In a move designed to make videoconferencing and collaboration available to the broadest range of workers and users, Glowpoint (News - Alert) has rolled out its new Hybrid Videoconferencing service. The solution is meant to be broad and can accommodate a variety of video meeting scenarios, which is where the “hybrid” designation comes in.

Flexibility and availability are achieved through Glowpoint’s automated managed service experience (AMSE) platform, which basically pulls in all the features and technologies of various virtual meeting room (VMR) solutions. By retaining the self-service capabilities and features of existing VMR offerings and adding a broader automation tool, Glowpoint is offering a larger collaborative video solution to business users through which a wide range of endpoints and users may connect securely. And all of this may be achieved without installing expensive hardware and software equipment on premises.

"Users' video meeting needs change daily, hourly, even during the meeting,” said Gary Iles, SVP of sales and marketing at Glowpoint. “We're excited to give customers a cost-effective solution to reliably and assuredly connect rooms, endpoints, browsers and mobile devices together in a VMR experience, automatically, even when a degree of service management is required."

That service management is provided via the Glowpoint AMSE platform, which merges the connection capabilities of all users and automatically handles tasks like room scheduling, video call launching and video resource management.

"Hybrid video conferencing is unique in the marketplace,” said Peter Holst, president and CEO of Glowpoint. “Ensuring that all users within the enterprise have a video service that meets their individual needs is paramount to a successful video deployment within the enterprise."

The Hybrid Videoconferencing solution also provides users with a Web portal for scheduling VMRs, sending invitations and adding participants and locations. Those who aren’t scheduled have the option of joining in from wherever they may be located, via whatever device they are using. These include phones, mobile apps, desktops and conference room setups.

Glowpoint has been expanding at a rapid pace, and just last month the company announced its automated Video Service Platform. The offering is part of a collaboration with service management and SaaS (News - Alert) provider ServiceNow, and is the heart of the company’s cloud-based approach to managing video collaboration.