Browser adoption of WebRTC APIs has been one of the main challenges in field deployments. While Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox have been the early adopters of the W3C WebRTC API (both in desktop and mobile versions), other browser vendors such as Microsoft and Apple have not publicly made any product-related commitment endorsing this initiative. To date, lack of universal browser support has been a limitation in certain scenarios.

While complete browser support is yet to be achieved, the industry is working to resolve these challenges. Quobis is happy to share the following updates on this topic:

• Sippo can run on iOS and Android based devices as native applications, using the standard media profiles for WebRTC (VP8, DTLS-SRTP, ICE/STUN, etc.), like any other WebRTC application, managed and controlled by Quobis’ Sippo WAC (WebRTC Application Controller).
• Microsoft is playing an active role in the definition of an alternative API named ORTC and even released an early prototype for Internet Explorer. Sippo WAC hides the complexity resulting from API fragmentation and enables WebRTC applications to work seamlessly irrespective of the underlying browser.

• Meanwhile, and as interim solution, the industry has released a number of plugins to enable WebRTC support on desktop versions of Internet Explorer and Safari. Sippo apps have been verified to work with these plugins.

As a conclusion, Quobis WebRTC Application Controller (WAC) enables not only the seamless integration of WebRTC applications with the enterprise or service provider assets but also allows to develop an application just once while being able to run it irrespective of the underlying browser or signaling protocol.