Selected by One of the Leading Manufacturers of Video Communications Equipment

HILLSIDE, N.J.-- Glowpoint, Inc., a premiere, broadcast-quality IP-based managed video service provider, announced today that it has signed a three-year agreement with one of the world's leading manufacturers of video communications equipment to use Glowpoint as an underlying provider for a branded, managed service offering tailored specifically for Telepresence rooms. The Video Network Operation Center (VNOC) service is actually a suite of services that address the demand for a single point of contact to provide scheduling, support, and management of Telepresence rooms and the associated equipment.

"Telepresence" is a term used to describe the next generation of video communications solutions being marketed by the top manufacturers. The most popular representation of the telepresence concept is a specially designed room configured to support a "true to life" meeting environment. Everything from multiple monitors, special furniture, strategic camera placement, and sound panels are deployed to create an immersive experience so that participants feel as though they are all sitting in the same physical room - even though they may be continents apart.

"Glowpoint has long held the belief that a large number of customers prefer to have a managed solution for their own video infrastructure in order to maximize their investment. This is especially true with Telepresence rooms," said Michael Brandofino, Glowpoint president and CEO. "The selection of Glowpoint by a major global player in the video space is confirmation that manufacturers are seeing the benefit of offering managed services bundled with their hardware solutions. It is also validation that Glowpoint is best positioned to provide these services on a global basis. In essence, Glowpoint provides a "white glove" service for Telepresence rooms, thereby taking the support burden off of the customer and increasing the ability of the Telepresence equipment vendor to sell more rooms."

The agreement establishes Glowpoint as an underlying provider of the VNOC services, and opens the door for Glowpoint to introduce its QOS (Quality of Service) network offering as well, since Telepresence rooms have significant bandwidth requirements. Glowpoint anticipates generating revenue from this relationship beginning in the second calendar quarter of 2008, as the company expects to get involved in opportunities with the manufacturer's resellers starting in January 2008. The agreement is not exclusive and Glowpoint can continue to offer its managed solutions for any of the other Telepresence equipment providers, such as Cisco, Tandberg or HaiVision.

Glowpoint's VNOC service offering includes:

    * Single Point of Contact: VNOC "at your service" support is a single point of contact accessible via Glowpoint's video concierge service (a branded version of Glowpoint's patented "live video operator" assistance), which is integrated with a "support" button on the control panel - or phone - that then provides dedicated, toll-free dial-in access or Web mail/portal access.

    * Scheduling: Scheduling includes a dedicated toll-free number (direct dial for international calls), concierge service, and Web portal scheduling tools. Confirmation notifications are provided both to requestors and to participants. All scheduling options may be privately labeled to match a customer's attributes (e.g., name and marketing tagline). Dedicated toll-free reservation numbers are answered with that customer's specific script, and Glowpoint provides a dedicated Glowpoint reservation e-mail address. Glowpoint can even provide a branded on-line scheduling tool to match the company attributes of its customer (e.g., name, logo, color scheme, and marketing information).

    * Call Launching and Monitoring: A Glowpoint telepresence operator will manage the successful launch and connection of all sites in the telepresence meeting, including point-to-point or multi-point calls. The Glowpoint VNOC team then continuously supports and monitors all telepresence calls, including digitally monitoring connectivity levels by a qualified Glowpoint video producer. Glowpoint's goal is to ensure that the technology is transparent to its users.

    * Help Desk Support: The Glowpoint VNOC provides technical support for all active calls during a telepresence meeting. When required, it will coordinate with hardware vendors and integrators to repair - or replace - any component parts, or resolve room integration issues. As the single point of technical support for telepresence solutions, the VNOC's top priority is resolving endpoint or connectivity issues.

    * Training: Glowpoint believes that successful use and adoption of video communication requires ease of use, which is, in large part, a result of knowing how best to use the system. Glowpoint will host training sessions for customers and provide periodic training updates as reasonably requested.

    * Interoperability Testing and Support: Glowpoint is an industry leader in evaluating and testing video communication equipment for reliability and interoperability through its Glowpoint Certified Program. As telepresence continues to evolve, Glowpoint will continue leading the industry in interoperability and certification testing to assist its telepresence customers.

    * Stewardship Reporting and Service Reviews: Glowpoint will provide monthly stewardship reports that capture key metrics related to the performance of a customer's telepresence room, the associated network, and various support levels, including statistics related to usage (namely, the number of telepresence meetings, duration, and hours of use), network and telepresence room connectivity availability, network and telepresence room mean time to repair, and failure/root cause analysis. Glowpoint has quarterly meetings with its customers to review these statistics, providing a forum to discuss areas of success, areas in need of improvement, and to address any other concerns.

The Glowpoint Telepresence VNOC Solution may be bundled with Glowpoint's own Quality of Service (QoS) managed network service, or offered on its own by Glowpoint-enabling another network service.

"Glowpoint has already shown good momentum in recent quarters with over 20 percent growth in revenue from our core services, which is a monthly recurring revenue stream. The VNOC service is also a monthly recurring model and can add as much as $3 to 4 million in annualized revenue if the sales of Telepresence rooms continues to grow," said Mr. Brandofino.

About Glowpoint

Glowpoint, Inc., is a premiere, broadcast-quality IP-based managed-video services provider. Glowpoint offers video conferencing, bridging, technology hosting, and IP-broadcasting services to a vast array of companies, from large Fortune 100 enterprises to small and medium-sized businesses. Glowpoint's managed-video services are available bundled with Glowpoint's quality-network offering or as a value-added managed-video service across other networks. Glowpoint is exclusively focused on high-quality, two-way video communications, and has been supporting millions of video calls since its launch in 2000. Glowpoint is headquartered in Hillside, New Jersey. To learn more about Glowpoint, visit www.glowpoint.com.

[via BusinessWire]