More and more tools are coming into play that allow users to put video communications to work right from the midst of an app, as we've heard would soon be possible since the earliest days of Web-based real time communications (WebRTC). One of the newest such entrants in the race to bring video communications to our favorite apps and Web-based tools is Agora.io, introduced just recently and now in general availability.
Agora Video is a cloud-based system, which offers access to a multi-party video conferencing system that can be used on mobile devices and more standard Web-based platforms like laptops and desktops. Backed up by the Agora.io global network—over 70 data centers strong—the system can provide real-time performance monitoring to ensure that the overall user experience is strong, and worth carrying out. Dynamic routing functions enable the signal to stay strong, even in cases where the network is slow, damaged, or otherwise suboptimal.
Already, some tools are putting Agora Video to work; Xiaomi's Mi Video Call, recently introduced at the Mobile World Congress event, allows Xiaomi users access to click-to-call video chat. HelloTalk, a service boasting over 2.7 million users worldwide, turns to Agora Video for both its iOS and Android mobile apps to offer one-click access to help with learning other languages. That kind of help can be extremely valuable for those just getting started.
Agora's CEO, Tony Zhao, offered comment: “As more organizations and application developers embed video and voice directly into their workflows, they quickly discover the quality and reliability challenges of simply relying on the Internet for real-time communications. Agora Video takes the headache out of deploying global and mobile communications by optimizing quality of experience from the device through the ‘mobile last mile’ and across the Internet backbone.”
We've already seen the depth of possibility from the users who are already putting Agora Video to use in current products, and these likely won't be the last such use cases we see. The use of click-to-call technology is becoming increasingly prevalent in retail apps and similar fronts, and with tools like Agora Video, that connection will only be easier to make. A mobile workforce will demand such tools, especially with high-quality, reliable video and audio presentations, and this will be just the beginning. Education apps—as was the case with HelloTalk—will see major benefit here as well, as a one-click connection to a more qualified expert in the field will prove an easy way to answer questions and get further insight.
All of these use cases require a powerful connection medium, preferably one that doesn't put too high a demand on available bandwidth. Agora Video's systems should go a long way toward meeting that need, and as more Web and mobile apps put it to work, that should be a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Edited by
Stefania Viscusi
