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WebRTC as a reliable standard for Real-Time Communication Technologies

Let’s have a closer look at WebRTC and how it can impact on implementation of real-time communication platform.

WebRTC is a free, open project that provides browsers and mobile applications with Real-Time Communications (RTC) capabilities via simple APIs.

WebRTC also represents the latest evolution in the world of real-time communication. WebRTC reuses many of the protocols and standards that we have analyzed in the previous articles (Media transfer in Unified Communications – SDP Protocol, RTP, RTCP and Jitter Buffer) to create real-time communications between different devices. Other standards, such as TURN / ICE / STUN, have been also used by WebRTC. We will discuss these standards later in this article.

The complexity of using these standards is hidden behind a simple set of Javascript APIs, which are immediately available to developers via browsers.

WebRTC brings to life the best of standardized Real Time Communication Technologies, and, in most scenarios, allows real peer-to-peer communications between endpoints.

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Faxing over IP Standard

As we have seen in the previous blog article , there are major problems in carrying faxes over IP. Let’s see why Faxing over IP is a reliable standard for transmission of faxes.

A standard which makes the communication much more reliable, whenever conditions are not optional, is T.38.

The T.38 fax relay standard was devised in 1998 as a way to permit the transmission of faxes across IP networks between existing Group 3 (G3) fax terminals. T.38 carries T.30, the protocol used by faxes, over a packet-oriented connection.

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Fax transmissions over IP

Let’s examine which available solutions allow for the transmission of faxes over IP and the best practises that reduce related problems.

Fax over VoIP is a usual requirement in many deployments. Although the number of fax sessions per year is constantly decreasing, for the next ten years or so, we still need to include fax support in any Unified Communication platform.

Faxing was never meant to be used over the Internet, as it was designed specifically for transmissions over telephone lines with circuit connections and low latency.

A Unified Communication solution can integrate a software server fax. This software simulates a real fax machine, and allows you to send or receive an image file to / from a remote fax endpoint.

Fax Over RTP

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Understanding Video Codecs in Unified Communications

Desired video codecs mainly fall between VP8 (and its evolution VP9) and H.264 and H.265. Other formats, such as H261 – H263 – H263p, can be mainly found in legacy conferencing systems and should be avoided.

Let’s examine the main differences between these codecs.

H.264 / H.265

H.264, also known as MPEG-4 Part 10, Advanced Video Coding (MPEG-4 AVC), is a block-oriented, motion-compensation-based video compression standard.

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Wideband Codecs and High-Definition (HD) Audio

Wideband audio provides high-definition voice quality for telephony calls, and offers better quality than standard digital telephony. It does so by extending the frequency range of audio signals transmitted over telephone lines, resulting in higher quality speech.

The great advantages of wideband audio, also marketed as high-definition (HD) audio, are:

  • Offers clearer sound quality
  • Provides easier voice recognition, even in the presence of background noise, speakerphone, and voice overlapping (two persons speaking at the same time)
  • Makes certain words easier to understand, such as words containing letters which sound similar

The final result for users is better phone calls, where both the effort required to understand each other and the need for callers to frequently repeat themselves is greatly reduced.

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