A Statista study indicates that in the second quarter of 2021, some of the leading video conferencing platforms such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet were reported to have close to 200 million downloads from users worldwide. There’s no denying that the importance of video calling has attracted popularity more than ever during the pandemic milieu. Almost all businesses have incorporated Live video chat app in their business system to boost their customer communication processes and facilitate better collaborations within their teams. Have you been planning to build a video chat platform of your own? Well, that’s great. One of the best ways of developing your application is to leverage a well-defined API. In this article, we shall discuss some of the key considerations that you should keep in mind while selecting a web video API for yourself. Stay with us and read on!
Easy tricks to choose your suitable video chat API match / Essential hacks to select the right video chat API for your business
Every business is unique and has its own essential communication objectives. Now, there is a suite of video call APIs in the market to choose from. But as a business having a unique identity, you should consider selecting an API that best meets your business requirements. However, there are some crucial features that you must look at while making the final decision. In this segment, we are going to delve into those important aspects that will help you make the best choice. Let us study them one by one.
1.Cross-platform compatibility and browser complexity
This is considered as one of the most important aspects that you need to take care of while choosing your video chat platform API. Now, we all are aware of the fact that Android, iOS, and web browsers function differently. And, this is the reason that they need to implement video chat technology in different ways. If you want your application to function on all platforms, it is essential that you choose the appropriate web video conferencing API.
To ensure cross-platform compatibility, we recommend you to choose a WebRTC video call app API. WebRTC stands for Web Real-Time Communication. Now, when you choose a low-level API, the burden of establishing cross-platform compatibility lies on you. On the other hand, a full featured API will take care of all browser and platform differences automatically.
Moreover, in a low-level API, you need to perform tests on all devices and browsers and check whether the video is streaming nicely on all platforms or not. In contrast, a high-level API frees you of such tasks and takes care of compatibility issues all by itself. You can focus on your core application development processes.
2.Browser and platform update capacities of the video chat platform API
In today’s fast-paced tech times, web browsers and mobile devices have the power to automatically update themselves. This way, users get to interact with new functionalities all the time. But with new updates, the way video feature functions also tends to change.
Let’s discuss this with the help of an example. Once Chrome changed its autoplay feature as a result of which many websites and apps were broken. This was quite a complex update. Now, those who must have used low-level web video conferencing API were required to fix their apps to work with the update. On the other hand, users of full featured APIs were not required to make any kind of changes.
3.Level of bandwidth management
One of the most important aspects of building live video chat for websites and mobiles is to make sure that the video calls work well on real world networks. If you want to stream live video calls, you need to have a good connection.
Developers tend to solve real-world network issues with efficient bandwidth management. As per the browser requirements, they tend to make adjustments to the live video stream during each call. When a developer has domain expertise, he can easily execute the changes without disturbing the server, device, or browser connections.
When you choose a high-level WebRTC video chat app API, it is extremely flexible and has in-built bandwidth management. It allows you to conduct smooth communications without any disruptions. Hence, it is always considered wise to choose a high-level API for your app development. A low-level API can lead to bad user experiences.
4.Type of video call UI kit
The type of UI and layout design offered by the video chat API is also one of the indispensable aspects that you need to consider before making a choice. Now, most of the traditional video APIs require you to create a video call user interface. They can also provide you with a UI kit. But that kit is not necessarily tested and has usually not gone through feedback cycles.
On the other hand, when you use a full-featured API, it takes care of all the UI requirements on its own. Not only this, it also allows you to customize your layout according to your communication objectives. Make sure that you choose an API that has a basic UI setting to select a microphone like a headset or AirPods. Well, this is one of the basic features that you should look at.
Also, one of the major benefits of using a flexible full-featured API is that all its
UI components are tested across different browsers and devices. It enables you to use a front-end library to customize how to display a particular UI component.
Be careful that you don’t choose a low-level web video API. It would require you to build the microphone interface from scratch. It would consume a lot of time and resources.
5.HIPAA compatibility of the web video API
HIPAA compliance is also regarded as one of the most crucial aspects to look for in a video chat API, especially for developers and organizations connected with PHI ( Protected Health Information).
HIPAA stands for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. It tends to set the standards for sensitive data protection. Failure to comply with HIPAA guidelines is considered to be against the law. The purpose of HIPAA legislation is to protect classified medical information from from unauthorised access. So, if you are a healthcare provider, insurance entity, or any organisation that handles protected health information, then it is utterly important for you to comply with HIPAA rules and regulations.
When you choose a low-level video call API, it does not generally involve HIPAA compliance. The low-level API provide will not sign a HIPAA Business Associate Agreement (BAA).
Hence, it is always a wise step to choose a high-level WebRTC Group video call app API that addresses the HIPAA compliance requirement.
Conclusion
We hope our article helped you understand the important aspects revolving the selection of a well-structured web video API. We recommend you to perform a detailed market research and choose an API that best suits your budget and video communication requirements. So, wait no more! Opt for the right API and start your application development process today. We wish you good luck for all your future endeavours. Happy video communication to you!
