WebRTC (Real Time Communication) will have many uses in the business sector. It is predicted to drastically change the way people communicate.
To see the opportunities it provides, let’s first turn to Instant Messaging (IM). Businesses have been using IM for several years, according to a report from Jive Software. Companies are increasingly finding that they need to make IM part of their overall communication and collaboration strategy.
But there are concerns. IM can lead to risks. These include malware, spam and viruses, as well as hacking or theft of intellectual property.
To minimize risks, businesses should come up with an Enterprise Instant Messaging (EIM) strategy. The strategy will identify ways to assess, select, deploy and manage IM technology. Also, on-premise EIM systems provide increased control and management for businesses. EIM also provides enhanced security, such as who can connect to a server and the enabling of client features. That means lower risks and enabling the full potential of IM for businesses.
There are many benefits with IM for businesses. For instance, some 81 percent of companies using IM say their employees are more productive, according to an INT Media Research report. E-mail traffic went down by as much as 40 percent and voicemail dropped 10 percent with IM. Also, by using IM, presence awareness and message routing, a customer service rep can quickly locate the right company employee and a caller can get a quick response to a question. IM compliments other forms of communication, too. In a conference call with a prospective client, sales reps can launch an IM chat to add to the conversation and make possible changes.
Jive Software has developed Wildfire and Spark, which are two Open Source projects for EIM, presence, and XMPP-based (also known as Jabber) communications. XMPP is an open standard for presence and real-time messaging.
In addition, Ignite Realtime is an Open Source community composed of end-users and developers who apply Real Time Collaboration to their businesses. “Base functionality – the core messaging aspects of RTC – should be free and Open Source,” according to a Jive Software statement on Ignite Realtime. “We are committed to always providing a ‘complete solution’ as an OSS product, and will not hold back core features or bug fixes. … Ignite Realtime furthers XMPP through best of breed protocol implementations, development of new protocol extensions, and sponsorship of the Jabber Software Foundation through Jive Software.”
When it comes to WebRTC, it provides Web browsers with real-time communication capabilities via Javascript APIs.
“WebRTC is definitely a game changing technology and desktop phones may soon be on their way to join VHS players in yesterdayland,” predicted Dele Olajide last month on an Ignite Realtime blog post.
“A while back, I developed an Openfire plugin for Candy … which enabled multi-user voice chatting. … It kinda worked, but has too many issues to be used in a production context,” Olajide added. “I have replicated that application with WebRTC just using only HTML5 and JavaScript. … All audio mixing, capturing and playing is handled by the web browser.”
It’s clear that communication is changing with WebRTC.
Edited by
Brooke Neuman
