Vonage 2010 Annual Report Download - page 12

customers to use the Internet connection for their computer an
d
telephones at the same time while ensurin
g
ahi
g
h quality callin
g
experience. We also offer a cordless multi-phone s
y
stem solution.
O
ur plu
g
-and-play Vona
g
e-enabled devices permit portability as
customers can take their Vona
g
e device to different locations
where broadband service is available.
S
ince May 2009, we
g
en
-
erally have not char
g
ed new customers
f
or the adapters permit
-
tin
g
use o
f
our service.
NETWORK OPERATIONS
O
ur network operations are conducted b
y
a wholl
y
-owne
d
s
u
b
s
idi
ary t
h
at
h
o
ld
s our networ
ki
ng equ
i
pment an
d
emp
l
oys t
he
p
ersonne
l
w
h
o
d
eve
l
op an
d
operate our tec
h
no
l
ogy
.
Th
e
V
onage networ
k
uses our customer
’
sex
i
st
i
ng
hi
g
h-
s
pee
db
roa
db
an
dI
nternet serv
i
ce to a
ll
ow ca
ll
s over t
h
e
I
nterne
t
either from a standard telephone through a Vonage-enabled
device or through soft phone software or mobile client applica-
t
ions.
O
ur service is not dependent on an
y
specific t
y
pe or pro-
v
ider of Internet service, and our customers are free to change the
p
rovider of their Internet service because of a competitive alter
-
native, or because the
y
have moved to a different location.
O
u
r
Vonage-enabled devices, soft phone software, and mobile clien
t
app
li
cat
i
ons a
ll
ow our customers to
b
e aut
h
ent
i
cate
d
an
d
aut
h
or
i
ze
d
to access to our networ
ki
n a secure manner
.
O
ur network is scalable and geographically distributed for
r
o
b
ustness,
hi
g
h
ava
il
a
bili
ty, an
d
re
li
a
bili
ty across mu
l
t
i
p
l
eca
ll
p
rocessing sites, which are responsible for call signaling and
aut
h
or
i
z
i
ng customer access to our networ
k
,an
d
reg
i
ona
ld
ata
i
nterconnect
i
on po
i
nts, w
h
ere ca
ll
s to non-
V
onage customers are
i
nterconnecte
d
w
i
t
h
t
h
epu
bli
csw
i
tc
h
e
d
te
l
ep
h
one networ
k
.
We
p
eriodically assess the locations of our regional data connectio
n
p
oints in connection with efforts to improve the qualit
y
of an
d
efficiency in deliverin
g
our service.
O
ur interconnections with th
e
p
ublic switched telephone network are made pursuant to a
g
ree
-
ments we have with several telecommunications
p
roviders. Unde
r
t
hese a
g
reements, we transfer calls ori
g
inated by our customers
t
o other carriers who connect the call to the called party. We pa
y
a per-minute char
g
e
f
or this. The calls are routed
f
rom our net
-
w
o
rk t
oo
th
e
r
ca
rri
e
r
s
’ int
e
r
co
nn
ec
t
ed c
ir
cu
it
sa
t
co
-l
oca
ti
o
n
fac
ili
-
t
ies in which we lease space. This method o
f
connectin
g
to th
e
p
ublic switched telephone network allows us to expand capacity
quickly, as necessary to meet call volume, and to provid
e
r
edundancy within our network. These connection points are als
o
used as data interconnection
p
oints with Internet Service Pro-
v
iders to provide the optimal networkin
g
path for all calls. Our
b
usiness is not substantially dependent upon our a
g
reements
with other carriers or our interconnection a
g
reements because we
can easily substitute other telecommunications providers in order
to ob
t
a
in th
esa
m
eo
r
s
imil
a
r
se
rvi
ce a
t
s
imil
a
r
cos
t
.
Because Vona
g
e’s system is not constrained to use any
sp
eci
f
ic broadband service
p
rovider to connect to our customers
,
we can centrally mana
g
e and share resources across ou
r
customer base to minimize capital investment when enterin
g
ne
w
m
a
rk
e
t
s
.
The
f
ollowin
g
are also important in supportin
g
our network
o
p
erations:
>
N
etwork O
p
erations Cente
r
.
We currently maintain a networ
k
op
erations center at our head
q
uarters and redundancies a
t
s
evera
l
po
i
nts w
i
t
hi
n our networ
k
.
Th
e networ
k
operat
i
ons
c
enter monitors and manages the status and health of our
networ
k
e
l
ements, a
ll
ow
i
ng us to manage our networ
ki
n rea
l
time, respond to alert notifications, and re-route network traf
-
f
ic as needed. We pursue a multi-faceted approach to
manag
i
ng our networ
k
to ensure
hi
g
h
ca
ll
qua
li
ty an
d
re
li
a
ble
c
ommun
i
cat
i
ons serv
i
ces to our customers
.
>
B
ack
O
ffice
S
ystems
.I
na
ddi
t
i
on to our networ
k
management
sy
stems, we have developed a number of software s
y
stems
that enable us to manage our network and service offerings
more efficientl
y
and effectivel
y
.Ke
y
aspects of these s
y
stems
i
nc
l
u
d
e
:
>
Network
Q
uality Metrics.
W
e have implemented a suite o
f
ad
vance
d
metr
i
cs gat
h
er
i
ng an
d
ana
l
ys
i
s too
l
st
h
at a
ll
ow
u
s to monitor the per
f
ormance o
f
our calling and dat
a
n
etwor
k
, customer prem
i
ses equ
i
pment, an
d
ot
h
er asso
-
ci
ate
d
ca
lli
ng e
l
ements
i
n rea
l
-t
i
me.
Thi
ssu
i
te
i
s propr
i
-
e
tar
y
and was developed specificall
y
to address the
n
ee
d
st
h
at
V
onage
h
as
i
n mon
i
tor
i
ng, ana
l
yz
i
ng, un
d
er
-
stan
di
ng, trou
bl
es
h
oot
i
ng, ma
i
nta
i
n
i
ng, an
d
operat
i
ng
a
w
orld-class consumer VoIP platform
.
>
W
e
bP
orta
l
.
We provide a
f
ull
yf
unctional customer We
b
portal that allows our customers to configure and manag
e
a
lmost all aspects of their service on the Internet without
requiring intervention of a customer-care representative
.
The portal permits customers to add and change features
a
nd phone numbers, update billing information, and
a
ccess all of their call usage and billing details
.
>
R
eport
i
ng
T
oo
l
s. To enhance our network operations e
ff
orts
,
w
eut
ili
ze
i
n
d
ustry stan
d
ar
d
mon
i
tor
i
ng too
l
s
.
>
E
mergency Calling Service and Enhanced 911 Service
.
W
e
have deplo
y
ed E-911 service to approximatel
y
99.97
%
o
f
ou
r
U.S. residential and small and home office customer base
t
h
at
i
s compara
bl
etot
h
e emergency ca
lli
ng serv
i
ces pro-
vided to customers o
f
traditional wire line telephone compa
-
nies in the same area. Our E-911 service does not suppor
t
the calls of our V-Phone, Wi-Fi phone, Vonage
C
ompanion,
a
nd Vonage
S
oft Phone users. The emergency calls of our
V
-Phone, Wi-Fi phone, Vonage
C
ompanion, and Vonage
S
oft
Ph
one users are supporte
dby
a nat
i
ona
l
ca
ll
center.
N
ot a
ll
V
onage pro
d
ucts requ
i
re 911 serv
i
ce capa
bili
t
i
es, suc
h
as ou
r
mobile client products. To enable us to effectivel
y
deplo
y
an
d
p
rov
id
e our
E
-911 serv
i
ce, we ma
i
nta
i
n an agreement w
i
t
ha
p
rov
id
er t
h
at ass
i
sts us
i
n
d
e
li
ver
i
ng emergency ca
ll
stoan
e
mergency service dispatcher at the public safety answerin
g
p
oint, or P
S
AP, in the area of the customer’s registered loca-
tion and terminating E-911 calls. We also contract for th
e
nat
i
ona
l
ca
ll
center t
h
at operates 24
h
ours a
d
a
y
, seven
d
a
ys
a
week to receive certain emergency calls and for the main
-
tenance of P
S
AP databases for the purpose of deploying an
d
o
perat
i
ng
E
-911 serv
i
ces.
Th
e
d
ata
b
ases
i
nc
l
u
d
e contact
,
technical infrastructure, boundary, and routing information fo
r
d
elivery of calls to a P
S
AP or emergency service providers i
n
the
U
nited
S
tates
.
>
L
oca
lN
um
b
er
P
orta
bili
t
y
.
Unlike certain of our VoIP com-
p
et
i
tors, our s
y
stem a
ll
ows our customers to port te
l
ep
h
on
e
num
b
ers, w
hi
c
h
a
ll
ows new customers to reta
i
nt
h
e
i
rex
i
st
i
n
g
te
l
ep
h
one num
b
ers w
h
en su
b
scr
ibi
ng to our serv
i
ces.
W
ere
l
y
o
n an agreement with a provider to facilitate the transfer of
c
ustomer te
l
ep
h
one num
b
ers.
I
na
ddi
t
i
on,
Thi
r
dP
art
yV
er
-
5