What is WebRTC?

First developed by Google in 2011, Web Real Time Communication (WebRTC) is one of the leading browser-based video streaming protocols in use today. Now supported by most major browsers, WebRTC enables fast, reliable, and real-time video and audio communications between hosts using nothing but a web browser.

The simplicity of WebRTC makes it highly accessible to a range of nontechnical users and extremely practical in a hybrid or remote enterprise setting, where speed and quality are essential to good video communication and maintaining high employee engagement.

This makes it simple and easy for developers to create new video and audio communications applications. Vbrick’s enterprise video platform uses WebRTC capabilities to support the creation of user-generated content, so individuals can capture video on their personal computer and other devices and easily share that data with their wider enterprise networks.

The use of video communication has grown exponentially in recent years, causing the number of browsers that are enabled with WebRTC to similarly increase. WebRTC usage exploded during the COVID-19 pandemic, as video communication became essential to the functioning of remote (and now hybrid) enterprises and video conferencing platforms were put into wider and more regular use.

In addition to capturing video content directly from the browser, WebRTC can help optimize video delivery over the network using a technology called data channels. These data channels allow peers viewing a live stream to share the video content with one another to reduce the amount of traffic coming into the network, thereby reducing cost and congestion and enabling a higher quality video experience.

WebRTC Advantages

The use of WebRTC offers developers, business users, and enterprises at large numerous advantages that help improve video experiences and promote better business outcomes.

These include:

• Facilitate video conferencing sessions: For users, the main benefit of WebRTC is they can easily access real-time video sessions from their web browser without having to download additional, third-party software. This makes it much easier for them to participate and stay engaged in remote work settings.
• Greater data confidentiality: When users access video via WebRTC, all video and voice data is required to be encrypted, and the encryption key is only accessible to the endpoints in the network. That means sensitive enterprise data doesn’t run the risk of being exposed to unauthorized, external users when employees aren’t using secure networks.
• Reduced software implementation costs: Users can access video conferencing sessions from any browser that supports WebRTC (which now includes Google Chrome, Firefox, and most other major browsers) without requiring additional plugins or software. That means enterprises don’t have to invest in costly software implementations to enable video conferencing, vastly reducing their IT spend.

WebRTC Disadvantages

Despite the widespread (and growing) use of WebRTC, there are some disadvantages associated with the technology that should be considered.

These include:

• Relies on the browser: Like many web technologies, WebRTC relies on the individual browser to support it. While most modern browsers now support WebRTC, their implementations could be different, creating an uneven experience for users. In addition, browsers can sometimes be unstable or crash, so users should be mindful to close other tabs when conducting live events to avoid interruptions.
• Maintenance can be costly: WebRTC is free and requires no additional software or plugins to run, but there are still maintenance costs associated with supporting a WebRTC server. Depending on the number of video sessions taking place over servers every day — for enterprises numbering in the thousands or tens of thousands of employees, that figure could be substantial — those maintenance costs can quickly skyrocket.

However, it’s not always easy for hosts to gather ICE candidates, and sometimes public IP addresses are not readily available due to being placed behind a network address translation (NAT) gateway or a firewall. The SDP will request this information from a session traversal utilities for NAT (STUN) server, which is another protocol that can bypass NAT gateways and firewalls to access and share IP address and port information.

In some cases, there will still be restrictions around who can connect to certain devices over specific routers in an individual network, meaning the public IP address information obtained by the STUN server is still unusable. Traversal using relays around NAT (TURN) servers are used to bypass these restrictions by allowing peers to share and exchange data via the TURN server using temporary IP addresses, enabling the connection.

While these are the typical cases, it’s possible for users to bypass those challenges completely. At Vbrick, we maintain our own set of services that completely remove the need for STUN and TURN servers, enabling users to establish peer-to-peer connections without network issues.

WebRTC vs. WebSockets

WebSocket is another communications protocol that acts as one of the main alternatives to WebRTC. While WebSocket also enables the transfer of data between browsers and devices, connections are facilitated by a local server. Latency is minimal, but it exists, and while that might not be noticeable for the end user in text-only communications, it can create serious challenges in video and audio communications where real-time accuracy is essential.

The WebRTC protocol uses a peer-to-peer communication framework that allows video and audio to completely bypass the server, reducing latency to less than a second and facilitating more seamless, higher quality video and audio communications. Improved latency is the main advantage of using WebRTC over WebSockets.

The world of work is changing, and that means there are a growing number of opportunities for WebRTC to continue becoming the video streaming protocol of choice for both developers and business users. As companies invest in their hybrid and remote work models, quality video streaming will play a more essential part in maintaining high levels of communication between teams and employees.

Moreover, the Great Resignation and other challenges managers face around hiring and retention mean enterprises must devote more time and money to creating quality, seamless, and convenient employee experiences that will keep staff happy. Part of those strategies involve deploying reliable video streaming protocols like WebRTC to create exceptional video experiences that maintain a high level of employee engagement and empower teams to complete their job functions.

As video technology continues to evolve, here are some of the possible future trends and developments involving WebRTC:

Machine learning (ML)

WebRTC could enable users to train ML models using real-time video and audio input. This might provide enterprises with more complete information regarding operations and analytics they can use to more accurately automate and streamline existing processes for better, more efficient performance. ML capabilities will likely become more advanced as WebRTC integrations deepen, creating more effective AI/ML algorithms with more robust applications.

Internet of Things (IoT)

WebRTC facilitates greater video and audio connectivity between internet-enabled devices, maximizing connections between end users. In an enterprise setting, employees gain access to a much wider range of devices they can use to complete complex work functions and maintain connections with colleagues more conveniently. WebRTC will likely continue to be incorporated into IoT devices to enable real-time video and audio communications across a more comprehensive set of applications.

Event streaming

WebRTC is a bidirectional video streaming protocol, enabling interactions between both peers on either end of the connection. For company events, this facilitates a greater degree of engagement between event guests and participants, creating higher quality events that are better able to draw audiences and generate value. This is especially useful in an enterprise setting where live events form an important part of corporate agendas.

Metaverse

Companies are beginning to explore the opportunities created by the genesis of the metaverse — the digital-first virtual environment that promises to be the future of work, entertainment, socialization, and more. As enterprises seriously consider setting up shop in a virtual world, WebRTC might serve a critical function as data confidentiality, low latency, and reliable video and audio data transferrals will be fundamental and indispensable to the operation of workplaces in virtual reality.

WebRTC will continue to find applications in enterprise settings as the reliance on remote work deepens and the use of video communication grows. As it does, business leaders need to equip their teams with video tools that empower them to design video solutions that meet pressing enterprise needs.

Vbrick’s industry-leading video platform as a service gives enterprises access to a robust set of APIs and SDKs they can use to build video into custom products and applications, enhancing customer experience and deepening employee engagement.