The Future of WebRTC Will Use ORCA Protocol in Two Formats

WebRTC is an exciting new tool that businesses and consumers alike will be using more and more as time goes on. WebRTC provides users with a unique video conferencing client, where instead of having to download specific software to make sure that both ends of the conversation are using compatible programming, WebRTC is browser-based and allows users to connect to video chats with any browser. This conveniently also means that users don’t need any hardware besides their computer and a webcam.

However, WebRTC is still in its infancy, meaning that there are competing projects to standardize the industry. Namely, there are two different WebRTC projects that utilize Open Real-time Communications API (ORCA for short), which go by the names ORTC and ORCA.js, which are described here by Dialogic’s Chad Hart.

Put simply, WebRTC’s current API formats are still somewhat complicated, and require a session description protocol (SDP) to be combined with traditional (and complex) telephony design, which takes both time and experience to implement. ORTC, which is developed by the World Wide Web Consortium, seeks to address these issues with a simpler API format. One of ORTC’s major goals is also to provide backward compatibility for the easy upgrade of existing WebRTC API protocols. Even if this format is not adopted widely, bits and pieces of it are expected to make it into the final WebRTC unified format.

Conversely, the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions is attempting to standardize WebRTC formatting through their own Javascript-based API, known as ORCA.js. Orca.js provides a standardized WebRTC gateway API, which is currently not implemented in any WebRTC protocol. By standardizing the gateway, web developers will have an easier time connecting to service provider-based services through WebRTC.

Dialogic’s Chad Hart makes the statement that neither ORCA format is in widespread use, but concedes that Dialogic is more focused on the media layer as opposed to the signaling  plane WebRTC operates on. Regardless, the company will still be demonstrating their take on the ORCA formats at the WebRTC IV conference & expo, which will be hosted in Atlanta Georgia from June 17-19^th.