Microsoft has starting the developent of the ORTC API for WebRTC, a key technology to make Real-Time Communications (RTC) on Windows Explorer 11. The company plans to make browser-based calls more convenient by removing the need to download a plugin. You’ll be able to simply open IE and make a Skype call to friends, family, or get real-time support for that new device right from your browser.

Microsoft has been collaborating with the W3C and IETF to contribute and improve standards like the ORTC API for WebRTC to enable a wide range of features from simple conversations to scalable multiparty video conferences. The W3C ORTC Community Group has issued a "Call for Implementations," which signals the ORTC specification has reached significant stability.

The ORTC specification supports the underlying protocols as defined by the IETF RTCWEB Working Group, which enables support for advanced video conferencing technologies such as simulcast and scalable video coding. Microsoft is trying to to influence how a subset of ORTC objects and methods become part of the WebRTC 1.0 API. This would help the company provide a seamless transition from WebRTC 1.0 to a JavaScript object-based real-time communications model based on ORTC (i.e. WebRTC 1.1).

The primary video codec that is deployed both in communications endpoints and supported in hardware today is ITU-T H.264, which will be the supported video codec. For voice, we will offer codecs like Opus, G.722, and G.711.

Mozilla has been also exploring how to simplify communications over the Web with the recent release of the Firefox Hello, a new feature curently been tested by Firefox Beta users.