WebRTC: 'A Tool to be Yielded as Part of a Larger Plan'

Web real-time communications, or WebRTC, is growing every day. More organizations, developers and consumers are realizing the benefits of being able to communicate in real-time over a browser without any downloads or plug-ins, and more use cases, potential and applications are being developed as it becomes more sophisticated.

We caught up with Tsahi Levent-Levi, a huge player in WebRTC in terms of consulting and thought leadership, to discuss WebRTC developments, trends and impacts. If you’re reading this, there’s a big chance you’ve read his articles on both WebRTC World and BlogGeek.me, which cover a wide array of topics, trends and use cases related to WebRTC and Internet communications.

Levent-Levi helps others with their planning processes and in finding partners in WebRTC and explains what WebRTC is at least once a week. “WebRTC is a technology – a tool to be yielded as part of a larger plan. It fits into multiple enterprise initiatives, but in most cases I don't think it will be a strategy by itself,” he said.

Despite the growth of WebRTC vendors, applications, use cases and services, there’s still discussion of WebRTC as just hype. Not so, according to Levent-Levi. There's a steady linear climb in adoption and chatter around WebRTC, he said. Every device and browser will eventually support WebRTC in the future, in the same way they support WebGL.

Part of the reason WebRTC may be on the back burner for many is the lack of Apple and Microsoft support in their products or in the development of standards. Despite the lack of commitment from these tech giants, Levent-Levi says it really depends on the use case. While sometimes Apple and Microsoft commitment are critical, there are others where it doesn’t matter at all. 

On the other hand, you have players that are very involved with WebRTC standards and development, like Google. “For Google, this is more of a small investment in the area of shifting the balance of power from the operating system to the Web – and the Web is where Google excels,” he said.

Events like the upcoming WebRTC Conference & Expo help raise awareness and for Levent-Levi, help gauge the state of the market. He’ll be speaking and moderating in multiple tracks at the event, including sessions about signaling, deployment options, the impact of WebRTC on your network, gaming, file sharing and monitoring and alerting.

 “My goal for this event is to meet and chat with as many people as possible. It’s going to be a busy event for me,” he said. “WebRTC is what I do, and the WebRTC Conference & Expo is the largest event around that focuses on WebRTC. Not sure what I have to give attendees, but I know that I want to learn from them on their thoughts around WebRTC – it is the only way for me to enhance my understanding of this topic.”

Want to learn more about the latest in WebRTC? Be sure to attend WebRTC Conference & Expo, Nov. 19-21 in Santa Clara, Calif. Tsahi Levent-Levi will be speaking and moderating in multiple tracks at the event, including a signaling workshop, “Is Your Business Ready for WebRTC?,” “WebRTC Monitoring & Alerting,” WebRTC Impact on Your Network” and multiple panel discussions on gaming, file sharing and deployment options. Stay in touch with everything happening at WebRTC Conference & Expo. Follow us on Twitter.