As it stands, Google Hangouts and Skype have something of a stranglehold on the video conferencing market. For the most part, those tools work well enough, but the barriers to entry are surprisingly high. Mozilla is setting out to change that by building video conferencing directly into Firefox, and eliminating the need for accounts or dedicated clients. Even better, it’s built on open standards, so your friends and colleagues don’t have to use Firefox to accept a video call.
While Mozilla has been experimenting publicly with the Firefox Hello project for months now, the recent stable release of Firefox 35 brings this feature into the limelight. Smack dab on the menu bar resides a happy little chat icon, and clicking it allows you to start a new video call. From there, you can sign into your Firefox account to manage your contacts, but that’s an optional step. Without signing up for anything, you can start a chat, and simply send an invitation URL to anyone you’d like. They click the link, and the video conference begins. It’s shockingly easy to use, and that’s the real innovation here.
Of course, it’s not a perfect solution just yet. Not every browser supports the WebRTC (Web Real-Time Communication) standard just yet, and that’s the backbone of Mozilla’s service. Safari and Internet Explorer do not work with Firefox Hello, but third-party WebRTC plug-insdo exist to fill that gap. More importantly, the only way to initiate a video conference is by using Firefox. Considering that the usage share of Firefox has been steadily declining, that’s a big problem. Unless this service is completely browser agnostic, it’s something of a non-starter.
Don’t be discouraged by the current limitations, though. Mozilla is partnering with the Spain-based telecom company Telefónica on this project, and since it’s being so prominently featured in the Firefox user interface, it’s safe to assume that Mozilla has big plans for this feature in the coming months.
Even if this specific implementation never gains traction, it sets the stage for major disruption in the realm of video conferencing. Stripping down the entire process to one or two button presses is a major step forward in usability, and it gives me hope for the entire video conferencing concept regardless of which services survive. As someone who works out of a home office, the idea of simple and immediate video conferencing is extremely powerful. But until Firefox Hello gets substantially more robust, I’ll be holding onto my Google and Skype accounts.
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Go test it!
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