Question

What are the implications of encryption on my Vonage Video API app?

Applies To

• Video API
• Encryption

Answer

Does encryption require any interaction with the user?

No, everything happens under the hood without any interaction with the user.

Does encryption require any change in my Video API-based applications?

No, the Vonage Video API doesn’t change. The Video API does not expose these low-level details to developers.

Does encryption have an impact on the bandwidth and quality of the video conference?

Yes, but the impact is very low. It increases the length of each audio and video packet by 8 bytes, but that is less than 1% of the typical bitrate of a Vonage Video API session. Regarding the delay, the SRTP encryption framework was designed specifically for real-time applications, and the impact is not noticeable at all.

Does encryption have an impact on CPU or battery consumption?

Yes, but the cost of encoding and decoding audio and video is significantly higher than the cost of encrypting and decrypting.