What are video conferencing protocols?

Video conferencing is one of the most widely used means of communication through the Internet. Video conferencing is a mode of communication that involves visuals and allows users to visually interact with one or more people. It enables us to see and interact with each other using video technology. 

Video conferencing protocols

Video conferencing protocols are guidelines for establishing and maintaining communication between video conference participants.

These protocols ensure reliable and effective communication between devices, applications, and networks.

Types of video conferencing protocols

Various protocols are widely used for video conferencing throughout the world.

H.323

H.323 is one of the most commonly adopted video conferencing protocols available. It is a protocol suite that defines audio, visual, and data communication over Internet Protocol (IP)The fundamental protocol that enables communication between devices over the internet networks.

H.323 uses binary language and was designed by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in the early 1990s. It was first developed to enable video conferencing applications over the Internet and Local Area Networks (LAN). However, since its introduction, it has undergone various revisions, and its functionality has been drastically improved.

Features:

Some of the mainstream features of H.323 include:

• Supports point-to-point and multipoint video conferencing.

• Supports authentication and encryption mechanisms.

• Provides call signalingCall signaling is the process of establishing, modifying, and terminating a communication session between two or more endpoints., controlling, and media streaming protocols.

• Allows interoperability between different video conferencing systems.

As visible here, the H.323 protocol uses Gateway and MCU to work. A gateway is a device that connects the H.323 network with other networks that use different communication protocols.

Whereas, MCU is a software device that ables the H.323 protocol to support multipoint communications. It allows three or more systems to have visual communication simultaneously.

Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)

Designed by Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) in the 1990s, the Session Initiation Protocol is one of the most widely used protocols for initiating, modifying, and terminating multimedia communication.

SIP is an application-layer protocol set of rules and conventions that govern the communication between applications running on different network devices.primarily used for session establishment and management. It is a flexible and extensible protocol that has found vast applications in Voice over IP (VoIP) applications, video conferencing systems, instant messaging, and other real-time communication systems.

Features:

SIP's features include:

• Allows users to be located using their unique SIP Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs).unique addresses used to locate and identify users or devices in SIP-based communication,

• Employs proxy servers and redirect servers to route signals between devices.

• Allows users to move through different networks during an ongoing communication session between various networks.

• It can integrate with other video conferencing protocols for media transport and negotiation.

Web Real-Time Communication (WebRTC)

WebRTC is a set of open technologies and web standards that provide protocols for real-time video, audio, and data communication directly within web browsers.

WebRTC is relatively new, and its initial development started around 2010. Since its initial design, it has gained significant industry support and has been adopted by various platforms and systems. Therefore, it has become a widely used protocol for real-time communication on the web.

Features:

Some of its main features include:

• Supported by powerful platforms, including Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Safari.

• Allows devices behind firewalls to establish a direct connection with each other through NAT traversal.NAT is a technology used in networking to translate IP addresses between different networks

• Includes built-in mechanisms for encryption and security.

• Can also be used for peer-to-peerThe network in which users can directly interact with each other without relying on a central server or authority. data transfer between browsers.

• Supports high-quality video and audio streaming between browsers.

Conclusion

Video conferences have reshaped the communicational curve through recent decades due to their applications and feasibility. It has all been made possible through these video conferencing protocols that enable real-time audio, visual, and data communication over networks.