A new week of huge developments in the field of Web-based real-time communications (WebRTC) has come and gone, and with that week, there was a lot to consider. With a weekend now at our doorstep, there's plenty of opportunity to take a step back and consider the broader impact of all these new developments, which is just what we'll do now with our week in review coverage!
First, we had a closer look at the impact that WebRTC may have on call center environments, specifically, how call center staff is scheduled. WebRTC, which is rapidly being built into websites, is giving potential customers a whole new way to contact businesses, but along with that is customers contacting businesses outside of normal business hours. This poses a need to reconsider staffing levels in the call center to accommodate, but also opens up the field to hiring staff in different locations.
Next, we took a look at how WebRTC's hidden potential—particularly its data channel—may offer some new impact that had yet to be fully considered. We had a look at some of the things Solaborate was out to do, but that was only where it all began. There are plans in the works to bring WebRTC into video, as well as putting WebRTC's data channel to work in a variety of fields from remote medicine functions—the data channel could be used to control a medical device and report results—to online gaming, reducing the amount of resources needed to store data.
The virtual office is an increasingly popular development, and WebRTC has a role to play in the structure and operations of such a development. Several new offerings from Davinci Virtual Office Solutions allow businesses to get the benefits of a complete office setting, like conference rooms and meeting spaces, on a temporary basis. What's more, these meeting spaces can be further bolstered by WebRTC functionality, letting these temporary meeting rooms be used as videoconferencing facilities as well.
AudioCodes—by way of senior director of marketing Alan Percy--stepped in next, offering up insights on a wide variety of topics ahead of the ITEXPO event. An interview with the company took a look at WebRTC and AudioCodes' efforts with the technology, as well as “Generation C” (here, the “C” stands for “Connected”) and even a bit about Steve Wozniak, who will be delivering the keynote address at ITEXPO. The company has a strong belief that WebRTC will bring big changes to communications, and even described some of the ways AudioCodes was looking to help.
Finally, there was new word about TokBox, as OpenTok took on new support for both Google Chrome 29 and Chrome for Android. The two fit well together given Google's ongoing commitment to the WebRTC platform and TokBox's likewise commitment to regular augmentations of OpenTok only add to it, and having the two continually working outward gives plenty of users the opportunity needed to get in on the field. OpenTok also offers support for Firefox Nightly and Firefox Aurora, and has often been found near the tip of the spear on upgrades.
That was the week that was in WebRTC, and clearly, there was plenty going on. With this new technology poised to change the field communications as we know it, there are plenty of new applications emerging, and new uses for these. Our global online community was constantly keeping watch for fresh news to bring in, so be sure to join us back next week for all the latest in WebRTC, and every weekend for our week in review!
