Vidyo Releases Virtualized Router and a New Reseller Program to Pump It Into the Market

Today telepresence and videoconferencing provider Vidyo officially released a virtualized version of the Vidyo router, their key piece of video network infrastructure that allows for multi-point conferences without the latency of traditional videoconferencing MCUs. Unlike traditional videoconferencing MCUs which must decode a video stream, composite multiple streams into a single versions with everyone visible, and then encode and send the new image to all sites, the Vidyo router serves as more of a "traffic cop" directing the multiple streams to their destination and allowing the Vidyo software client (running on smartphones, tablets, PCs, laptops, and dedicated room systems) to assemble the multiple streams into whatever format the participant desires.  Vidyo has virtualized this router to run on either publicly available cloud computing services like those offered by Amazon or Rackspace OR private cloud services run on a company's own data center.  Vidyo's other big announcement today was a new reseller program that allows service providers to resell Vidyo's services to organizations looking to deploy videoconferencing but not interested in provisioning, patching, and hosting video network infrastructure.

Virtualization of the Vidyo Router - We covered and tested a virtualized version of the Vidyo router in November of 2011 when it was announced.  Traditionally, multi-point videoconferencing has been enabled by specialized pieces of video network infrastructure called Multi-Point Control Units (MCUs) that require power, pipe, rackspace, and babysitting.  Upgrading capacity meant additional MCUs and/or MCU ports.  Vidyo has virtualized this capability into a piece of software that can run on cloud computing services in different parts of the world as needed.  Need more seats?  Need geographical diversity for your Singapore office?  Simply spin up a new license on a cloud service provider (or in your own datacenter) in whatever part of the world you need. Because the Vidyo client runs H.264 SVC the video stream is more tolerant of bumpy networks like the Internet so you can use a low-cost internet connection vs. some visual collaboration solutions that require dedicated QoS network connections.

Vidyo's  New Reseller Program
Vidyo's other major announcement was a new reseller program that uniquely creates a two-tiered system of resellers remarkably similar to multi-level marketing.  In Vidyo's previous reseller program the reseller needed to host Vidyo infrastructure to support customers.  In the new program, Vidyo is deputizing a new tier of reseller, called a Virtual Network Operator, with the ability to resell the service without having to support the service. In a conversation with Vidyo CEO Ofer Shapiro, Ofer identified regional telephony carriers and business-class VoIP suppliers as the main targets of the new program.  "We wanted to give these partners the opportunity to co-brand or private label high-quality videoconferencing services and even build the capabilities into their own applications". The service is expected to cost individual companies around $30 per month per user and .20 per minute for each guest on a legacy based system joining a conference.

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