Twilio Acquires Kurento, Launches Voice Insights

  • Tuesday, September 20th, 2016
  • Author: Tim Maytom
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Twilio_logo_redVoice and video messaging software maker Twilio has acquired the team and technology behind the Kurento WebRTC Media Server, as well as announcing the launch of a new Voice Insights service.

Twilios cloud-based software is used in apps including Whatsapp, Uber and Airbnb to power text, voice and video messaging, and the news could lead to improved voice calls and perhaps even the introduction of video chats to these services.

The deal with the team behind the Kurento Open Source Project will see Twilio acquiring the proprietary WebRTC media processing technology to create cloud-based APIs for advanced video applications that can access real-time media processing. The technology will give app developers the ability to analyse, transform, augment and store video and audio streams for a multitude of uses, all through a simple API.

The Kurento team will also join the company to lead the integration of the technology, and develop further advanced video features for web and mobile apps. The Kurento Media Server will by integrated into Twilios Programmable Video service.

The new capabilities will enable developers to address the more advanced needs of enterprise and large-scale consumer video applications, as well as next-generation video apps that deal with technologies including augmented reality, computer vision and the Internet of Things.

“When we started the Kurento Project, we wanted to create a powerful media processing engine built for the world of WebRTC,” said Luis Lopez, CEO and co-founder of the Kurento Project. “We knew it could only be successful if we delivered this capability as a cloud service and gave it to developers through a simple and well-built API.

“Twilio has one of the best sets of APIs and joining forces with their team enables us to complete this vision and bring our work to Twilios million-plus registered developer accounts.”

“Twilio and the team behind Kurento share a common vision of enabling developers through powerful platforms and straight-forward APIs,” said Jeff Lawson, CEO and co-founder of Twilio. “As Twilio takes another step on our mission to fuel the future of communications by enabling developers, were excited to join forces with the builders of Kurento to extend the uses of our video platform.”

As well as the acquisition, Twilio also announced it was introducing Voice Insights, an API accessible series of network and device metrics that will provide developers with the ability to monitor performance during WeBRTC calls, programmatically adjusting apps in response to varying conditions.

The service aims to improve caller experience, which can still be hampered by network congestion and underpowered devices, especially in areas with unpredictable internet connectivity.

Voice Insights will provide real-time call quality warnings, enabling developers to diagnose network and device problems and even display prescriptive actions to users, advising them to check connections or move to areas with better network coverage before they are cut off.

“With more than a billion minutes of WebRTC calls made through Twilio, we have learned a lot about network and device variances that affect call quality,” said Patrick Malatack, vice president of product management at Twilio. “With Voice Insights, we are giving developers the tools to build better experiences for their customers.”