Martin Steinmann and Christina Inge's talk on WebRTC and its transformation of the communications industry, including mobile apps, mobile customer service, and enterprise applications
2. 2
> Web Real-Time Communications
> New standard that allows browser
to be endpoint for communications
> ―Allows developers to add real-
time voice calls, video chats and
file sharing to their web apps
without the need for plug-ins.‖ –
TechCrunch
> Javascript, open sourced by
Google
WebRTC
What it is, exactly
4. 4
> Threat to local telcomms
> Microsoft has made attempts
to stall, or drive it in a new
direction
> Cisco supports it
> Mozilla is betting on it
> Growing industry consortium
> Phone manufacturers?
The Controversy
Not everyone is happy with WebRTC
5. 5
> A softphone in a browser
> Complexity reduction
> Next generation ‗phone‘ network
> Real-time everywhere
> $2 trillion industry re-invented
> Skype, but better, based on standards
The Vision of WebRTC
Approaching reality at Web speed
6. 6
Features
• Codecs
• Encryption
• NAT
traversal
• Bandwidth
mgmt
Signaling
• SIP
• XMPP
• Proprietary
How Does It Work?
Simple, its (almost) all in the browser 6
WebSockets
WebSockets
7. 7 Browser Support
Heading towards adoption
Chrome
• Desktop: Full support
• Mobile: Coming soon
Firefox / Firefox Mobile
• Desktop: Full support and interop with
Chrome
• Mobile: Announced (Android)
Safari
• Apple focused on Face Time walled garden
and H.264
• Third party plugin: e.g. webrtc4all
• iOS is closed and prevents third party
browsers from accessing certain functions
Opera
• Mobile: Available (Android)
IE
• Via ChromeFrame plugin
• Microsoft chose a proprietary path
9. 9
> Voice
• Opus (royalty free, open
source)
> Video
• Google and Mozilla and W3C
favor VP8 (patent free and
open source)
• Microsoft, Cisco, Apple favor
H.264 (requires a license)
> Microsoft
• Remember RTAudio and
RTVideo?
Ongoing Fight over Codecs and Patents
WebRTC attempts to set a new standard for open source and royalty free codecs
10. 10
> Websites become a key
customer service function
• Yes, a function
> Scores, on large sites, hundreds
of endpoints where a call can—
and will—originate
> Forget click-to-chat on sites, the
website is the customer service,
and sometimes sales, hub
Changing What Web sites Can Do
A communications end-point
11. 11
> WebRTC will be integrated the
way social needs to be now
> Part of the evolution to website as
applications
> Once it‘s accepted, will need to
plan for WebRTC as a key part of
any serious enterprise or
consumer-facing website
Changing Websites’ Function
Sites Become More Interactive In A Way Social Leads
12. 12
> Email, such as Outlook,
Zimbra
> CRM, such as Salesforce
> Not just voice/video, but
screen-sharing, right in the
app
> Communications-enablement
becomes the standard for web
apps, especially at work
Communications-Enabling Web Apps
Adding Voice, Video, Screen Share, and Chat capabilities
13. 13
Unite Zimbra first version
• Initiate calls (click-to-call)
• Presence integration
• Unified messaging / call history
• Conference management
• Corporate address book
• Calendar free / busy
Unite Zimbra second version
• Voice / video in the browser
• Screen sharing from the Zimbra UI
• Integrated chat / group chat
VMware Zimbra Communications Enabled
WebRTC brings voice / video / screen sharing right into the Zimbra UI