WebRTC, or Web-based real-time communications, has the potential to disrupt the way a lot of industries, companies and applications run today. There are a lot of challenges in the way, however, as factors like standards development, browser support and mobile integration play a part in mainstream adoption.
Recently we caught up with Iago Soto, CMO at Quobis, a company focused on developing products and consulting services based on open standards in emerging unified communications technologies, to discuss the development of WebRTC, how the company is adapting to this technology and what some of the top trends are in the industry today.
The Growth of WebRTC
The thing about WebRTC is that it’s not a completely new technology – real-time communications over the Internet have been growing over time through different services and applications. This is just the next step. But some look at WebRTC as just hype, and some look at WebRTC as a truly disruptive, game-changing technology. So which is it? Will it change?
“If there are around ten million Web developers worldwide and only a couple thousand are familiar with WebRTC, we can say that we are in the hype phase,” said Soto. “This year is the time for trials and proof of concepts, to show the marketing guys the benefits of including RTC services in the Web. We foresee that the next year – 2014 -- is the one that can show if WebRTC is going to be a real opportunity in terms of business.”
WebRTC is only really familiar right now to innovation managers of service providers, Soto says, so it needs an effort in terms of evangelization. During the last few months, network equipment vendors and WebRTC application developers have contacted marketing and network engineering teams in order to explain the potential of this technology.
For instance, Quobis published a whitepaper, “WebRTC in Telcos: Is there a real business opportunity?” that helps to identify if WebRTC makes sense to a service provider. Though some may see the potential of WebRTC, they might be hesitant when they see the lack of support or development from Apple or Microsoft so far. Soto explains this isn’t a real problem, because you can have internal users adopt a WebRTC-enabled Web browser. As far as external users go, Soto explains that Quobis has the capacity to hide WebRTC applications in browsers like Internet Explorer or Safari so users won’t have a bad experience trying to connect or use one.
There are other companies that expand the access of their WebRTC applications. For example, the PubNub Real-Time Network is focused on integrating all types of real-time systems together in an easy-to-use way for developers. WebRTC, Websockets, SPDY, RCS and other standards all need a way to integrate, regardless of the adoption of WebRTC across other platforms like Apple and Microsoft.
Quobis and WebRTC
“WebRTC is part of the core business of our company,” Soto said. Quobis started seven years ago as a system integrator working with manufacturers of session border controllers and network equipment vendors. Today, it continues to work with these companies but as an independent software vendor (ISV) for WebRTC, helping vendors deploy WebRTC services in service providers and enterprises.
Its approach to WebRTC technology started with IdentityCall, a desktop-based (Java) solution that it released two years ago that makes it possible to be sure of caller identity using a two-factor authentication scheme. After receiving feedback from existing customers willing to avoid the installation of a thick application into their computers, Quobis started looking at WebRTC as a solution to migrate its IdentityCall softphone. After that, it realized that there was a real opportunity for WebRTC endpoints and applications, especially those where interconnection with legacy VoIP infrastructure is demanded.
“So, WebRTC is the technology that is driving our innovation,” Soto said. “Our strategy is centered around the development of rich endpoints, so we had to talk with all the different infrastructure vendors who are planning to release WebRTC-ready solutions. We have been working in interoperability tests with some of them and, as a result, you can see how these vendors recommend our endpoints for the projects they are working on. We have the capability to abstract the signaling part and make our applications to work on top of any vendor.”
Quobis is working in several PoCs, trials and demos with different Tier 1 telcos, and BYOD is the preferred case of use to test the possibilities of the technology. Service provider that work with enterprises and SMBs are looking for a solution that can address this common new demand of bringing different devices, data and operating systems into a corporate network, and WebRTC can be the tool for that.
“We have been dealing with different implementations for corporate clients of services providers. Half of them were related with mobility and multi-device environments (using WebRTC corporate clients) and the other half with customer attention and contact centers (using WebRTC click-to-call solutions). The advantages of WebRTC (easy adoption, multi-platform, zero-installation, etc) make both possible,” Soto explained.
In terrms of Quobis’ marketing strategy, it focuses on industry events, as it’s the best way to meet potential clients and be in contact with industry leaders, according to Soto. In a world of social media and networking tools, there’s still nothing like an event where industry players leave their headquarters to meet, discuss and learn from others, he said. Quobis’ Chief Strategy Officer, Victor Pascual, will be participating in two panels: “IMS Value in a World of WebRTC & Mobile” with Mojo Lingo, Alcatel-Lucent, RingPlus and Nokia Solutions and Networks, and “Realistic Future Service Provider Opportunities” with Twelephone and Ingate Systems.
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Edited by
Cassandra Tucker
