Perhaps one of the great things about Web-based real time communications (WebRTC) is that, as a young technology, there's still a lot of room to discover new applications and uses for this rising communications method. Yet as is commonly the case with new technology, there's also a lot of room for hype to get involved and obscure just what can actually be done and instead get people excited about what can't actually be done. That's prompting a lot of places—particularly the Nemertes Research Group—to take a more careful look at this young technology to see where the differences lie between hype and reality.
One of WebRTC's greatest uses is for companies that deal with the consumer on a regular basis. Having WebRTC functionality in place allows customers to contact a business via a common Web browser, a tool that virtually everyone who owns a computer has on hand. What's more, that contact can be carried out with real people right from a website, where a customer is potentially already looking at something in which the customer is interested. It represents a great opportunity to strike while the iron is hot, and take advantage of a customer interested in buying.
Further, as WebRTC develops, the need for plug-ins or external clients to carry out these features will fade away, allowing for extremely easy connections. It's going to take some time to do that, of course—right now WebRTC in its purest form is really only supported by Google's Chrome and Mozilla's Firefox, with Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Apple's Safari browsers lagging—but when the bulk of browsers either catch up or get compatible, that's going to really open up the field and make a lot of new applications possible.
But there are indeed things that WebRTC will not be able to do. WebRTC won't, for example, make for a lot of security obstacles when it comes to video calling. Admittedly, there are some encryption issues involved in WebRTC, but each client will have to negotiate in terms of having both sides support the encryption used. But since there is encryption involved, that does make WebRTC more secure than, say, a standard landline connection.
Also, those hoping to replace VoIP and video conferencing infrastructure with a handful of PCs and webcams hooked to same may prove disappointed. Yes, there's a lot of development around WebRTC applications right now and that development is likely to continue. But WebRTC has its limits, especially when it comes to larger groups. These limits may be overcome down the line, but until then systems like Microsoft Lync and Cisco Jabber and the like are doing the job pretty well.
Getting past the “if it ain't broke, don't fix it” mentality is going to be tough for WebRTC to get adopted on a wide scale, but with specific functions—like customer contact—WebRTC will have a much better chance of stepping in. If WebRTC can show itself with distinction in the more limited uses, then WebRTC may well find itself stepping up to the plate in completely different ballparks. Development, of course, needs to continue, but there's certainly a lot of room for this service to show off.
WebRTC has a lot of exciting possibilities involved in it, but it's worth noting that not every possibility will come to pass. Only time will separate reality from hype in WebRTC, and the results should still be very exciting to see. Check out all our videos on this and other subjects right here.
Edited by
Alisen Downey
