The growth of WebRTC has led to the challenge of companies figuring how to integrate the technology with their backend systems and networks. Fortunately for them, Sonus Networks, a provider of SIP communications and session border controller (SBC) solutions, is developing a WebRTC gateway that will translate Web to SIP, focus on security and allow for interworking and transcoding.
We recently caught up with Tony Scarfo, executive vice president at Sonus, which will be exhibiting at the upcoming WebRTC Conference & Expo, happening Nov. 19 -21 in Santa Clara, Calif. Sonus’ Nancy Maluso will also be speaking at the event in a session, “SIP & WebRTC – Working Together?” which will cover the challenges and methods of integrating WebRTC into SIP and the benefits of direct media interoperation versus using a media server of translation.
As far as industry adoption of WebRTC, Scarfo says we are still in the hype cycle. The exciting use case possibilities with WebRTC have created a buzz and excitement that very few other technologies have done in the recent past. Today, vendors, service providers, enterprises and consumers are all trying to understand and evaluate what WebRTC means to them. It will take some time for this to be sorted out and some concrete WebRTC use cases with tangible ROI to be defined, he explained.
Many of Sonus’ customers and potential customers have heard the term “WebRTC” but are unsure about what it means to them and how it will impact their current business, and what Sonus’ plans are, in the WebRTC space.
“The communications industry is moving toward the web-ification of real-time communications at a rapid pace with the advent of WebRTC,” Scarfo explained. “As the market adoption of WebRTC picks up pace, interoperability between WebRTC and existing SIP networks will be one of the top priorities for enterprises and service providers. At Sonus, we are focused on the interoperability between WebRTC and non-WebRTC networks, as well as the reliability of real-time communication between these disparate networks.”
Sonus is one of the major SBC vendors today and offers a variety of products for both the enterprise and service provider markets. Interworking and interoperability are two of the important functions of the SBC, and Sonus is very focused on them.
“WebRTC will create an entirely new set of endpoints and networks that need require interworking. It fits in very well with our current product strategy and focus,” he said.
Video is increasing to become one of the most popular channels for communication next to voice – 23 percent of companies have deployed desktop video to more than half of their employees, up from 9 percent that deployed that extensively in 2012, and more than half of respondents of the Nemertes Research “Pervasive Video Collaboration Benchmark Report” are using or are planning to deploy capabilities for business-to-business video conferencing. So how important is WebRTC in the growth of video?
“WebRTC does not solve all the technical challenges, but makes a good start. WebRTC has the potential to bring best-effort video to the masses, and is expected to drive a lot of video volume,” Scarfo said. “However, one of the challenges is congestion, which leads to quality of service issues. This is an area where a video-enabled multimedia SBC can play an important role. It is also important to have robust policy control when video is offered using WebRTC so that video can go beyond best-effort to guaranteed high quality. Scalability is also very important when offering WebRTC video services. The deployed solution must be able to scale seamlessly when required.”
Browser development for WebRTC has mostly included Google’s Chrome and Mozilla’s Firefox up until now, which leads many to question the future of WebRTC as they wait for involvement from Apple and Microsoft. However, Scarfo says the lack of commitment from a single browser vendor does not impact Sonus’ plans; it is focused on the interoperability between WebRTC and non-WebRTC communications.
“Market indications are that Microsoft is starting to take a serious interest in WebRTC, but it remains to be seen if it will fully support the WebRTC standards. However, we expect WebRTC to reach a critical mass over the next several years, with or without the support of all device and browser vendors. We expect some vendors to sit out initially,” he said.
The upcoming WebRTC Conference & Expo will cover many of these topics of discussion, including browser development, BYOD and WebRTC, mobility, service provider opportunities, data channel uses and the impact of WebRTC on networks.
“Well-attended WebRTC events provide a forum for companies such as Sonus to articulate their ideas and plans for WebRTC,” Scarfo said. “It also helps us cut through the hype and get a better understanding of the state of the WebRTC technology.”
Want to learn more about Sonus Networks? Then be sure to attend WebRTC Conference & Expo, Nov. 19-21 in Santa Clara, Calif., and visit the company at booth #6. Stay in touch with everything happening at WebRTC Conference & Expo. Follow us on Twitter.
Edited by
Alisen Downey
