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ORTC - What Does It Mean to WebRTC and Developers?

August 21, 2014

There is a lot of activity around the release of the ORTC specification. Now a draft of the ORTC for WebRTC has been released.  I think it is important to see this as what it is: an expected evolution of the WebRTC standard to reflect both additional capabilities and evolved APIs. The ORTC standard introduces a revised API that has additional flexibility in the JavaScript API than is available in the SDP interface currently in the standard. This enables developers to control functions like scalable video coding and simulcast. While these can be implemented in the current version with SDP in WebRTC 1.0, they have proven challenging for some to implement. Providing advanced video technologies within a JavaScript object API should be easier for the full range of developers to implement.

What is interesting is that Cullen Jennings of Cisco has always said that an object oriented interface was on the standards roadmap, so this is not really the “news” that many see. Google has indicated they will support the “WebRTC 1.1” standard in Chrome in release 38 or 39.  Microsoft has indicated it will support the ORTC version of WebRTC, but may not support the SDP version.

What does this mean for developers and organizations looking to build on the value of WebRTC and the webification of communications?

WebRTC will gain momentum with WebRTC 1.1 and Microsoft support. With Microsoft support, WebRTC will move to the mainstream beyond the 1.7B devices supporting it today and the 450 companies developing apps. While Microsoft support is not required, as many will download Chrome or Firefox, it opens the door to WebRTC in organizations that limit their employees to Internet Explorer (IE) for security or other reasons.

Should I wait for WebRTC 1.1 to begin my WebRTC development?

The answer to the above depends on both your user market and your skill base. If your user market is predominately Internet Explorer, using the ORTC derived APIs that will be supported in WebRTC 1.1 may be of value. If you are comfortable with the SDP-based solutions now in the market (there are 450 or them), waiting may not be the best idea. The reason is it may be 12-18 months before these are readily available in browsers.  An alternative is to use one of the available IE plugins with the current standard.

Does this mean WebRTC 1.1 is going to go away?

Absolutely not! A key to the acceptance of the ORTC derived APIs is an agreement that they do not replace, but augment the SDP APIs already in the standard and integrated into those 1.7B devices.  In a video Justin Uberti (Google) made at the Google Developer Conference, WebRTC 1.1 will integrate ORTC (video @ 29m20s).  The key is that developers won’t have to rewrite their current applications but they may transition to the ORTC API as it is supported across the browser community

Which is the better API, SDP or ORTC?

This remains to be seen. While there is a fairly broad range of experience and a large number of really cool apps that have been built using the current interfaces and browser implementations, there is very limited real-world experience with the ORTC/WebRTC 1.1 implementations.  In the current version, cross-browser implementations have not always been easy and have challenged the browser vendors in some cases and developers as well.  The interoperability of the new APIs has been represented as easier, but this is not yet proven.  The key is that, with both available, developers can choose which is best for their application.

As we move forward, it will be interesting to see if Microsoft uses the new WebRTC 1.1 for the guest web access in Microsoft Lync.  As Lync is a UC platform that is gaining significant traction as the internal and representation system for businesses and other entities, having a WebRTC-based guest interface to enable any meeting participant to have the full value of Lync through any browser will be both an accelerator of Lync as well as another indication of WebRTC becoming the open communications technology of the web.

This topic will be a critical one as we move through the rest of 2014 and WebRTC continues to build momentum. With applications like American Express getting wide spread adoption (over 190,000 downloads of an iPad video app with WebRTC in one week), the market is starting to really adopt the technology and we are seeing real applications. Building broad support and enabling easier developments will accelerate the webification of the communications and collaboration market.  At the WebRTC Conference and Expo in San Jose, November 18-20, this will be a major topic and something to consider as plans are put together for 2105 developments.

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Edited by Peter Bernstein

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