TMCnet News
Oracle Provides Insight on WebRTC & the Customer Experience [Customer Inter@ction Solutions](Customer Inter@ction Solutions Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) WebRTC has garnered a lot of attention recently as a potential unified communications game changer. Not only does this technology allow for real-time voice and video interactions from a web browser, and without requiring special client software, but it opens the door for more, and more interesting, application development. Oracle Communications in September introduced the WebRTC Session Controller, which enables communications service providers and enterprises to offer WebRTC services - from virtually any device, across virtually any network - with carrier-grade reliability and security. CUSTOMER recendy spoke to Chris King, senior director or product marketing at Oracle Communications, about WebRTC. Why is WebRTC important? King: WebRTC is the next generation of real-time communications. Click-to-call and other RTC technologies will be built in to the Internet directly, and won't require any plug-ins or software downloads. As customers begin to embrace the technology, it will become the new standard for communication. Companies that can get behind the technology now and help make it stable and reliable for enterprise use will be ahead of the curve. How will WebRTC impact customer service? King: WebRTC technology can help move customer service sessions to an all IP-based model - with the ability to use video and/ or voice communications in browsers. With customer service applications, WebRTC can allow consumers to connect with agents from the web or via mobile applications and/or switch between session types seamlessly. This enables smoother communications between the agent and the customer - providing customers the support they are looking for without having to download chat software, look up a phone number, or open up an e-mail client. How will it impact the developer community? King: WebRTC is an open API, and as such will be something developers can easily integrate into future applications. How does/will WebRTC tie in with Java? King: WebRTC provides its real-time communications capabilities via simple JavaScript APIs, so there is the obvious tie-in with Java. The Oracle Communications WebRTC Session Controller specifically ties into Java in a few ways. One of the components of the product includes a Signaling Engine - this component supports the interworking between JavaScriptbased web clients using signaling over WebSockets and SIP signaling into the core network. The product also has features designed to ensure interoperability for web-to-web and web-tonetwork communications. The Java-based Client SDK speeds development with an extensible JavaScript-based environment, providing automatic browser mediation, client authentication, session management, and connection control. What needs to happen to enable WebRTC to reach critical mass? King: WebRTC needs to expand beyond just support for Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox into other browsers. Further, the major players in the UC market will need to support the new standard. When do you expect that to happen? King: WebRTC will continue to gain momentum, particularly as new applications and services are developed, leveraging this technology. What can you tell us about WebRTC that we may not know? King: While WebRTC is an emerging communications standard built on the idea of seamless, browser-to-browser connectivity, it's going to take investments in back-end infrastructure before WebRTC-enabled endpoints can contribute to the diverse public and enterprise communications infrastructure and truly become the new communications standard. If there's just one thing businesses should know about WebRTC, what is that one thing? King: WebRTC is still very much in the initial stages of development, but it can provide a competitive advantage for businesses that adopt it early. Business should examine how they can securely and reliably integrate WebRTC functionality into their networks to stay ahead of the game. (c) 2014 Technology Marketing Corporation |