More than 2,500 developers and businesses rely on Singapore-based platform-as-a-service company Temasys to provide WebRTC-based solutions. The company says it is committed to being a key player in the expanding ecosystem surrounding real-time communications, apps and web-based services. That commitment is evident given the company’s participation in the upcoming Real Time Web Solutions event, which will take place Aug. 1 through 4 in New York City.
In preparing for and promoting this event, we recently spoke with Chip Wilcox, Temasys CMO, about why real-time communications and WebRTC are so important, expectations for adoption and what to consider in these implementations.
Do you see real-time communications capabilities in applications as a major differentiator in 2017?
Wilcox: Yes. As tools from the leading players in WebRTC and the real-time communications vendors proliferate, and as the standards bodies get closer to finalizing the specifications and releas[ing] the final standards, adoption and inclusion of real-time features in applications will be greater. Usage will increase, and end users will learn to use and rely on these new features along with the enhanced experiences they enable.
What are the values that real-time communications brings to applications?
Wilcox: WebRTC is one technology and a new standard that allows us to replace various parts of the telecom and video conferencing stack. What companies like Temasys are doing is making it much easier for any web or app developer to build real-time interaction features and functionality directly into applications. In fact, some people say we’re making possible what was never really possible before, because we allow this functionality to be delivered across different devices and platforms, operating systems, using a single underlying technology. It’s also not just about video or audio conferencing capabilities. There is a very strong data channel component which is not heavily utilized, today, but which allows for deeper integration and use of real-time data in parallel to the communications or collaboration activities that are going on.
What factors are critical in planning for a real-time web solution?
Wilcox: A major factor is understanding where adding real-time interactivity can add value to a given use case, and what kind of interactions you want to enable. This will help inform your choices about whether a given technology, or a given vendor’s technology, will support you both now and given whatever designs you may have for the future. Then you need to determine if you have the capability or the capacity to build and manage the solution yourself or if it makes sense to outsource some or all of the work. The decision about whether to build a solution from scratch, vs. buying or renting (i.e. using a platform-as-a-service solution) is also important.
Edited by
Alicia Young
