As more solutions, devices, systems, and applications integrate Internet connectivity, the way we use the Internet to communicate is changing and growing. WebRTC is set to make Web-based communication easier and in real-time, bringing peer-to-peer communication to the browser, as well as enabling functionality via the data channel. Here are the top WebRTC stories this week.
Wrapping up last week’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, VoipSwitch returned from showcasing its rich communication services (RCS) products and its Vippie dialer, a white-label messenger application that enables free audio and video calls, messaging, file sharing and more. Ecrio demonstrated Nimbus, a cloud-based solution for voice over LTE (VoLTE) and rich communication suite (RCS) that can connect tablets and machine to machine (M2M) endpoints requiring voice and video services over global LTE networks.
Opera, one of the core browsers supporting WebRTC, released a stable version of Opera 20 for Android this week, bringing the browser up to speed with Chrome and Firefox, which both already support WebRTC in their Android versions. . Opera has been offering WebRTC support on its desktop browser since mid-2013. Opera 20 for Android (4.0 or higher) brings WebRTC support for browser-based video chats, as well as customizable browser navigation bars, version 33 of Chromium core and improvements to search.
The Web is turning 25 this year, and the W3C that manages Web standards will be turning 20 years old. WebRTC is an important initiative at W3C, and we stumbled on one staff member that is pushing the concept of Web OS strategies.
Magor Corporation, a developer of visual collaboration software, is bringing greater reach and service options to users of its Aerus Service Delivery Platform (SDP) by way of some key developments. In particular, the platform now supports a desktop visual collaboration client for Windows and features three new Aerus OnDemand Services: Aerus Invite, Aerus OnScene and Aerus WebCollab.
Aerus Invite is a personalized virtual meeting room service offering, while OnScene is a vertical solution for public safety applications. However, it’s with Aerus WebCollab that things really start to get interesting, as the offering is a WebRTC-based, webinar-style collaboration service, bringing WebRTC to the Aerus SDP for the first time.
We talk a lot about the impact of WebRTC on different industries and applications, but would WebRTC ultimately benefit the contact center? It depends on who you ask. For example, WebRTC can definitely help a sales pitch go through. If you're dealing with high-value products and transactions, attaching a voice and a face to whomever speaks to your customer is absolutely essential to gain his or her trust. WebRTC can keep customers attached to your services. Voice and video do wonders to retention. But there’s also another side to WebRTC in contact center, creating challenges for companies and agents.
As you settle in to the weekend, you may be searching for different options for video conferencing. Here are six WebRTC-based video calling solutions you can try out right now, right from your browser.
Hope you have a great weekend. Stay tuned next week and in the future to WebRTC World for the latest industry updates, news, partnerships and solutions.
