Computerworld - BurstPoint Networks officially launched operations today, offering a portfolio of enterprise-class video-streaming and videoconferencing products.
Westborough, Mass.-based BurstPoint acquired some assets of video communications provider Starbak earlier this year. It has about 50 customers, including large companies such as MetLife, according to BurstPoint CEO Tom Racca. Funding for the venture-backed company is provided by Windspeed Ventures in Lexington, Mass.
BurstPoint's Video Communications Platform includes a central management platform called the BurstPoint VCP Manager for creating, managing and viewing video content. Other products include tools called Encoder, Conference Point, Delivery Node and Display Engine.
Racca said pricing is "very competitive" and starts at about $30,000 for live video streaming within a department of a large organization.
MetLife uses the BurstPoint technology for distributing live town hall meetings and executive presentations, according to a statement.
BurstPoint's Conference Point product includes patent-protected technology to capture streaming video from standards-based videoconferencing systems, Racca said.
Ira Weinstein, an analyst at Wainhouse Research, said the fact that Burstpoint's video platform includes the Conference Point technology could help differentiate the new company from other vendors of video streaming and videoconferencing technologies.
He said BurstPoint will compete against Accordent, Qumu, Sonic Foundry and VBrick, among others, in the video streaming market. And to some degree it will compete with powerhouses such as Cisco Tandberg and Polycom in the videoconferencing arena. The overall video streaming market is worth about $400 million globally and should grow about 25% in each of the next four years, Weinstein said.
The capture and distribution of video and other rich media content is seen by many large companies as a way to save money, since it could strengthen communications with employees and customers, Weinstein said.
BurstPoint's biggest challenge will be to convince former Starbak customers and new customers that it is a financially and administratively sound company, Weinstein added. Starbak had strong technology but was "challenged by financial resources," he said. "BurstPoint has to convince clients that [financing and management] are not a problem."
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