Vonage 2008 Annual Report Download - page 12

combining a standard analog telephone adapter, a broad-
band router and a wireless
(
WiFi
)
access
p
oint in one device
.
>
V
ona
g
e Bundled Cordless Phone and V-Portal
.
Our cordles
s
m
ulti-phone system offers customers further simplification o
f
equipment by combinin
g
aDi
g
ital Enhanced
C
ordless tele-
communications, or DECT, cordless phone s
y
stem, our
V-Portal and a router into one easy to install package. These
cor
dl
ess mu
l
t
i
-p
h
one systems are
d
es
ig
ne
d
to appea
l
to t
he
n
eeds o
f
mainstream consumers who are lookin
gf
or a whole
h
ouse solution.
>
V
-Ph
o
n
e
.
T
he Vona
g
e V-Phone is a USB compatible devic
e
designed
f
or use with our service. Vonage so
f
tware comes
p
re-loaded on the V-Phone and updates itsel
f
on the device’s
256 megabyte
f
lash drive without requiring the customer t
o
i
nstall any software on the host laptop or P
C
. The V-Phone
c
omes with a standard 2.5 millimeter stereo earpiece micro
-
p
hone and customers can make and receive calls by plug-
gi
n
g
t
h
e
d
ev
i
ce
i
nto v
i
rtua
ll
y any
Wi
n
d
ows-
b
ase
dl
aptop or
PC with a hi
g
h speed broadband Internet connection.
>
Vona
g
e
C
ompanion
.
V
ona
g
e
C
ompanion is a downloadable
s
oftphone that can be loaded on a laptop or PC. Vona
g
e
Companion has the same phone number as a customer’
s
m
a
i
n
V
onage p
h
one
li
ne an
di
ncom
i
ng ca
ll
s can r
i
ng to
b
ot
h
the main phone line and Vona
g
e Companion.
NETWORK OPERATIONS
O
ur network operations are conducted by a wholly-owned subsidiary that holds our networking equipment and employs the per-
s
onne
l
w
h
o
d
eve
l
op an
d
operate our tec
h
no
l
o
g
y
.
How Vonage
C
alls Work
Th
e
V
ona
g
e system uses our customer
’
sex
i
st
i
n
g high
-spee
d
b
roadband Internet service to connect a Vona
g
e-enabled devic
e
t
o our call processing complex over the Internet.
O
ur service i
s
n
ot dependent on any specific type or provider of Internet service
,
and our customers are
f
ree to chan
g
e the provider o
f
their Interne
t
s
ervice as they wish, either because of a competitive alternative,
or because they have moved to a different location
.
The Vona
g
e-enabled adapter adapts our customer’s existin
g
t
elephones to Vonage’s VoIP-based system. When a customer
pl
aces a ca
ll
on our system, t
h
e
i
r
V
ona
g
e-ena
bl
e
d
a
d
apter s
ig
na
ls
t
o our call processin
g
system to deliver the call either to the tradi
-
t
ional telephone network, or to another Vonage customer.
O
ur cal
l
p
rocess
i
n
g
system
i
s sca
l
a
bl
ean
dg
eo
g
rap
hi
ca
ll
y
di
str
ib
ute
din
f
our distinct Call Processin
g
Centers for robustness and reliability
.
The Vonage-enabled adapter converts the traditional analo
g
v
oice si
g
nal from our customer’s telephone into a series of I
P
p
ackets that are sent over his hi
g
h-speed broadband connection
,
across the Internet, to a VoIP media gateway at one o
f
our
Re
g
ional Data
C
onnection Points, where the packets are con
-
v
erted back into traditional public switched telephone networ
k
t
elephone signals. Vonage’s architecture has VoIP media gate-
ways an
d
connect
i
ons to our pu
bli
csw
i
tc
h
e
d
te
l
ep
h
one networ
k
term
i
nat
i
on partners at mu
l
t
i
p
l
e,
di
str
ib
ute
dg
eo
g
rap
hi
ca
ll
oca
-
tions
f
or capacit
y
, scalabilit
y
and reliabilit
y.
T
he voice functionality of the Vona
g
e-enabled adapters are
remotely con
f
i
g
ured and mana
g
ed by Vona
g
e. We can remotely
p
er
f
orm so
f
tware upgrades to enable new
f
eatures or address
o
perat
i
ona
li
ssues w
i
t
h
out requ
i
r
i
n
g
an
i
n-
h
ome serv
i
ce tec
h
n
i
c
i
an
o
r
ou
r
cus
t
o
m
e
r’
s
inv
o
lv
e
m
e
nt.
B
ecause
V
ona
g
e
’
s system
i
s not constra
i
ne
d
to use any
s
peci
f
ic broadband service provider to connect to our customers
,
w
e can centrally manage and share resources across ou
r
c
ustomer
b
ase to m
i
n
i
m
i
ze cap
i
ta
li
nvestment w
h
en enter
i
n
g
ne
w
m
a
rk
e
t
s.
O
ur web-based customer
p
ortal allows our customers t
o
mana
g
e most aspects o
f
their Vona
g
e service without requirin
g
the intervention of a customer-care re
p
resentative. Customers
c
an add and chan
g
e features, phone numbers, update billin
g
i
n
f
ormation and review their historical callin
g
and billin
g
record
s
using this self-service portal. Since we remotely manage th
e
V
ona
g
e-ena
bl
e
d
a
d
apters, customers see a common an
d
con
-
s
istent inter
f
ace, re
g
ardless o
f
what
g
eneration equipment the
y
may have
.
4
VO
NA
G
E ANN
U
AL REP
O
RT 2008