It's getting closer. That's actually a pretty good way to sum up a lot of the next couple months, actually, with holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year's Eve approaching at a fairly rapid clip. But before any of those arrive, one of the biggest events in Web-based real-time communications (WebRTC) will land with the arrival of the WebRTC Conference & Expo. Slated for Nov. 19 – 21 at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, Calif., the show will bring together a wide array of developers in the field for not only product exhibitions, but also for several addresses describing upcoming moves in the field of WebRTC, as well as what the companies behind said addresses have in store.
GENBAND's Chris Koehncke, director of business development, recently offered up an advance look at just what GENBAND has in mind, not only for the WebRTC Conference & Expo, but also for the future of WebRTC in general.
WebRTC World: Are you using WebRTC in a production application today?
Chris Koehncke: YES, our SPiDR WebRTC gateway is currently GA providing an initial onramp between the traditional SIP infrastructure and WebRTC.
WebRTC World: Tell us about the impact of WebRTC on your product line. (Do you see a new market opportunity as a result of WebRTC?)
Koehncke: There are certainly new market opportunities with WebRTC and the entire notion of a “who” as a service provider is changing. The ease of development and relatively low complexity enable many more applications to have a new communications aspect.
WebRTC World: How does WebRTC impact the BYOD market? Do you expect you are going to see Google gain more of a presence in the device world?
Koehncke: The devices in our lives are changing, some like the desk telephone suited a single purposes are on the wane, similar to a standalone GPS for your automobile. We expect devices to do more than just one thing and hence we will see WebRTC permeate the desktop, tablet, mobile and new devices as they appear in the market. Google benefits indirectly, their intent is to remain relevant and the only way they can do so is by embracing and accelerating the adoption of this new technology.
WebRTC World: Does the lack of Apple and Microsoft commitment to deliver WebRTC in their products have a major impact on your WebRTC plans? Why or why not?
Koehncke: Neither of these companies has been forthcoming with a viable alternative to WebRTC, in fact the silence has been overwhelming. Clearly WebRTC has been seen as a Google initiative, but while Google was highly involved in the early stages of pushing WebRTC out to the world, they seem quite content to allow it to become an industry managed standard and in fact, they’ll have to embrace the changes the industry want.
WebRTC World: Will every device and browser eventually support WebRTC in the future?
Koehncke: We’ve struggled to find a ubiquitous methodology for managing communications from these various devices, WebRTC provides each competitor a level playing field to compete but doesn’t impose on the user restrictive terms.
WebRTC World: Does WebRTC represent a specific implementation strategy in the enterprise? (e.g., remote workers, call centers and other opportunities in the enterprise)
Koehncke: Enterprises clearly are excited about WebRTC to address a host of communication issues and while your list points out the well known ones, at a higher level the opportunity is for WebRTC to facilitate a high level of communications. For the last 20 years, our communications have mostly consisted of email, phone calls and instant messaging. While the clients have improved, the fundamentals haven’t changed. WebRTC offers a doorway into how we can dramatically change our communications and improve the overall efficiency of our communications.
WebRTC World: How important is VP9 to your mobile strategy?
Koehncke: Codec discussions are a never ending war of words, no sooner is one accepted than another is being promoted as a better solution. Patent issues surrounding codecs are a major inhibitor of innovation by smaller companies who often lack the financial means to deal with all the various licensing elements. VP9 has some clear advantages in a numbers of courts, is it the final solution? No, but to say it won’t make it for mobile is indeed incorrect. We’d expect all smart mobile devices to support V9 natively (in hardware) within the next two years.
WebRTC World: How will data channel capabilities expand the multimedia experience of your solution?
Koehncke: The WebRTC data channel is the least explored and potentially the most valuable element of this emerging technology. The entire notion of client-service moving to a P2P world represent a quantum leap in efficiency of communications, but it comes with some concerns about privacy and security.
WebRTC World: In theory, HTML5 and WebRTC can eliminate native apps. Do you have plans for native mobile application with WebRTC or the Google Media Engine?
Koehncke: Absolutely, while native apps aren’t likely to disappear 100 percent, there is strong growth in the single page applications that we see now for the Web and HTML5/WebRTC will only accelerate this.
WebRTC World Where do we stand on the adoption curve of WebRTC? (Are we in the bowling alley? Still in the hype phase?)
Koehncke: It’s still early, but it’s not that early. WebRTC is starting to be discussed in larger circles amongst the wider HTML development community. Typical HTML programmers, while quite skilled, have often shied away from doing communication applications due to the complexity and high level of special knowledge required. WebRTC reduces these barriers.
WebRTC World How often do you have to explain what WebRTC is to your potential customers?
Koehncke: Less and less as each month goes by.
WebRTC World: How do events like the WebRTC Conference & Expo help drive the WebRTC community?
Koehncke: WebRTC events are helpful for people to share information and gauge the relative velocity of the technology. There still a lot of unanswered questions about WebRTC.
WebRTC World: What will you be doing at the WebRTC Conference & Expo in Santa Clara?
Koehncke: We’ll be exhibiting, sponsoring and speaking. Our demonstrations are mainly focused on the changing dynamics of communications and we have an interested sample demo to show on how WebRTC plays a role in e-commerce.
WebRTC World: Why did you decide to attend the WebRTC Conference & Expo?
Koehncke: This WebRTC Conference & Expo is the centerpiece for all things WebRTC attracting a diverse and large audience on a global basis.
WebRTC World:What do you hope attendees will learn about you at the event? (Why should they come see you?)
Koehncke: For many vendors, WebRTC is a bolt on to their existing systems, a feature, for GENBAND WebRTC represents a changing dynamic for communications. It represents an opportunity for us to achieve further growth in this new space by demonstrating our total re-think about communication and growing interaction with other HTML technologies that have to be considered in this changing world.
It's clear that Koehncke, and by extension GENBAND, has plenty on its mind ahead of the upcoming WebRTC Conference & Expo. With not only current developments to show off but also a future to help plan, GENBAND will have quite a bit on its plate in the months and years to follow. But with a clear plan in mind, and the networking opportunities that come with a major show like WebRTC III Conference & Expo on hand, the process will likely prove a bit clearer not just for GENBAND, but for the rest of the companies in the rapidly-growing industry that is WebRTC.
Want to learn more about the latest in WebRTC? Be sure to attend WebRTC Conference & Expo, Nov. 19-21 in Santa Clara, Calif. Stay in touch with everything happening at WebRTC Conference & Expo. Follow us on Twitter.
Edited by
Rachel Ramsey
