About Us
LiveSwitch pushes the possibilities of digital connection through products and platforms that power secure, high-quality, and mass-scale interactive video.
Our mission is simple, yet enormous: Build human connection through technology. And through human connection, we can help change the world for the better.
In 2008 brothers Jerod and Anton Venema start Frozen Mountain with a vision to develop a collaborative diagramming tool.
In 2009 we launched WebSync, a high-volume signaling and messaging server. Early iterations of WebSync used long-polling, based on the Bayeux specification for establishing bidirectional client/server connections—two years before the WebSocket protocol was standardized.
Facing high demand for WebSync, we refocus on developing commercial pub-sub systems.
In 2013 just months after the first cross-browser video call was made with WebRTC, we launched IceLink, a cross-platform WebRTC solution compatible with Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer (via ActiveX control) and Safari (via Java applet).
In 2017 customer demand for large scale video conferencing grew exponentially and we launched our flagship product LiveSwitch. This highly flexible server software stack and SDK enables dynamic scaling between video connection types depending on the session needs.
In 2019 we launched LiveSwitch Cloud, a highly flexible, fully managed and enterprise-grade live video platform. LiveSwitch Cloud features the same hybrid architecture as LiveSwitch Server with deeper insight from real-time metrics, reports and integrations.
In 2021 Frozen Mountain embraced its product-led future by renaming the company to LiveSwitch.
The new company name and brand represent the beginning of our end-user product platform.
In 2022 LiveSwitch released LiveSwitch Video™, an easy video conferencing solution that requires no downloads, no guest registration and a single click to join a meeting from any browser or smart device.
In early 2023 LiveSwitch released LiveSwitch Contact™, a text message-to-video call and recording software that allows you to text a link and instantly start a recorded video session.
Join our team.
At LiveSwitch, we welcome experts ready to push the possibility of live video. If you have a vision for what scalable live video can do, we can't wait to hear from you.
Awards
Great Place To Work - Best Workplaces for Giving Back - Canada 2022
CIOReview - Most Promising Education Technology Solutions Provider 2022
Great Place To Work - Canada 2022
MONDO-DR Award - Arena 2021
Cablefax FAXIES Awards - New Product or Launch 2021
Cynopsis Sports Media Awards - Best Tech Innovation During the COVID-19 Pandemic 2021
Telly Awards - Gold, Virtual Events & Experiences 2021
TMC - Real Time Web Solutions Best in Show 2016
WebRTC Conference & Expo - Best WebRTC Tool 2015
IDEA - Golden Matrix Awards: Best Interactive Feature 2021
Sports Technology Awards - Best Use of Technology by a Brand 2021
TMC - Real Time Web Solutions Excellence Award 2016
SportTechie Awards - 2020 Finalist, Outstanding Fan Engagement
SPORTEL Awards - Virtual Fan Experience 2020
Mediacorp Canada - Canada's Top Small & Medium Employers 2019
WebRTC World - Product of the Year 2019
TMC - Communications Solutions Product of the Year 2017
Mediacorp Canada - Canada's Top Small & Medium Employers 2018
Our values are important to us - not just words. We at LiveSwitch developed an acronym we live by: FORCE. We believe it represents the way we really run our company every day… in the little things we do. Despite the growth of technology, we wonder if people throughout the world have really become more unified. There still seems to be a lot of division, if not outright hate. It seems that technology is often used to divide people from one another. LiveSwitch is trying to humanize technology. We believe that the promise of technology is, not in new gadgets, but in getting people to serve and help one another.
Focus. We get things done. We understand words are powerful, but we recognize that words without deeds are empty. So, we are focused on hitting goals. Every individual has goals with deadlines that lead directly to company or customer success. We also move fast and with discipline; time is of the essence. The reason time is so important is because we are in a rush to make a difference. Another reason we are so goal oriented is that we want our team members to be evaluated on the content of their work rather than on their ability to navigate our internal political landscape. Many of us have been at companies that reward politics rather than tangible results. We want to protect our people as we continue to grow.
Ownership. Each individual acts as an owner. This means we hope that each team member thinks in an integrated way as to how their actions or content affects the rest of the company- the body of our organization. Related to this, titles don’t matter here. We are driven by purpose and mission, not strictly by what individual leaders think. We understand the need for leadership and order, but our leaders are here to serve, not to be served. A practical expedient to this is that the people closest to the data make the decisions, resulting in a “flat” company, not a hierarchical one. Team members are empowered to make decisions, not to blindly follow leaders who may not have the best information. Finally, every employee is literally an owner- all have stock options. We want to share with our team as we accrue financial value.
Responsibility. We know we are imperfect as people and as an organization, but we try to manage our team and talents to positively benefit society. We have a responsibility to our team members but also to our community. We understand that the individual actions we take affect or even sometimes cascade through a group of people. So, we are conscious of the work we do and the actions we take. For this reason, we will not work with certain industries, such as pornography. We are committed to making the world a better place by elevating the quality of human connections.
Customers. We understand that many people and businesses do not get what they pay for which, in many ways, may be the most important acid test of any company- do you do what you say you will by providing what you say you will? We are here to serve our customers, not ourselves. We are only satisfied when customers are satisfied- according to them. We love our customers and show it by building great products that work reliably and by following up quickly when issues do arise. We don’t argue directly or indirectly/passively with our customers both because it is not right and because we know our ultimate source of cash flow is the customer. If you are reading this and are a customer and are unhappy with our performance, please contact us at support@liveswitch.io. If your issue is not resolved quickly, please contact our founder, Jerod Venema (jerod.venema@liveswitch.io). As we continue to grow, we will continue these practices.
Excellence. Our goals and expectations are high. By the standards of the average corporation, these goals may seem unreasonable, but this is how we do better- for others.