WebRTC Development Services: Why Your Business Needs? 5 Questions to Ask

The basic concept of WebRTC makes it comparable to older RTC methods, namely Flash and Java video. But the technology distinguishes itself from the competition in several notable ways. Unlike a service such as Skype, for example, WebRTC doesn’t require a plug-in or installation of any application.

Although still a relatively new technology, WebRTC (Web Real-Time Communication), an open-source project that allows for peer-to-peer (P2P) video and audio communication within Web browsers, is something experts believe could prove revolutionary for businesses.

RTCWeb.in is a specialized WebRTC Development Services provider, focuses on building custom webrtc solutions and applications for the clients resulting in high-performance real-time webrtc applications.

WebRTC Development Services:

• Full-fledged WebRTC App Development Solutions-

1. Video/ Voice Chat App Development

2. File sharing applications

3. Screen Sharing Applications

• Industry-Based WebRTC App Development-

1. Telehealth App Development Services
2. Ed-Tech WebRTC Development Solutions
3. Finance & Banking App Development
4. Recruitment & HR WebRTC Solutions

• Prototyping and MVP-

1. Requirement Gathering
2. Flowchart/Wireframe Creation
3. Designing Prototype Screens
4. Linking Prototype Screens

WebRTC uses some of the most advanced capabilities available today — such as Opus, a new audio compression technology — that aren’t commonly found in other VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) implementations. Another big advantage is that WebRTC is free.

“WebRTC is the way forward, if you ask me,” Levent-Levi says. “It’s a definite game-changer in communications.”

With the help of our experts, we came up with five questions to consider when deciding whether it’s the right choice for your business.

1. Is your company primarily consumer-facing?

The first consideration to weigh is how much your business stands to benefit from real-time communication with customers or clients.

For example, imagine a customer has a question about a product or service they bought from your company. Rather than live chat, which only allows for the real-time exchange of text messages, WebRTC would allow the customer to click a button that instantly connects them via audio or video to a representative that can help them, directly within the same browser they used to access your site.

Experts say WebRTC is proving especially helpful for higher-end purchases, where a customer might want face-to-face communication with a customer service representative before spending a significant amount of money.

With the push of a button, the consumer is connected with an Amazon Tech advisor they can actually see and hear, who can then walk the customer through their problem or question.

While it’s not publicly known whether Kindle Fire actually uses WebRTC, whatever technology Amazon is using essentially achieves the same goals.

“WebRTC certainly offers a lot of potential to the world of video collaboration,” explains Nick Hawkins, senior director of advanced technology at Polycom, which provides video collaboration services. “The aim is to democratize video connectivity and ensure that anyone with a Web browser and an Internet connection is able to connect and collaborate with audio and video.”

In addition to retail-focused organizations such as Amazon, Hawkins says financial services companies stand to benefit immensely from WebRTC by creating video-enabled contact centers that allow agents to remotely assist clients.

The technology could allow a banker to meet face-to-face with a client and review complicated financial documents and investments together without having to upload files online or send them via email.

2. Do you frequently use video and/or conference calls?

If your company has little interest in or use for video and/or conference calls, WebRTC likely isn’t worth your time. But if this type of communication is an integral part of your daily operations, your business may find this technology particularly helpful for doing the following:

➔ Conducting interviews with job candidates. Since WebRTC is browser-based, it’s a reliable, secure way to conduct interviews with potential employees located around the globe. Satterfield says he uses WebRTC to conduct up to 10 interviews per day with job candidates who live everywhere from South America to London.

As such, Satterfield says human resource professionals and recruiters are perhaps the biggest current users of WebRTC. “For companies that hire the best and the brightest from around the world, [WebRTC] enables them to access the best and brightest,” he explains.

➔ Bringing staff together for training and conferences. For internal conferences and training, WebRTC provides a simplified, in-browser option that allows multiple remote parties to meet in one easily accessible place online.

Acano uses WebRTC to power coSpace, its virtual meeting room service. With the help of WebRTC, people can join a coSpace meeting room on virtually any device with the click of a single Web browser link.

“If you have virtual conferences, you can set them up in any way you want,” Satterfield explains. “If, for instance, research and development is in one place, your marketing team is somewhere else and your salespeople are scattered all over the place, [WebRTC] allows you to bring them all together at a single point in time to collaborate and make decisions.”

➔ Reducing travel costs and increase productivity. While WebRTC could potentially lead to cost savings by reducing the need for hardware and audio video (AV) and/or IT specialists, Satterfield says the majority of WebRTC-associated cost savings come from employees not having to travel for interviews, trainings and conferences.

“If I can use WebRTC to talk with six to eight people in a day, my productivity increase is intangible compared to talking with two to three people a day [in person],” Satterfield says.

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3. Do you experience technical issues with conference/video calls?

It’s a common headache for businesses of all sizes: what should be a simple video call or conference call turns into a disaster because one of the parties needs to download a plug-in or update Java or Flash. One of the greatest strengths of WebRTC is that clear communication is only a browser click away.

“Too many meetings take 20 minutes to set up,” Satterfield says. “It’s always a disaster — someone has a firewall, or there’s something else to prevent you to connect. That shouldn’t have to be the case.”

However, while WebRTC is largely seen as a superior alternative to Java or Flash video, it’s important to note that it’s not foolproof. Even though WebRTC is supported within a Web browser, there are firewall connectivity issues that can arise, Hawkins says.

According to Levent-Levi, these firewall issues, which don’t happen often, are the same as those that occur in other VoIP protocols. They originate from the need to punch a hole through a firewall to send media toward a VoIP client (WebRTC included), and can be solved in different ways depending on the architecture and type of firewalls.

4. What Web browsers do you use?

With all the possibilities WebRTC offers, it’s important to note its biggest current drawback: it doesn’t work on Internet Explorer or Safari browsers.

If your business computers or other devices run on either of those browsers, you’re out of luck when it comes to using WebRTC. Even if your company uses Chrome or Firefox browsers, keep in mind that customers who try to access your website using Internet Explorer or Safari will be out of luck.

In response to the browser limitations, Satterfield says virtual meeting services that utilize WebRTC, such as Acano’s coSpace, have essentially “played complicated tricks with [Internet Explorer and Safari]” that allows their service to work on all major browsers.

Meanwhile, Polycom, which also offers video and voice conferencing for virtual meeting rooms, uses a plug-in that allows all major browsers to access its service.

“We’re excited about the potential that WebRTC’s plug-in-free approach can bring, but we’re also mindful of ensuring a good experience for those who can’t support the relevant protocols natively,” Hawkins explains. “Until all browsers can support WebRTC, we believe a plug-in alternative will still be required.”

5. What level of development/IT support does your company have?

Another drawback of WebRTC is that the average business owner can’t simply plug it into their website and instantly have P2P communication.

WebRTC is HTML based, which means it targets Web developers. If your business has internal IT staff with some technical development skills, they can likely use the WebRTC code to create and maintain an in-browser video and audio calling button on your website that works on Chrome and Firefox. Our experts say a company’s typical IT staff would likely find it too difficult to use WebRTC to build an application that works on all browsers.

If you don’t have an IT staff or Web developers on your team, then you’ll probably need to pay for a third-party service that is built on WebRTC, such as TokBox, Acano’s coSpace or Polycom. While this means WebRTC is no longer free — a main selling point of the technology — as we mentioned, most of these third party options work on all major browsers, which negates the technology’s biggest current limitation.

“If you think about it, almost every business today has a website, and yet most business people aren’t capable of building it themselves,” says TokBox CEO Scott Lomond. “Everybody outsources that sort of thing to someone who can do it more quickly and creatively so the owners can focus on running their business. WebRTC is really no different.”

A Note on WebRTC Security

Since WebRTC is an open-source application, some industry experts have expressed concern over its security. However, Levent-Levi argues that WebRTC is the most secure available VoIP option. WebRTC mandates the use of Secure Real-time Transport Protocol (SRTP), which means all media streams must be encrypted to run in any browser.

Browsers (and by extension, WebRTC) are updated automatically to protect against security risks — something that happens more frequently than many other VoIP options are updated.

The Takeaway

When deciding whether WebRTC is the right fit for your business, you should consider whether having browser-to-browser communication would enhance your business model and improve workflow.

While there are a number of current and possible future uses, our experts say that WebRTC is currently most commonly used for internal purposes, such as training and recruitment. If recruiting candidates or training or conferencing with employees in multiple, disparate locations is a big part of your business, WebRTC is definitely worth considering.

However, WebRTC is still a new, emerging technology, and thus should be viewed as such. As Hawkins points out, there are agreements in place over many aspects of how WebRTC is defined and what capabilities it offers, but there are still minor debates over specifics, such as mandatory versus optional video compression protocols. In other words, there are still plenty of issues to work out.