Talking WebRTC with Priologic's Doug Pelton

Feature Story

Talking WebRTC with Priologic's Doug Pelton

By Paula Bernier, Executive Editor, TMC  |  June 17, 2014

INTERNET TELEPHONY recently spoke to Priologic Software Inc. CEO Doug Pelton about the state of WebRTC and how this important new technology is impacting its business.

           

How is WebRTC integrated into your business today?

Priologic Software has developed three products using WebRTC. The EasyRTC Open Source (News - Alert) framework; Tawk.com, a frictionless WebRTC-based conference/collaboration service; and PrioPhone, a WebRTC-enabled softphone that works against the Oracle WebRTC Session Controller. Our team has produced some great software, and it is selling.

Does WebRTC open a new market opportunity for your business/product line?

Yes. For WebRTC to be useful there are a bunch of missing pieces that are needed.

Each of those missing pieces is a huge opportunity. We think WebRTC will change the world a lot over the next 5 years.

How does the lack of support of Apple (News - Alert)'s Safari and Microsoft's Internet Explorer impact your implementation?

Safari doesn’t matter much, as Chrome will work on Mac OSX. We are working on an IE plug-in that will enable WebRTC, or at least our EasyRTC Javascript API. We hope to release it for developers soon.

Has the data channel in WebRTC opened up new opportunities in the enterprise?

Yes. We use the data channel to support file sharing and instant messaging. We also have some experimental WebRTC-based CDN in our lab. And we’re keen to use the data channel to control machines sometime soon. We think data channel has great potential.

What verticals are the early adopters for WebRTC?

I think finance, contact centers, health care and education are all good sectors to explore. There is lots of opportunity to embrace verticals now that the underpinnings of WebRTC are strong.

Where are we on the WebRTC adoption curve?

Last year corporations were talking about doing proof-of-concept jobs. This year they are doing proof-of-concept jobs.

Do you support the VP8 or H.264 codec?

We like both.  We’ll be trying to support both codecs where possible.

In theory, HTML5 and WebRTC can eliminate native apps. Do you have plans for native mobile application with WebRTC or the Google (News - Alert) Media Engine?

We think web browsers are too restrictive for some applications. We have a working EasyRTC ActiveX control, and we’ll likely have something for native MacOSX apps soon.

How often do you have to explain what WebRTC is to your potential customers?

Less and less. They’ve heard of it and may just need a bit more technical information this year.

How does WebRTC Conference & Expo help the WebRTC community?

It is invaluable. We’ve really gotten to know the players in the industry by attending these conferences. It is still a very intimate conference. You can talk to almost everyone.

What do you expect to be the hot topics at the event?

Why haven’t Apple and Microsoft stepped up to do WebRTC yet? Should we build native apps, and when will they be best used? How do we do a mobile application for iOS or Android (News - Alert) that uses WebRTC? What cool new data channel use cases are there?

What will Priologic be doing at the WebRTC Conference & Expo in Atlanta?

We’ll be showing lots of native mobile apps, and hopefully showing our new IE plugin.  We’ll be showing new features on Tawk.com and our PrioPhone products. We’ll be talking about our EasyRTC open source platform. We’ll have our entire WebRTC engineering team there. I think we’re speaking in three sessions and putting on our third EasyRTC Pizza, Wings and Beer learning event.

Why did you decide to attend the WebRTC Conference & Expo?

We have made a huge investment in WebRTC tooling, and we feel this is the premier show in the space. We’ve attended three shows so far and have won three awards. We’re trying for four.

What do you hope attendees will learn about Priologic at the event?

Attendees who are developers, enterprises or service providers such as telcos or cable companies should consider leveraging our open source EasyRTC or our other licensed WebRTC products in their projects. We can help them get them to market faster and reduce many of the risks in their projects. We are one of the few vendors that provide a full-stack solution that can be housed in the cloud or on premises.




Edited by Maurice Nagle

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