Vidyo, a company developing video-conferencing products, released a new version of its VidyoWeb client and Vidyo Server that support the WebRTC protocol. The technology can enable plugin-free video chatting in the browser with a single click. Vidyo also worked with Google to support the VP9 codec in WebRTC products in a way that scales the video to various bitrates and resolutions.
The company said that this type of product can help other companies communicate with their customers in a hassle-free way:
“Financial services, healthcare and retail companies with strong customer engagement use cases, want an easier way for customers, patients, agents or doctors to join a video conference by eliminating the need for installations or plug-ins,” said Nicholas Reid, Vidyo Senior Vice President of Product Management. “Vidyo’s WebRTC-enabled products offer customers even more flexibility and choice in their Vidyo deployment. From our partnership with Google to co-develop scalable VP9 for WebRTC to the release we are sharing today; Vidyo is bullish on the potential for WebRTC to make face-to-face communication as ubiquitous and hassle-free as texting or calling,” he added.
WebRTC doesn’t just enable plugin-free video calls, but calls that can be made with the simple sharing of a link. Vidyo provides the server infrastructure for other companies and developers who want to integrate a video-calling solution into their websites or web apps.
For now, the VidyoWeb 3.2 client only works in Chrome and Firefox without a plugin, whereas Safari and Internet Explorer still require a plugin. However, Microsoft already supports WebRTC in its Edge browser, and Safari is poised to get it soon as well, so it may be a matter of time before it’s supported without a plugin in those browsers. Vidyo said that its infrastructure is not dependent on a particular codec, as long as the codec supports scalable video.
Vidyo customers who already have Vidyo Support contracts can use the new WebRTC-enabled products, such as the VidyoWeb 3.2 client and the Vidyo Server for WebRTC 3.2, for free. New customers can order them from the company’s website.
Lucian Armasu is a Contributing Writer for Tom's Hardware. You can follow him at @lucian_armasu.
