WebRTC Live Streaming Buy or Build?

In any buy-versus-build decision, of course, every product vendor wants a business to buy their  product.  Don’t try and implement it yourself they say.  Its just like a frozen dinner.  Why labor over a hot stove when you can microwave a delicious meal in just 7 minutes!  A WebRTC live streaming buy or build decision is similar.

Companiesespecially technology companieslove to build things themselves.  However, time is money.  We see this so often in  WebRTC live streaming.  Companies full of smart engineers learn about WebRTC.  They try a few reference implementations (Google’s AppRTC is a popular choice), pick some Platform-As-A-Service APIs, and an engineering team will think, “How hard could it be?”  Then, three months later, they realize it is more challenging than anticipated.  The hypothesis seems to be that WebRTC is a complete solution.  But really, it is just a really good tool.  There’s still significant WebRTC experience needed to use that tool to create a successful solution in addition to a deep understanding of audio and video protocols, performance and best practices.

Some of the challenges people discover:

  • Reference implementations are simple browser-based video chat, not useful for an actual product.
  • WebRTC does not specify signaling and there are many ways to do it, each with pros and cons depending on the situation.
  • Hard Costs: WebRTC has its own challenges and takes time and R&D labor to master.
  • Opportunity Costs: In many cases, WebRTC is not delivering a critical part of the business.   Those smart engineers could have focused on strategic features that make the business unique, rather than on WebRTC.

At Mersoft, we’ve invested a lot of research in our products that use it.  Furthermore, we specialize in specific use cases focused on delivering the best technology to convert live media to WebRTC, HLS and DASH.  Mersoft has the fastest startup times, the lowest lag, and does it all without transcoding.  Our SDK eliminates the need for Flash, browser plug-ins or ActiveX controls.  These are the areas we deliver real value to customers so they can jump over the learning curve and focus on their core strategy.

A few things that set Mersoft apart:

  • We don’t force customers to use our client apps (the SDK is powerful)
  • We don’t force customers to use our cloud (can be installed in your datacenter)
  • We have the ABSOLUTE BEST technology to convert video to WebRTC, HLS and DASH.  The fastest startup times, the lowest lag, and no transcoding using Mersoft stream™. 

It seems to be a fairly common situation that Mersoft will engage after a customer started to do it on their own.  Occasionally in a sales visit, they ask, “Who are your competitors?”  We will say, “Sometimes, you are!”  

While Mersoft is focused on delivering key value in specific areas, we do it for some pretty diverse use cases including home security, video surveillance, social media live streaming, unified communications and more.  So, contact Mersoft today and learn about how we can help you get your WebRTC live streaming product to market faster, and don’t labor over a hot stove.

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WebRTC Live Streaming Buy or Build?2018-01-09T16:47:46-06:00

Mersoft stream™ Improves RTSP WebRTC Live Streaming

April 28, 2016 – Overland Park, KS – Today, Mersoft announces the latest release of its RTSP WebRTC live streaming product. Mersoft stream™ converts RTSP streaming media to WebRTC and HLS with sub-second latency to deliver the best live video streaming experience for video chat, security cameras and more.

The biggest problem accessing live video over a network connection today is the significant delay in both starting the video and in maintaining an experience that is near-real-time. Instead, many applications will require up to 60 seconds to establish a stream only to deliver a poor experience with a slow frame rate, frequent delays and poor resolution. These problems make live video feed over networks nearly useless. The only alternative being expensive hard-wired or closed-circuit (CCTV) equipment.

Mersoft stream™ is ideal for use with Wi-Fi cameras commonly used in homes and businesses. It extracts the H.264 media frames directly from a RTSP stream and repackages them in either WebRTC or HLS without transcoding. It buffers both the inbound and outbound streams to ensure the most consistent experience possible.

The April release enhancements include:

  • Even lower CPU utilization
  • Support for WebRTC engine version 49
  • Improved performance data
  • Improvements to RTSP restart and Peer connections
  • Enhanced jitter buffer including configurable and dynamic buffer sizing

“Our product engineering team works tirelessly to ensure Mersoft stream is exceeding customer expectations. The efficiency boost in this latest release puts the product ahead of any others in the marketplace. It is faster and runs in a lower CPU and memory footprint than ever before.”   Ron Sloop, CEO of Mersoft

Mersoft offers excellent professional services to integrate with providers’ systems, is carrier-grade and geo-diverse with available 24×7 support.

For more information, visit: https://mersoft.com

About Mersoft:

Mersoft is a Kansas City based software engineering firm delivering technology products and solutions since 1996. They provide carrier-grade technology solutions connecting service providers with their customers for enhanced product offerings needing messaging, video, presence, and real-time connectivity.

Customers describe Mersoft as the “Navy Seals” of software development because they take on tough challenges and consistently deliver. The company culture revolves around excelling in research and development, its engineers are focused on three factors: technology, solutions and services.

MEDIA INQUIRIES: +1-913-871-6200 or info@mersoft.com

Mersoft stream™ Improves RTSP WebRTC Live Streaming2018-01-09T16:47:50-06:00

RTSP WebRTC Live Streaming – Mersoft stream™ Product Overview and Case Study

The use of Wi-Fi cameras in home security has exploded in recent years.  Traditional security companies, cable companies and new entrants offer a variety of choices for consumers. The cost of services and equipment continues to fall allowing small and mid-sized businesses the opportunity to incorporate surveillance services. While there is no one set-standard, companies are converging on a few variants so iconic devices such as Nest learning thermostats, August smart door locks and a multitude of Wi-Fi cameras are available from many providers.

While the industry is growing at a brisk pace, there is evidence that slow, choppy real-time video is inhibiting adoption and reducing the usefulness of live video.

Argus Insights recently published a study where they found that while customers have high satisfaction with the smart devices themselves, the applications used to manage those devices fall short in customer satisfaction.  Unfortunately, the device is only as good as the software tools behind it.  When commenting on cameras, Argus reports,

“App functionality is a major consumer pain point, with frequent complaints of slow video streaming , long load times and the video blacking out.”

While many devices employed a smart-home installation, the camera stood out as unique because it is a valuable tool by itself for live streaming in residential use cases, business and law enforcement.  Unfortunately, cameras have a few challenges to overcome.  First, they are high-bandwidth.  Compressed, low-resolution video is acceptable in some situations, but consumers have grown accustomed to a high definition image (1920×1080 pixels) and high frame-rate (15+ frames per second).  Second, many cameras run H.264 or other proprietary codecs that require specific end-user software to play the stream such as Adobe Flash.  These clients are losing their support among browsers, and Adobe has announced it will eventually retire the Flash Player.

Mersoft recognized this technology gap in the industry and developed Mersoft stream™ specifically to enable high-quality and truly real-time video with RTSP WebRTC live streaming.

Mersoft stream™ addresses the current challenges in the following ways:

  1. Uses WebRTC: Google released WebRTC to the open source community in 2011 and continues to release updates. The capability encapsulates a set of APIs and codecs that make media streaming possible in browsers without plug-ins or by including it in native mobile and desktop apps.   Compared to many solutions in use today, WebRTC is current, far more secure, and requires no user intervention.
  2. Not a protocol converter: When streaming video from a camera, many applications convert the H.264 stream in order to play it on various platforms. Instead, Mersoft stream™ extracts the H.264 media frame by frame and packages it into WebRTC. By avoiding the protocol conversion, it occupies a very low processor and memory footprint plus runs lightning fast with processing times down to 50 ms.
  3. Stays in sync: It synchronizes time stamps between RTSP and WebRTC on each frame coming from the camera so that it accurately catches up after frames are lost.
  4. Has a Buffer: To avoid jitter and lag, there is a buffer that can be configured to just enough delay to provide a smooth video stream. By definition, a buffer would result in the video technically being something less than live. Even the best networks have issues on occasion so a second or two delay can make all the difference in providing a smooth video experience for customers.

A Note on Audio:

If audio is part of the RTSP WebRTC live streaming, Mersoft stream™ handles it separately.   It supports most audio codecs and will do transcoding. However, transcoding audio is much less processor-intensive and so the typical delay in the media often remains under 1 second.

Real-World Example

Situation:

Mersoft worked with a large North American cable company to provide live streaming between their wi-fi cameras and set-top boxes. Their previous experience used other client players and was bad enough they decided to delay launch. Mersoft stream™ was installed in their network between the smart device mediation layer and the set-top boxes. Then, Mersoft worked with the internal development team who created a set-top box application to select and display a camera for live streaming. The set-top box supports H.264 and WebRTC. In this situation, there are multiple firewalls to traverse and all the applications are cloud-hosted. Mersoft stream™ worked together with its companion product Mersoft move™ which handles the signaling and notifications to set up the call.

Impact:

The original application was taking 15-30 seconds to begin, then provided a very unreliable stream delayed usually by 5- 30 seconds. After the implementation of Mersoft stream™, a typical stream begins in under 3 seconds and has a sub 1-second delay from camera to the set-top box. (Client, camera, network and firewall performance varies and will affect this number).

Client Interface Options

Mersoft offers several options to integrate Mersoft stream™ for your customers. There are client libraries that can be run on set-top boxes, iOS and Android mobile devices, or for native Windows and Mac laptops. Mersoft can develop entirely new applications for your customers or can work to integrate Mersoft stream™ capability into your existing apps.

 Hosting Options

Mersoft stream™ can be installed in the client datacenter or hosted by Mersoft for a easy and rapid deployment.

 

Questions?

Contact Mersoft to get more information and a demo. Increase customer satisfaction in your video streaming product with RTSP WEbRTC live streaming from Mersoft stream. Email: info@mersoft.com or call 913-871-6200.

RTSP WebRTC Live Streaming – Mersoft stream™ Product Overview and Case Study2018-01-09T16:47:52-06:00
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