For all the talk about WebRTC, many businesses are still just sitting back and thinking, “Boy, this will be neat to see.” In doing so, however, they are missing out on many opportunities, and should start preparing for WebRTC sooner rather than later.
WebRTC will provide advancements in communication for those working in all sorts of industries. If it requires communication, there is a way WebRTC can help. Browser-based voice, video and data sharing can help people communicate and collaborate with ease across systems and software, for although currently it’s only supported by Firefox and Chrome, it won’t be long before all Web browsers start using WebRTC.
Contact centers, for instance, are likely to see a great improvement thanks to WebRTC. Customers who need help can connect to live voice and video, as well as screen sharing, simply from the “Contact Us” page on a company’s website. That means less time waiting for e-mail responses, or having to stay on hold while the automated phone messages keep saying, “your call is important to us.”
It’ll be easier for the customers to get in contact with agents, and for the agents to communicate with their customers.
Of course, many businesses are already preparing their solutions and software to work with WebRTC. Avaya, for instance, is improving its Contact Center platform to better work with WebRTC. We can also expect third-party developers to begin incorporating WebRTC into their apps and programs soon, with mainstream application developers shortly after.
For businesses of all shapes and sizes, WebRTC can add video chats into applications thanks to its built-in codecs in the browsers. It can also determine what the traffic is like, and use the best codec for that network and traffic.
While Apple and Microsoft have yet to make their Web browsers WebRTC compatible (Microsoft continues to push its own standard, which is not compatible with that used by Firefox and Chrome), it’s only a matter of time. Mobile browsers supporting WebRTC are also underway, although those will take more time and effort.
As such, now is the time for businesses to start looking at WebRTC and prepare to make the most of it. IT executives and application developers need to start experimenting with it and find ways it can benefit their customers and business, if just to save a considerable amount on voice and video conferencing costs.
There is still work to be done before WebRTC becomes completely reliable, widespread and secure, but it’s a work in progress, and progress has been outstanding. It’s time to get ahead of the game and prepare for WebRTC, because those who don’t will find themselves left in the dust.
Edited by
Braden Becker
