EnableX provides programmable APIs and SDKs for your user applications and thus contributes significantly to making real-time customer communication effective. However, as effective as this solution might be theoretically; practically speaking its performance depends on some other variables as well. For example, bandwidth availability. For a clear and high-quality voice and video call, the related data packets require a minimum bandwidth at the user’s end. However, that might not always be the case especially when calls are done via wifi or on mobile.
EnableX’s platform has several features which make the video communications more enjoyable for the end users even in low bandwidth situations.
Use of bandwidth-efficient codecs
Codecs play an essential role in data transmission by compressing the data while sending and decompressing it when receiving. A communication platform like EnableX is constituted by audio and video codecs. A codec that is operating on a low user bandwidth requires more computing power and vice versa. EnableX allows you to choose the types of audio and video codecs depending on the application and the environment in which it shall be used. EnableX’s platform supports a range of codecs for the communications session. A list of all supported codecs and bandwidth table is available under our developer portal at https://developer.enablex.io
Dynamic bandwidth monitoring and management
EnableX’s platform continuously monitors the client’s bandwidth and makes adjustments to the video streams accordingly. Our Active Talker comes in handy by automatically sending the video streams of the most recent speakers to the display window. With the active talker functionality, the platform can display a maximum of 6 streams to a participant during the video conversation. However, if the client end bandwidth fluctuates, the platform starts performing stream-based bandwidth management. The platform will start showing a lesser number of streams to the client whose bandwidth is going down. If the platform determines that the bandwidth has fallen below a threshold where no video streams can be displayed on the client’s device, the platform will continue the session by providing the maximum video streams possible without compromising on the quality. It can even switch to only audio if that is what the bandwidth supports. No part of the speech, context or overall communication is lost. Just that the end-user sees a lesser number of participants or it switches to audio-only when the bandwidth falls too low.
Video layout Control
It is also very pertinent that the video call layout you choose might agree with the bandwidth of the user who is going to stream the video. For example, four video streams during a video call will not only demand more bandwidth but it will also impact the user experience negatively as the size of each video stream will be very small. Thus, video layout should be carefully chosen depending upon the application use case, end-user device and type of geography from which the users will use the application.
Reconnect Feature
In the case of complete loss of connectivity for a short duration, your platform must support a reconnect feature without having to restart the session. EnableX’s platform allows the user to automatically reconnect after the network resumes or even when the user is transitioning between Wi-Fi and data. This provides for a much longer communication and also, a much-preferred user experience.
EnableX provides the developers and service providers with open SDKs and programmable APIs so as to customise the solutions in accordance with the application, the geography of the user and the device used by the user. With the above-mentioned features, we hope to provide a platform that makes for effective bandwidth utilisation and a much more delightful customer experience. Sign up today & receive your 2000 minutes credit on the EnableX platform. Let your application be more immersive!
