Today Call2Friends announces own WebRTC protocol implementation, the new level of the free VoIP in-browser communications.
Of course, you are aware of Adobe Flash, the major technology we currently use. It permits us to deliver you the high quality VoIP calls from a web browser without installing any specific application. It has been serving us well for a long time and will serve for some more as well in the future, but today's trend is WebRTC, and we at Call2Friends tried our best to implement it for you as soon as possible.
Adobe Flash is a mature technology with the support of all possible browsers and high quality connection. But it has some caveats too. For instance, it does not have Automatic Gain Control technology which regulates voice volume for you automatically. Besides Flash requires good Internet connection and you need to install Adobe Flash plugin for your browser Though it is not so hard, it can be oppressive.
By delivering WebRTC we are decreasing the latency so your calls become more natural. Now they are safer, because of SRTP and DTLS technologies, which secure traffic between you and us. Automatic Gain Control allows you to hear an interceptor better and louder than before. Better implementation of Automatic Echo Cancellation and noise suppression helps increase the voice quality dramatically. Adaptive Jitter Buffer lowers latency and eliminates choppy audio problem for some folks. New codec called Opus better fits global Internet communications where calls bitrate can fall down to very low values despite provider’s promises. So at last you are armed with the full-featured VoIP communications solution right from your web-browser.
Sorry to say but at this time WebRTC lacks support of some browsers like Internet Explorer and Apple Safari. To get the best from the VoIP you have to install Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome or Opera. For the most part of our customers that's not an issue because these browsers are their defaults. Some of you who don't have this option, please, don't be embarrassed - we are not turning Flash support off in the near future.
For those of you who have some troubles or negative experience with any of our VoIP technologies, please don't forget about our technical support [email protected] or SIP server alternative. In case you use a smartphone it's better to switch to SIP than struggle with different bugs of your mobile web browser which are not fully supported neither by Adobe and Google nor by us yet.
What's next? We are striving to deliver to you the best communication service that can be made. In our nearest plans there are proprietary mobile clients for Android and iOS, Internet Explorer and Safari WebRTC support native plugins, SMS service and many more. Stay tuned!