Videoconference System Based on WebRTC With Access to the PSTN

Abstract

The research presented in this paper introduces Rendez-Vous, which is a system oriented to provide its users with a greater communication availability through the convergence of the conventional telephony and the real-time multimedia on the web browsers. The system consists on a web application that provides a videoconference room for multiple users without having to download any additional software. For the cases in which a user with no internet connection might need to participate in a conference, it is possible to dial and answer phone calls to/from the PSTN directly on the web browser, allowing the telephonic user to interact with the others using his/her voice. The aim of the present project is to propose a unified communications system that differs from others mainly in the interaction with the telephone network directly from a web browser while having an active videoconference, allowing real-time exchange of media streams between these two technologies. The system Rendez-Vous was implemented with the use of WebRTC (Web Real-Time Communications) for the transmission of audio and video on real-time, Node.js as a web and signaling server, as well as the software Asterisk for providing telephonic access, along with jsSIP, which is a JavaScript library for implementing a SIP User Agent.