Another huge week in the developing technological picture that is Web-based real time communications (WebRTC) is bringing with it plenty of news in the sector, and that means a lot to cover. But how to figure out what part of all that news has the most use can be a challenge, so with that in mind—and a weekend now at hand—we can take the opportunity to take a step back and get a sense of the bigger picture with our Week in Review coverage.
The first bit of news in the week came in thanks to the addition of a new capability in WebRTC, as the getUserMedia API is being put to use in a whole new way. A JavaScript face detection system is being put in play, allowing for the future possibility of new object recognition capabilities within WebRTC video streams. This can be, in turn, used to offer fun visual effects or even detect nudity, a potential downside of the WebRTC concept. It all adds up to further development, and may kick off new features down the line.
Next came word from Twelephone, which stepped up to allow a whole new and much easier way for potential and current customers to get in contact with businesses. The Twelephone technology allows for a widget to be installed on a website that allows for instant connectivity to sales and support personnel, similar to a click-to-call system. But the difference here is that a “Twelephone address” as it's called can instead be used to start video chats from the Web browser, thanks to the WebRTC platform.
Next was a look at the concept of “Skype killer” technology, and why it may be a bad idea despite the sheer panache of having such a system in place. Skype solved a major problem, in its day—specifically the concept of egregiously high prices in international and long-distance calling. But WebRTC, meanwhile, can offer quite a bit more than just doing what Skype does from a browser; things like voice recognition can come into play, making this a potentially valuable new technology.
Then, we took a look at what WebRTC means for service providers, and how this new technology has a significant likelihood of destabilizing entire industries. There are potential disasters in the making, of course, but there are also major opportunities for those service providers willing to embrace this new technology and look at it from the proper perspective. There are opportunities to be had in both consumer and enterprise markets, in terms of offering more data and video consumption, or offering WebRTC as a cost-savings measure to larger enterprise users.
Finally, we had an unusual look at WebRTC, as seen from the perspective of airline travel. Customer service is profoundly important to any service business, like airline travel, and when issues come up in booking a flight, customers want to be helped quickly and efficiently when a service doesn't quite live up to the need. WebRTC offers some great potential for this, by allowing users to connect to help personnel from the booking page itself, and by so doing, make the process of booking easier.
That was the week that was in WebRTC, and with plenty of new things happening in the field—not to mention new ways to use currently-existing technology—there's a lot of ground to cover. Our global online community was in peak condition running down the biggest events in the field, so be sure to join us back here next week for more of the latest WebRTC news, and every weekend for our Week in Review!
