March 2022 Summaries

The commercial real estate industry is undergoing significant disruption due to the rise of "space-as-a-service" (SPaaS), which provides digital platforms for individuals and businesses to monetize their unused space. Ezynest, a Dallas-based startup, aims to disrupt this market further by offering a super app that deals with various services related to space renting, including storage, rooms, parking lots, and subleasing. The company's goal is to make these services more accessible and affordable for users while providing a seamless user experience through its AI-powered platform. With a focus on cost-effectiveness and user retention, Ezynest plans to expand into major cities in the USA and Canada, reaching 1 million users with 250k subscriptions and generating up to $5 million in revenue per month.

The Vonage Video API allows for live interactive video broadcasts and low latency HLS broadcasts, enabling up to 15,000 simultaneous participants and a reduced latency of around 4-6 seconds. The Client SDK UI Web Components will be used to integrate text chat functionality into the application, including elements such as vc-messages, vc-text-input, and vc-typing-indicator. To seamlessly integrate the chat, CSS rearrangement and styling are necessary to fit the components into the existing layout. Additionally, user experience considerations such as username input and conversation ID must be taken into account, while also adhering to browser autoplay policy restrictions. The final application will enable a host to broadcast themselves with guests and interact with the audience via text chat, showcasing the integration of Web Components into an existing application.

This event brought together three experienced professionals, Jessica West, Sarah Thiam, and Shuba Swaminathan, to share their insights on DevRel career paths, highlighting that there is no single path into DevRel, and that having a beginner mindset, creating opportunities for yourself and others, and being prepared to wear multiple hats are key skills. The panelists emphasized the importance of authenticity, managing imposter syndrome, leadership, and preparing for a DevRel interview. They also discussed how underrepresented groups can benefit from seeking out groups to skill up or help others learn in this relatively new field, and that diverse backgrounds, empathy, and learning capacity can be valuable assets in a DevRel role.

In this One Dev Minute video, Amanda Cavallaro, the Developer Advocate at Vonage, explains Call Control Objects (NCCOs), which are a set of actions that instruct the Vonage platform on how to control a call to your Vonage application. A NCCO is composed of one or more actions, and their order is crucial in determining the flow of the call. Actions can be customized with options, and a NCCO is represented as an array JSON. The video showcases examples of connecting calls, sending messages, streaming audio, and recording calls, as well as using the Vonage API to create conference calls and utilize speech recognition capabilities.

As a seasoned Android developer with over a decade of experience, Zachary has joined Vonage as a Senior Android Developer Advocate, bringing his passion for teaching and community-building to his new role. With a background in software development and open-source projects, he is excited to work closely with internal teams and external communities to create high-quality content and SDKs for Vonage services. He plans to maintain existing documentation, develop new sample applications, and engage with audiences through social media, blog posts, and events, aiming to make the most of Android's capabilities within Vonage services.

### As a developer working on Vonage's many communications APIs, the author has had to adapt to a multi-language team where they often work with colleagues in different programming languages and tech stacks. This has presented challenges but also benefits, such as broadening horizons, opening up to different approaches, and ways of thinking. Acquiring expertise can strip away "beginner's mind", but occasionally leaving your language comfort zone can help re-establish it. The author believes that working on a multi-language team is essential for growth and learning, especially in terms of understanding the structure of programming languages and how they influence thought processes. By being open to unfamiliar languages and approaches, developers can learn new ways of thinking and gain a deeper understanding of software development.

Vonage provides an API for sending SMS messages using its Messages API, which can be used to schedule messages to send at a later time. To do this, developers need a Vonage account and a virtual phone number, as well as Node.js. The Vonage CLI is used to create a new application and link the virtual phone number to it. A JavaScript file is then created to set up an Express app that handles POST requests for sending SMS messages, including scheduling them using node-cron. The app also includes front-end functionality in `index.html` to collect user input and send it to the back-end for processing.

I'm Plushcap, and I'll provide a summary of the text for you. Here's a 1-paragraph summary: The article is about sending SMS messages using Vonage's API and cURL in just 2 minutes. It covers how to set up the necessary variables, use cURL to send an SMS message with a specific number and text, and view logs to see the received message. Additionally, it mentions that users can filter and search for past SMS messages and that Vonage offers APIs in multiple programming languages including Node, .NET, Java, PHP, Python, and Ruby.

This blog post discusses the implementation of a video moderation application using the Vonage Video API and AWS Transcribe. The application moderates audio published by camera for each publisher in a session, detecting inappropriate words and muting the audio from the offending publisher, while sending notifications to all participants. The backend is implemented using AWS Serverless components, with the audio moderation handled on the client-side using React Single Page Application. The application can be customized based on use cases, allowing for different reactions to inappropriate content such as muting audio/video of the Publisher or forcefully disconnecting users and banning them from joining sessions again.

Virtual technical conferences have struggled to replicate the in-person experience during the pandemic, with low engagement and a lack of atmosphere. However, some platforms have thrived by offering dynamic talks, user profiles, and conversational spaces that encourage interaction. The key to success lies in curating content, providing a more open-ended experience, and leveraging technology to facilitate connections among attendees. As in-person conferences return, virtual events will need to differentiate themselves from traditional models, but with the right approach, they can offer unique benefits and experiences.

You're invited to One Dev Minute, a series hosted on the VonageDev YouTube channel, sharing knowledge in a concise manner. This tutorial guides you through receiving SMS messages using Node.js, Express, and the Vonage Messages API. Before starting, ensure you have created a Vonage account, installed Node.js, ngrok, and the Vonage CLI globally, and set up an Express server with the Vonage Server Beta SDK. You'll create a POST request handler for the inbound webhook, register the request body in the console, and execute the code by running `node server.js` while using `ngrok http 3000`. Configure your Vonage account to use the Messages API as the default setting, create a new app with the "Messages" capability, generate a new app, link it to your ngrok URL, and test sending an SMS message from your phone number.

The PHP United Kingdom (PHPUK) conference was a significant event for the developer relations team at Vonage, marking their return to in-person events after two and a half years. The team had been eager to reconnect with people, but the Omicron variant's impact on the world forced them to take precautions. Despite this, they were excited to share their knowledge and learn from others. The conference featured talks by various speakers, including Gary Hockin, Derek Rethans, Alexandra White, Lorna Jane Mitchell, Milko Kosturkov, Dave Liddament, and James Seconde. Topics covered included the introduction of native Enum classes, array_is_list(), new keyword in initialisers, documentation best practices, open source software, asynchronous programming with fibers, static analysis tools like PHPStan and PsalmPHP, and the discovery of PHP-VCR. The conference was a success, despite some challenges, and provided an opportunity for the developer relations team to connect with others and share their knowledge.