Are You Ready for Real-Time Communications?

By Susan J. Campbell
TMCnet Contributing Editor

The global economy is a fast-moving machine, one that is helping to create the instant gratification customer. Are you equipped to survive in this environment or do you struggle to keep technologies that move at the speed of snail mail? Perhaps your industry doesn’t demand this heightened level of intensity, but your customers’ method of thinking may be on a different path.

For this reason, there is growing demand for real-time communications. Those already on the bandwagon understand what advancements in technology supported by WebRTC can mean for promoting initiatives, engaging customers, supporting the virtual office environment and so much more. The challenge is it still isn’t mainstream – but the demand is rising to that level.

Consider the last time you had to call technical support on an issue. You likely talked to someone miles away and tried to describe the problem. That person on the other end of the line had a program on their computer that they likely pulled up to try and match your problem with a solution. If they’re really good, they can do that without any help from the program, but the responsibility to communicate the problem effectively is all on you.

How would that interaction change if you could show the individual in real-time what you are experiencing? If they could see your computer screen as you see it, look inside the backend of your dryer or get to the details on the gear on the piece of machinery in the corner of your production room – how would that change the outcome? Would it speed the interaction time, take the responsibility off of you and allow you to apply a fix before they left the conversation?

These capabilities do exist now, but we’re limited somewhat. If we have Skype (News - Alert), that’s great, but not everyone does. If we have a web-cam, that’s awesome, but do you know how to use it? You likely know how to use the camera on your smartphone, but not all operating systems are supporting WebRTC, which limits what you can do. If you didn’t have to have a proprietary system or download a plugin, you could simply launch a conversation by launching a web browser. It’s the direction of WebRTC and the implications are exciting.

At the recent ITEXPO (News - Alert) event, Ingate was on hand to talk about its latest innovations in WebRTC and other areas to support real-time communications. 

Edited by Maurice Nagle