Over the weekend Tsahi Levent-Levi, penned a contributed article over on Venture Beat about WebRTC which I enjoyed reading.
Tsahi, has been deep diving into WebRTC as long as anyone, and perhaps along with Dean Bubley, is one of the better informed blogalysts on the subject, only likely surpassed by long time pal, Counterpath and Hookflash founder, Erik Lagerway when it comes to being as well informed on the technical and aware of the possible. That's why it's always fun to read Tsahi's collection of facts to stay more up to date on things that one may have missed. The article is a very good read so take a few moments and check it out.
In the roundup recap of why it's time to pay attention to WebRTC Tsahi draws out the fact that most of the modern browsers, with the absence of Apple's Safari, have WebRTC included now. This includes Microsoft new browser candidate, Edge. That's all nice, but for me, it's always been having WebRTC embedded in apps and inside new services that mattered most, as the browser is really just the commodity for transport, but it's what WebRTC connects and connects to that's so important.
That's a point that Tsahi makes when he discusses the data channel, something client Temasys' team has been saying for a few years as well and why pal Andy Voss' Sansay has been so busy the past few years making sure their SBC's are WebRTC capable.
Take for example two new offerings Tsahi didn't mention that are now breaking ground that Tsahi didn't mention. Ottspott and Yodel. These apps and services are living where things are going. Inside the Bot and Messaging platforms like Slack and Hipchat that are the future. They both start away from the browsers which is where things are really happening, and where more daily workers are living. Workforces are getting out of being trapped in email and voice mail hell, and to give credit to Skype of old, the workforce of today is yearning for more personal interactivity without the annoyance of being bothered when they can't talk.
With the decline of Skype, post acquisition by Microsoft, as the place everyone has hung out to stay in touch, teams, especially distributed teams and organizations that work across timezone are already turning to platforms like Slack and HipChat. (I would contend that Basecamp, a platform I love is missing the boat with the lack of Real Time Comms beyond their Campfire platform that is in need of an overhaul.)
Slack already has built in calling, and with their API's are enabling cagey development teams to build in even more sophisticated voice tools, like Ottspott and Yodel. Both use Slack to set up or "receive" a call, then spawn a web browser page and use WebRTC to power the conversation. This blend of old and new thinking makes these two companies Voice 3.0 companies.
And, Slack's voice beta has only gone from good to better as you try it and use it. Now that its been rolled out to their iOS and Android apps, it really is becoming a way to stay in touch and quickly shift from text to voice. For those in well built out LTE areas, or those who live on Wi-Fi, you really don't need a voice plan if you mostly live in the app world with Slack and the voice, conferencing and video services that integrate with it.
But the world is changing right before our eyes and ears...and thanks to watchers like Tsahi, Dean and others, we're all able to stay better aware, informed and involved.
Comments