated to create and introduce a portfolio of complete IP-based integrated visual communication solutions that bring together Sony’s state-of-the- art line of audio/visual systems with GlowPoint’s patent-pending advanced IP-based video applications and network services. For example, we have jointly developed an IP video communications solution for television broadcasters, and GlowPoint’s Instant Video Everywhere (IVE) service will be a pre-load on Sony’s VAIO BX series. What does this mean for your company and its technology? The Sony relationship is a validation that the unique features and services developed by GlowPoint are capable of helping drive more video conferencing sales and that tying services to hardware creates new opportunities for revenue. Sony’s broad reach, from the high-end broadcast space to consumer products, opens up new markets for GlowPoint IVE solutions. The recent announcement by VAIO is a great indication of how GlowPoint’s IVE services enable Sony to drive video into other parts of the organization. What would an MSO have to do on the network side to implement your technology? From early on in our development of GlowPoint, we expected that we would have to be able to peer with other networks and be able extend our services into those networks. As a result, all of our features and services are capable of being private labeled and "plugged in" to other networks. All that is required is one peering point (we prefer at least two for redundancy and failover), and we can then register any video endpoints connected to an MSO’s network. How does the technology work from an end-user perspective? Some of the features that GlowPoint has created that make our service stand apart from others that are on the market are direct-dial phone numbers (callers receive a personal 10-digit video number with their service); video mail (a recorded video greeting for incoming callers when you are away from your desk); live video operators; and automated call assistants. How are you able to offer flat-rate pricing? Can you provide an example of the rates? GlowPoint leverages its own backbone network and its partnership with a number of last-mile providers to provide an "all you can see" model similar to unlimited calling plans from VoIP providers. This package applies to IP-to-IP or on-net calls. Calls to ISDN to the PSTN are charged on a per-minute basis. Videoconferencing services can cost anywhere from $499 monthly for a dedicated circuit install that provides managed service and guaranteed QoS to as low as $35 a month for a solution such as our IVE Mobile Business service, a softclient that can be used on any device with broadband connection. The IVE Mobile business version includes a video mailbox and real DID. We will be introducing an IVE Personal version in the near future that is targeted at the consumer for very low monthly rates by making some of the buil-in features optional. What type of support will you provide MSOs as well as end users? GlowPoint is capable of providing Level I support and monitoring down to the customer endpoint, should that be required. However, we believe most MSOs will want to take the initial call and use GlowPoint as Level 2 once it is determined that the network is not the issue. What are the details of your agreement with the NFL? Currently, the NFL Network is using our services to capture live, real-time interviews and programming content during its "Team Cam" segments on its signature show NFL Total Access. During the "Team Cam" segments, Rich Eisen, host of NFL Total Access, is able to conduct live face-to-face interviews with multiple players from all 32 NFL team locations. In addition, during the regular season, NFL Network is utilizing the IP-based solution to broadcast Coach Speak every Monday with interviews from around the league. The "Team Cam" video communication solution uses a combination of GlowPoint and Sony technology to operate between NFL Total Access’s Los Angeles studio and each team location. GlowPoint and Sony worked with the NFL Network to install a GlowPoint/Sony solution at the home locations of each of the 32 teams.