With WebRTC development rapidly increasing, as evidenced by the growing number of test and demo sites becoming available, and the growing number of telecom equipment vendors adding support for WebRTC into equipment vendors’ product lines, there is no question WebRTC is not a flash in the pan, but has a very relevant role to play in the communication market gong forward. To find out exactly what that role is, we took the time to dig into present (and future) reality of WebRTC with Chad Hart, senior marketing manager at Dialogic.
Are you using WebRTC in a production application today?
No, not in a production application yet. Through PowerMedia XMS 2.0, Dialogic is enabling application developers to harness the power of WebRTC in multi-party multimedia environments. Over 30 firms are developing WebRTC applications on PowerMedia XMS 2.0 that leverage advanced audio and video conferencing, native software transcoding and rich media mixing.
Tell us about the impact of WebRTC on your product line. (Do you see a new market opportunity as a result of WebRTC?)
We have added WebRTC support to our PowerMedia software-based media server. We see an extension and enhancement to our PowerMedia business where our customers build their applications with PowerMedia. Ultimately, because new Web-oriented applications will be developed with WebRTC that were previously impractical to build, we do see new market opportunities ahead of us.
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?
BYOD has been gaining traction and WebRTC will likely play a role in BYOD gaining even more traction.
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?
We believe that the dominance of Chrome and Firefox in a mobile environment provide sufficient handset and tablet endpoints to power a strong future for WebRTC. Beyond that, WebRTC can still be embedded into native applications on iOS and Windows devices. In fact, Dialogic has already demonstrated advanced WebRTC conferencing capabilities on iPhones and iPads .
Will every device and browser eventually support WebRTC in the future?
Yes. The industry has a long history of supporting W3C standards for Web interoperability. We believe the same will be true with WebRTC as it becomes standardized.
Does WebRTC represent a specific implementation strategy in the enterprise (e.g., remote workers, call centers and other opportunities in the enterprise)?
Our groundbreaking WebRTC survey indicated a significant opportunity for WebRTC in the Enterprise as employees and consumers benefit from the simplicity of browser-based Web telephony and CRM applications. We are seeing enterprise applications that previously required a dedicated software download or compatible equipment as the first applications to leverage the ubiquity of WebRTC to reach a broader audience more quickly.
How important is VP9 to your mobile strategy?
The evolution and improvement of video codec technology, particularly for use on mobile devices, is extremely important. These technologies include not only VP8, but also H.265 and Mozilla’s Daala. Dialogic believes a diversity of codecs will continue to exist for specific use cases.
How will data channel capabilities expand the multimedia experience of your solution?
The data channel has the potential to be a secure, reliable signaling and control mechanism.
In theory, HTML5 and WebRTC can eliminate native apps. Do you have plans for native mobile application with WebRTC or the Google Media Engine?
We don’t think WebRTC will replace native apps and, regardless, WebRTC can be embedded into native apps. Dialogic is focused on server-side WebRTC implementations, but does support native mobile applications.
Where do we stand on the adoption curve of WebRTC?
We are in the early adopter phases with many trials and pilots happening already and a number of very meaningful early deployments. We believe WebRTC is poised to transition to more mainstream development very quickly since it leverages many existing technologies and devices.
How often do you have to explain what WebRTC is to your potential customers?
We see tremendous interest in our WebRTC solutions, and fortunately we need to spend less and less time explaining the fundamentals of the technology.
How do events like the WebRTC Conference & Expo help drive the WebRTC community?
They are critical since these events become a “catalyst for ideas” that spur the WebRTC movement forward.
What will you be doing at the WebRTC Conference & Expo in Santa Clara?
Dialogic will be exhibiting at table #409. In addition, I will be speaking on Collaboration and Conferencing Applications and James Gledhill will be speaking on Setting Up a WebRTC Deployment.
Why did you decide to attend the WebRTC Conference & Expo?
The WebRTC Conference & Expo is the premier event for WebRTC. If you care about WebRTC it is not really an option to not be there.
What do you hope attendees will learn about you at the event?
Dialogic has long heritage of inspiring leading edge application development. PowerMedia XMS, by example, is a software media server that enables developers to recognize the potential of WebRTC for multi-party, multimedia web-based communications. Stop by our table to learn about unique and exciting capabilities for bringing WebRTC applications to the next level.
Want to learn more about Dialogic? Then be sure to attend WebRTC Conference & Expo, Nov. 19-21 in Santa Clara, Calif., and visit the company at booth #409. Stay in touch with everything happening at WebRTC Conference & Expo. Follow us on Twitter.
Edited by
Rachel Ramsey
