WebRTC is a next-generation HTML5 technology that enables voice and video calls to be made directly through an Internet browser. For more than two years, it’s been the heart of debate and discussion revolving around the future of communications, especially online, but the trend that has been happening recently is this conversation has shifted from more hypothetical to realistic development, planning and product execution.
Last week at Enterprise Connect I caught up with Rick McFarland, CEO of Voice4Net, to discuss the company’s new WebRTC solution. Voice4Net is taking its history in telephony and merging it with modern-day communications, bringing WebRTC into the mix with a real-time communications framework. It’s delivering a new ecosystem and business apps, or widgets, so users can design their own contact center on their desktop in just a few minutes.
McFarland gave a presentation at the event on WebRTC in the contact center, which falls in line perfectly with its new WebRTC-based contact center solutions. Some reasons real-time communications benefits contact center users is because of rich user experiences and Web interfaces, cost-effectiveness, speed-to-market and they don’t have to download anything, including proprietary software.
The focus, he said, has been on collaboration and peer-to-peer for Voice4Net and WebRTC. Most companies are not interested in ripping and replacing existing architecture. They want new stuff that can work with the old stuff, McFarland said. Voice4Net brings that integration expertise – especially its in-depth experience with companies like Mitel and Avaya, which are some platforms Voice4Net’s solutions run on.
He also explained Voice4Net’s expertise in a hybrid space, both telecom and database. A lot of companies don’t use off-the-shelf products like Salesforce, and Voice4Net enables them to save money, operate with high-speed and still keep their unique selling advantage. “Because we can help each customer with their unique selling proposition, that gives us a unique selling proposition,” he said.
WebRTC is mainstream today … as a discussion, McFarland said. There is hesitation for deployment and acceptance because companies don’t know how it fits, and many WebRTC products are voice and collaboration – stuff that already exists. That’s why he says Voice4Net is seeing such positive response, especially from the channel; it’s something they can sell that the customer hasn’t already seen a thousand times.
We also caught up with McFarland in February at ITEXPO Miami. Check out our discussion below.
Edited by
Rory J. Thompson
