Vee24 Gives Mobile Browsers a New Voice, with Video

By Steve Anderson, Contributing TMCnet Writer

Vee24 was already well-known among several major brand names for its ability to offer live video assistance services—the company already offered its product line up to major names like Land Rover, Mattress Firm and Fox Sports—but it recently announced that it was stepping up its offerings by bringing a combination of live voice and video service to iOS browsers, meaning that that brand of live video assistance can be had on one of the largest mobile device vendors around.

This was actually a pretty significant step, as Apple (News - Alert)'s iOS doesn't really offer support for major video carriers like Flash or even Web-based real time communications (WebRTC). Users who want access to those services need to install a separate app, usually FaceTime or Skype (News - Alert). But Vee24 pulled something of an end run around that particular issue, offering up a video carrier that would allow for live voice and video to be inserted into any mobile browser, regardless of its official stance on WebRTC. With such a move in place, that means all users, regardless of platform, can get access to that kind of high-end customer experience, the same kind that could be had from a desktop browser, but on a mobile device instead. Brands can offer the same experience across devices—generally welcome for users—and, what's also welcome for users is often by extension welcome for brands who want to provide a great experience that will keep users coming back for more.

Mattress Firm's director of ecommerce, Dan Dietz, offered up some comment on how Vee24's use was proving welcome, saying “Vee24 consistently delivers the most advanced live video assistance capabilities and this powerful new functionality is no exception. We look forward to expanding onto mobile to create an omni-channel live video help experience that gives our customers even more ways to engage with us.”

This isn't the only development that Vee24 has had in the field, of course; it's also well known for its VeeStudio software development kit (SDK) that allows companies to develop the means to provide customers with rapid access to the company, essentially allowing for the creation of a tool similar to Amazon's Mayday button, a tool widely put to use today.

It was worth wondering, of course, just how long developers were going to allow Apple to sit on the sidelines in the WebRTC struggle. With Microsoft (News - Alert) seemingly giving in and allowing at least some WebRTC functionality to go through, and most of the other browsers from Chrome to Firefox and beyond having already settled on allowing WebRTC, it was a reasonable bet that no one was going to sit idly by and let Apple, with its massive user base, continue to play neutral party. There were too many loyal Apple users on hand comprising too large a market to let it sit idle, and businesses certainly wanted to deliver the kind of customer experience that WebRTC could deliver. So developments like Vee24's were likely something of an inevitability from the first.

It will be interesting to see just where this goes; will Apple users take to WebRTC? Or will same shun WebRTC in favor of more proprietary systems like FaceTime (News - Alert)? Either way could take place, and it will certainly be a development worth watching when it finally hits ground.

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