Native video processing support in the browser was one of the key design goals and features of HTML5, the current web technology standardized almost 10 years ago. Native support for the video in the browser eliminated the need to download and install any of the plugins, such as the popular at that time Adobe Flash. Such native video processing didn’t stop at just an ability to natively play (stream) the video – it also extended to the interactive video, which gave birth to WebRTC technology.
WebRTC, standardized by IETF and W3C in January of 2021, after more than 10 years in development, enables interactive video communication (commonly referred to as Videoconferencing) between two or more users without the need to download any software application. Click the link and you can talk to and see another person(s). While simplistic on the surface, this ease of use hides a substantial level of complexity in the form of the standards-based technology now natively integrated into the browser.
Communications in modern enterprise, from the desk phone to PBX to the cloud call center are all based on the IETF standard called SIP. Envisioned to be lightweight and simple, and born out of the desire to displace the “complex” VoIP protocol called H.323, SIP protocol today comprise 300+ RFCs and used everywhere IP communications are used, from enterprise to mobile networks and beyond. SIP is fully integrated into the business workflow of the modern enterprise everywhere communications are required.
Considering the ease of use and simplicity of using the WebRTC over the same IP networks, it becomes advantageous and even necessary for the enterprise to be able to interconnect WebRTC and SIP solutions seamlessly. Such integration requires the ability to interconnect WebRTC and enterprise UC systems both from the point of view of signaling/control and the media flow.
Softil had been enabling the developers of IP communication products to build the UC solutions from clients to gateways, IVRs, servers, contact centers, and lots more delivering all of the required standards-based functionality for SIP, RTP/RTCP, Firewall and NAT Traversal and many other standards. To help developers integrate WebRTC into the enterprise communications fabric, Softil offers a product called WebRTC Interconnect Framework, which consists of SIP, A-RTP/SRTP, and ICE/STUN/TURN toolkits with the addition of WebRTC transport mechanisms such as WebSocket and DTLS/multiplexing. To learn more, please visit Softil WebRTC Interconnect Solution page.
If you are looking to integrate WebRTC communications into your UC-powered enterprise communications and workflow, be sure to download the Softil WebRTC Interconnect Framework brochure here and find all the necessary information about the capabilities of the WebRTC Interconnect Framework. You might also be interested in Softil’s white paper, Extending the Reach of Unified Communications with WebRTC, as well as Softil WebRTC and UC webinar.
