What is WebRTC?

What is Real-Time Communication (RTC)?

Real-time communications (RTC) is a term used to refer to any live telecommunications that occur without transmission delays. RTC is nearly instant with minimal latency. RTC data andmessages are not stored between transmission and reception. RTC is generally a peer-to-peer, rather than broadcasting or multicasting. With WebRTC, real-time communications (RTC) capabilities are being built directly into web browsers.

What is WebRTC?

The advent of Web RTC is a big step toward communication being hardware agnostic from the current hardware-dependent model - no need for proprietary hardware such as a phone to have high quality audio or video  conversation.

•  WebRTC is an open-source project enabling plugin-free, Real Time Communications (RTC) in the browser and was started in Fall of 2010 
•  It includes fundamental building blocks for high-quality communications such as network, audio, and video components used in voice and video chat applications. These components, when implemented in a browser, can be accessed through a JavaScript API, enabling developers to easily implement RTC web apps
•  WebRTC was open-sourced by Google in May 2011 and there are over 1 Billion  WebRTC-enabled endpoints (firefox and chrome browsers that support Web RTC) today
•  The WebRTC project is supported by Chrome, Firefox and Opera. The WebRTC API is supported by Chrome and Firefox.

  

Why do we need a technology such as Web RTC?

WebRTC is enabling “regular” web developers to  start building applications that incorporate voice, video, chat, and data collaboration. Developers no longer need a deep understanding of voice-over-IP (VoIP) or telecommunications to make WebRTC apps. In fact, there are now many WebRTC-related services that enable a developer to simply copy and paste some JavaScript code into their web page to get started.

• Historically, Real Time Communications (RTC) have been corporate,    proprietary and complex, requiring expensive audio and video technologies to be licensed or developed in house.
•  Integrating RTC technology with existing content, data and services has been difficult and time consuming, particularly on the web. RTC application development can take 100s of hours and the non-standardization of efforts around it makes it complex and difficult to implement
•  Plugins can be difficult to deploy, debug, insecure, troubleshoot, test and maintain—and may require licensing and integration with complex, expensive technology.
•  Traditionally, flash has poor video quality and audio  and is  also plagued with echo/feedback problems since the software is not designed  to respond to varying connection speeds

What are the benefits of Web RTC?

There are various benefits that WebRTC can provide as a technology:

•  Independence from Proprietary software and hardware:  A rich RTC experience is no longer dependent on proprietary software such as Skype. Also there is no need for additional plugins on the user’s end which makes it easy to build, deploy and scale any application. In addition, an application can be developed just once and deployed on multiple operating systems without the need to re-install plugins or customizing it for multiple environments.
•   Compatibility across platforms: No security loopholes: Applications built on Web RTC are more secure since there is no need for additional browser plugins (which can add security vulnerabilities) or software downloads required to run RTC applications.
•  Secure Voice and Video : WebRTC has always-on voice and video encryption. The Secure RTP protocol (SRTP) is used for encryption and authentication of both voice and video.
•  Better Voice Quality than standard VoIP : WebRTC is an adaptive network solution that compensates and adjusts to changing network conditions. It adjusts the communications quality, responds to bandwidth availability, detecting and avoiding congestion.

  

Where can I find more information on WebRTC and events around WebRTC?

Here are a few resources that will help you get started.

·      http://www.webrtcworld.com/conference/east/

·      http://dev.w3.org/2011/webrtc/editor/webrtc.html

·      http://bloggeek.me/webrtc-expo-3/

·      http://www.webrtc.org/

What is Organizational Politics and is it really bad?

If you conduct a random poll and ask people, if they engage in organizational politics at their work place, the most common answer you will get is NO. Politics has a very bad connotation and most people don’t want to be associated with it. Politics is considered unethical; bad for career growth and the perception is that only those employees who lack merit, talent and are unwilling to work hard engage in such kind of behavior. But is organizational politics really that bad?

 

Organizational Politics is defined as the ability to understand and effectively influence others for personal or organizational benefits. Also, it does not have to be a zero-sum game – All the parties playing politics can have a positive outcome and lead to a bigger benefit to the organization.

Organizational Politics, or for that matter, any kind of politics is neutral on its own. It is the execution and the intent that makes it good or bad. In today’s corporate world, one has to have power and influence to get any kind of projects done – get budgets approved, convince people to support your proposal, get resources assigned to your prototypes, prioritize the right projects, select profitable customers,  etc. We all, knowingly or unknowingly play politics in our professional or professional careers. The question to ask is – “How do I ethically play politics?” and not ‘How do I stay away from politics” – because in reality, you cannot and you should not. 

But is there a framework or steps you can follow to get better at it? Yes, of course!

Here are a few strategies that effectively use Organizational Politics:

1.     Develop relationships and network with powerful people in the organization: It is extremely important to associate yourself with the right people in the company. If someone is extremely good at his/her job but has no clout or any decision-making powers, he/she probably cannot help you to further your team goals or agenda

2.     Always be aware and informed about critical projects:  One should not be so focused on his/her projects that they are completely unaware about what is happening around them.  Successful leaders develop a network to help them keep abreast, or ahead, of developments within the firm.

3.     Be a Subject Matter Expert:  It is very important to own your projects and never leave an opportunity to present your work. Always make sure that you come across as someone who knows his/her area of expertise and not just someone who gets the job done.

4.     Offer help and ask for guidance from influential people: Building relationships with new people joining the group is a politically-savvy move. Sometime old relationships that have been built by your team members with other stakeholders might be hard to influence – so go ahead and forge new ones. Offer on-boarding help, take them out for lunch, send them relevant documents to help ramp up, invite them to 101 sessions, etc.  Also executives, VPs and directors love to play Mentor – Identify a problem and present it to them along with timelines on execution and metrics on success. Then go and implement it.

Here are a few strategies that are not part of Organizational Politics:

1.     Incessant criticism and back-stabbing: Do not criticize a fellow team members just to be in good books of someone with power. This might not only come back to bite you but will also create a negative image about you.

2.     Set-up a person for failure:  You might be able to help someone to deliver on their critical projects with your contacts or information. Purposely stalling those projects to make them look bad is not considered ethical behavior.

3.     Information Hoarding:  Examples of unethical behavior include monopolizing time with clients, scheduling meetings so someone cannot attend, and shutting out coworkers from joining you on an important assignment.

4.     Creating a network where you have all the power: This is a common mistake made by people in power. They try to create a network of employees who are likely to follow them blindly. In this process, powerful people end up firing or alienating other team members who might be valuable assets to the company. Power should not come from fear – it will not last long. Power should come from respect – This is the one that will help you, your team and your company to achieve lasting success!

Ending this blog with a quote from Lord Acton “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

Feel free to share the efforts that you have taken to become better at Organizational Politics.
Good Luck!

Thanks,
Almitra Karnik