Communications and the Web
2016 will embrace the world of web communications. WebRTC is an emerging technology that enables developers to easily embed communications features and functions into websites and web apps, without the need for plug-ins, hardware or proprietary technology. HTML, JavaScript and broad browser support of WebRTC, etc. are all tools developers will use to accelerate the adoption of web communications. It's predicted that by 2019, six billion devices on the market will support WebRTC. This advancement will enable all of those devices to become an integral part of a company's communications infrastructure without involving the user.
Windham included WebRTC on his list of predictions last year, but incorporated it into the bigger trend of integrating communications features and functions into virtually every aspect of a business. For this conversation, he wants to mention it within the context of how businesses can utilize the technology and the potential growth it represents in the year ahead.
Companies that don't have the expertise to build bridges between web presence and communications infrastructure (or simply don't want to do it themselves) can utilize communications platform as a service. Companies that offer this service are intended to do the heavy lifting so that web developers don't have to know a lot about communications in order to enable it through websites and web apps. For companies that have already built these bridges, the next steps will include building things that have never been built before, as Amazon did with the Kindle Fire mayday button. The possibilities WebRTC offers are endless, and many are looking forward to seeing how industries utilize this technology in the future.