Today Skype announced that it has begun work with the W3c (World Wide Web Consortium) and the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) to let you call from within a browser more easily.

The company believes its ORTC API for WebRTC could make video and audio calls more prevalent outside of specialized apps by providing a powerful web standard that supports simulcast and variable bandwiths without the typical need for a separate plug-in.

The video platform is to be built upon common standards like the ubiquitous H.264 codec, whereas audio includes Opus, G.722, and G.711 support.

The team says it’s looking into adapting other current technologies to facilitate adoption, such as those for scalable video coding, while also looking forward to future technologies when ready.

Though its working primarily with the IE team, Skype says it hopes the standard will find widespread adoption and easy interoperability between browsers and current communications standards. For their part, other browsers have been working on WebRTC as well.

➤ Bringing Interoperable Real-Time Communications to the Web [Skype Blogs]

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