In today’s day and age of real-time communications and demands, access is key. Think about when you’re visiting a website that takes longer than just a few seconds to load – for me, I’ll usually close out and try another. Those seconds are critical for businesses today trying to connect with customers online. Fortunately, WebRTC eliminates barriers like downloads and plugins, enabling faster access to online real-time communications.
We recently caught up with Elhum Vahdat, executive vice president of APEX Voice Communications, a provider of service delivery platforms and multi-service application servers for interactive voice, video, text, and USSD enhanced services, to discuss the growth of WebRTC and what real-time access means for the future of business communications.
First and foremost is deciding whether WebRTC is just hype, or if it’s something we will see grow into applications and industries in the future. Vahdat says we are still in the hype phase but are slowly moving into reality.
“WebRTC is not evolutionary technology, but it is revolutionary, and so it takes time as the so called tire-kickers feel comfortable that this is a worth-while technology to take for a ride and eventually rely on,” Vahdat said.
There are others that believe WebRTC is a revolutionary technology as well. The question is if there will eventually be a day where every device and browser supports WebRTC. Vahdat says it’s an interesting question to ponder, especially as tech giants Microsoft, Apple and Google are still on different pages in terms of standards development.
“It’s a tough question to answer as WebRTC’s hype continues to grow louder, but will (or can) there be a consensus?” he asks.
Vahdat believes the lack of commitment from Apple and Microsoft to deliver WebRTC in their products has a big impact on every company’s plans looking to incorporate WebRTC into their products.
“These two industry giants can directly affect the success (or failure) of WebRTC, as a lot of people strongly argue that Apple’s (more notably Steve Jobs’) refusal to use Flash had a direct effect on Adobe’s decision to stop developing it,” he said.
In the meantime, there are companies that believe in WebRTC and don’t need to wait around for Apple and Microsoft to catch up in order to deliver on its promises. PubNub, for example, is a company that sets out to shield customers from the ever-changing world of protocol evolution by developing a cross-platform solution. Companies are continually finding ways to implement WebRTC for a variety of use cases, including contact center applications, technical support services and gaming.
“WebRTC is a technology that can be broadly applied across the enterprise and its various departments,” he explained. “In fact, I don’t believe we have really scratched the surface when it comes to the types of services that can take advantage of WebRTC, so it is a bit too early to discuss specific implementation strategies.”
Although many companies are involved with the development of WebRTC, awareness is still growing. Vahdat says APEX has to explain what WebRTC is to potential customers often, but “events like WebRTC Expo and websites like WebRTC World help get the word out. It is still a nascent technology outside our own telecom community, so there is still a lot of pioneering work that has to be done.”
APEX Voice Communications will be exhibiting its various WebRTC-based solutions at the upcoming WebRTC Conference & Expo, happening Nov. 19-21 in Santa Clara, California. Vahdat looks forward to demonstrating how service providers can integrate APEX’s solutions into their network for fast returns, and that the company’s service delivery platforms and application servers are designed to take immediate advantage of new technologies as they are developed.
“As we celebrate our 25th [anniversary] in 2014, we want attendees to know that having over 15,000 installations across 100 countries, including over 300 service providers, is a testament to the stability and reliability of our leading-edge products and unwavering commitment to customer service,” he said.
Want to learn more about APEX Voice Communications? Then be sure to attend WebRTC Conference & Expo, Nov. 19-21 in Santa Clara, Calif., and visit the silver sponsor at booth #208. Stay in touch with everything happening at WebRTC Conference & Expo. Follow us on Twitter.
Edited by
Blaise McNamee
