Page 5 - Avaya Extra Q2 2015

2nd Quarter 2015
Telecom Reseller: Extra Report on Avaya 5

WebRTC: thing is really going to take of. So, what is the status
of those?
What It Is, and
From what I can tell, most companies are still
kicking the tires — albeit kicking them pretty
hard. While I have experienced a few full-blown
Why It’s
WebRTC-enabled webpages, they are more proof-
of-concept than product. hey are out there to play
with, but the mass exposure isn’t quite there.
Coming to a
Case in point: I recently read a survey of 105
entrepreneurs, users, and vendors in the WebRTC
ecosystem; 68 percent felt that WebRTC would not Browser Near
emerge from the chasm in 2014.
However, another way to look at the data is that You Soon
more than 68 percent of the respondents indicated that 2014 will NOT be the breakthrough year for
WebRTC–that it would come later or not at all. his
indicates that while there is general positive outlook
on WebRTC, there is clarity that much needs to
happen.
hat’s not to say that there won’t be quite a few PROKOP
live implementations in as little as six months to a
by Andrew Prokop, Avaya
PROKOP continues on page 15 ››
I
have been working in the ield of
communications for a long time, and have
witnessed many signiicant changes over
the years. Some ideas, like IP telephony, have
revolutionized the industry. Others fell lat on their
face.
WebRTC (Web Real-Time Communication) is
one of those ideas that falls into the revolutionary
camp. While still in its infancy, I predict that within
a very short period of time, WebRTC applications will become a daily part of how we communicate.

What exactly is WebRTC?
WebRTC is a technology that allows web browsers
to send and receive real-time media. For instance,
WebRTC allows you to go to a web page and use
that web page to make an audio or video call. he
media is sent directly and securely from your device
to the recipient’s device.
If you’ve been involved in telecommunications
for a while, you might be saying, “I thought we
can already do that.” he answer is “yes,” but to
make those calls, the web page requires that you
download an application or use a browser plug-in
like Flash.
here are several problems with those
approaches. Downloading applications can create
security problems. Also, that application might
work on Windows, but not on Macintosh, iOS, or Android.
he same goes for plug-ins. Flash works great
on my Windows PC and my iMac, but it’s not
supported on my iPhone or iPad.
With WebRTC, the technology is native to the
browser itself. here is nothing to download or
install.
WebRTC is concerned with three major tasks.
First, it needs to acquire audio and video
components on your device — for example, your
PC’s video camera, speakers, and microphone.
It then sends that data to the far end. his
requires WebRTC to know how to navigate
through irewalls and understand Network Address
Translation (NAT) issues.
Finally, while WebRTC developers have been
initially concerned with voice and video, the
technology is being designed to support all forms of
peer-to-peer data sharing.
Google has been leading the charge and
WebRTC has been embedded in current versions of
their Chrome Browser. It’s also used by Firefox and
Opera.
However, it’s still not available in Apple’s Safari
and while there have been rumblings that Microsot
might deliver a WebRTC version of Internet
Explorer, but I have yet to hear anything deinitive.
It should be noted that some companies are
making WebRTC plug-ins for Apple and Microsot
browsers. hat goes against the “nothing to
download or install” aspect of WebRTC, but if
you absolutely need to support Safari or Internet
Explorer, there isn’t another option at this point in
time.
WebRTC-capable browsers are the irst step, but
actual WebRTC applications are essential if this

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