StarLeaf

StarLeaf is a global video conferencing and collaboration software company that provides cloud-based messaging, meeting and calling for business users. StarLeaf enables people to meet and collaborate from their desktop and mobile devices, as well as via proprietary StarLeaf and third-party meeting room systems. The company is headquartered near Watford, UK, with offices throughout Europe, The Americas and Australasia. StarLeaf is listed in the Sunday Times Hiscox Tech Track 100 of top performing British tech companies.

Usage of StarLeaf grew by over 1,000% between January and April 2020 as global lockdowns led to a dramatic increase in home and remote working.^[1]

History[]

StarLeaf was established in 2008 by Mark Loney, Mark Richer and William MacDonald. The trio had previously founded , which offered Cloud Based Voice Services purchased by Cisco Systems in 1999,^[2] and  Codian, a UK-based manufacturer of video conferencing infrastructure^[3] that was bought by Tandberg for $270m in 2007^[4] and subsequently became part of Cisco Systems in 2010.^[5]

StarLeaf initially developed a telepresence and video meeting service that offered a range of personal and group telepresence endpoints connected via a dedicated on-premise PBX.^[6]

In 2013, the company launched StarLeaf Cloud,^[7] a wholly owned global network with regional points of presence and which connected StarLeaf endpoints to the PSTN network.

In the same year, the introduction of the StarLeaf Breeze software client enabled people to join StarLeaf meetings from laptops (Windows, Mac OS, and Linux) smartphones and tablets (iOS and Android), as well as from a range of StarLeaf personal videophones and meeting room systems.

In 2015, StarLeaf introduced a dedicated room system for Skype for Business/Microsoft UC, which was later extended to Microsoft Teams.^[8] In February 2017, Starleaf partnered with ShoreTel in order to enhance the latter's video conferencing capabilities onto its Connect UC platform.^[9][10]

The StarLeaf mobile app (2017) gave users the ability to chat, make voice, video calls and join meetings from within a single Android or iOS app. File sharing via the app was added in 2018.

StarLeaf announced a partnership with Poly in 2020 to make StarLeaf services available on Poly conferencing and meeting room systems.^[11]

StarLeaf was one of a number of global video conferencing providers to offer services free of charge during the 2020 coronavirus crisis.^[12]

StarLeaf is VC-backed and has secured eight funding rounds to date totaling almost £60m, the latest of £12m coming in 2019 with investment from Grafton Capital and Highland Capital Partners.

Technology[]

StarLeaf is available as SaaS (either hosted in the StarLeaf Cloud or as a private cloud service) with the option to add StarLeaf and third party room systems.

SaaS[]

The StarLeaf desktop software client and mobile app provide the same functionality: HD video calling, the ability to host and join video conferences, plus audio calling, and instant messaging. Users can meet and message with contacts both inside and outside their organisation, and can invite external contacts to StarLeaf.

Additional video conferencing and calling features include blurred and virtual backgrounds, background noise cancellation, presence, bi-directional desktop and screen sharing, file-sharing (including PDF, PPT and DocX files), audio and video recording, and adding participants to live conferences. StarLeaf meetings have capacity for up to 100 300 participants and support live webcast streams for up to 3,000 viewers. A spotlight function lets meeting organizers select who can actively participate in their session and who remains in the audience.

Instant messaging in StarLeaf supports chat groups, which can be public and searchable, or private. The chat function enables file sharing, as well as replies and forwarding.

Room systems[]

StarLeaf is compatible with a range of meeting room system hardware, including proprietary and third-party equipment. The StarLeaf MultiJoin feature enables people to join meetings in StarLeaf rooms using a range of different meeting and collaboration platforms. StarLeaf supports SIP and H.323 endpoint registration.

Platform[]

Calls via StarLeaf are encrypted^[13] and the company has been ISO/IEC 27001 certified since 2019. StarLeaf provides an industry-leading 99.999% uptime guarantee (effectively no more than 5.5 minutes of unplanned downtime per year) through its worldwide network of 15 points of presence. Customers have control over where StarLeaf stores their organization’s data (Data sovereignty).^[14]

The web-based StarLeaf management portal provides controls and analytics for administrators.

Awards[]

StarLeaf has received awards and recognition for both business development and video conferencing service, including:

• Deloitte Fast 50 EMEA, 2015^[15]
• Deloitte Fast 500 EMEA, 2015-2018^[16]
• Deloitte Fast 500, 2017^[17]
• UK Business Tech Awards - Tech Company of the Year, 2018^[18]
• Gartner Magic Quadrant, 2018^[19]
• Gartner Magic Quadrant, 2019^[20]
• Gartner Magic Quadrant, 2020^[21]
• Sunday Times Hiscox Tech Track 100, 2017-2020^[22]
• East of England Tech 50, 2020^[23]
• AV Awards 2020: Public Sector Project of the Year^[24]
• SaaS Awards 2021: Best Accessibility Innovation in a SaaS Product^[25]

References[]