Berst future proofs its virtual meeting service with 8x8 JaaS

The Challenge: An inflexible and costly system

Video conferencing is at the very core of the Berst product offering. For this reason, it was critical that the company selected a reliable and scalable platform that could support its global operations.

“We needed a platform that would be dependable and offer rock-solid service,” says Berst founder Peter Lee. “It also had to be a platform that would not require us to undertake constant monitoring and management, thereby allowing us to focus on the other elements that make Berst a compelling service.”

When the company initially began its operations, its video conferencing service was provided by an in-house Jitsi-powered infrastructure. Multiple servers were configured and managed to support the company’s growing client base around the world.

“As we grew, we were finding this in-house infrastructure was challenging to scale,” says Lee. “It was also consuming an increasing amount of resources and staff time.”

In January 2021, Berst decided to search for an alternative video conferencing platform.

The Solution: A clear winner

The Berst IT team examined a range of video conferencing options to try and find the best option for the company’s constantly growing client base.

After conducting a comprehensive review, a decision was made in March 2021 to shift to the hosted 8x8 Jitsi-as-a-Service (JaaS) platform, leveraging 8x8’s global communications infrastructure.

“We were already familiar with the capabilities of Jitsi and having it hosted removed the management overheads that had been bogging us down,” says Lee.

Because Berst had already been using the Jitsi API, migrating to the hosted platform was a relatively simple task. From making the decision to change to going live with JaaS took only two short weeks.

The Result: Consistent, high-quality, and agile

With the 8x8 JaaS platform fully operational and interconnected with the other components of Berst, the company was quickly enjoying some significant benefits.

The new platform was delivering consistent, high-quality video conferencing capabilities that could support the company’s growing client base.

“Our IT team no longer has to spend significant amounts of time managing our in-house infrastructure,” says Lee. “It also allowed us to achieve a 50% reduction in our operating costs.”

Berst clients also benefit whenever additional features and capabilities are added to the Jitsi platform. “It’s great that we can have these put in place without our internal team having to invest time and energy,” says Lee. “It means our customers always have access to the best possible video conferencing experience.”

Lee says ongoing support from 8x8 has also been very valuable. “If we have any issues they are always resolved very quickly. This means there is only ever minimal impact for our customers,” he says.