June 2022 Summaries

The Vonage Video API Application can benefit from Session Monitoring, which provides a reliable and secure way to monitor connections and streams in real-time, allowing developers to verify each connection to a video session and log each action for compliance reasons. The system uses webhooks to notify the application server about connections and streams published into a session, enabling fine-grained control of the time in which users are connected to a specific session. By leveraging Session Monitoring, developers can implement various use cases, such as limiting the connection time of users in a session, tracking the size of a session, and allowing only authorized users to join the session or limit the type of stream a user can publish. The system's flexibility in monitoring, storing, and reacting to events in real-time provides developers with a powerful tool to enhance their video applications' security and functionality.

Sellerz.io is a SaaS platform that provides real-time sales automation for B2B revenue teams, aiming to increase productivity by 40% by automating non-selling tasks such as scheduling meetings, lead research, prospecting, and data entry. The company was founded in May 2021 and has already gained traction from revenue teams who have experimented with its platform. Sellerz.io differentiates itself from competitors by introducing an innovative solution that eliminates the need for public calendars to book meetings, allowing prospects to initiate live video calls directly. The company's secret sauce lies in its AI engine, which routes incoming sales calls to the best available seller and enriches video calls with information about the prospect or company. As a bootstrap business, Sellerz.io has faced challenges such as targeting the wrong audience and selecting an initial video technology partner incorrectly, but has learned from these mistakes and is now focused on becoming the first on-demand seller-as-a-service platform for businesses in three years.

This series is hosted on the Vonage Dev YouTube channel and aims to share knowledge in bite-sized chunks. The goal of this video series is to demonstrate how to send SMS messages using Node.js with the Vonage Messages API. To get started, one needs to create a Vonage account, install Node.js and the Vonage CLI beta, set up the Messages API on their dashboard, generate a public and private key, and install the necessary dependencies. Once these steps are complete, one can use the Vonage server SDK to send an SMS message by specifying the recipient's phone number, the sender's phone number, and the content of the message.

Reachaus is an internet-based service aggregator platform that aims to bring together professionals and customers through a single app, offering transparent pricing and a multi-lingual platform for various on-demand services such as cleaning, babysitting, and consulting. The startup has bootstrapped until now but is exploring potential investments, and its CEO believes that Jeff Bezos' experience in growing marketplaces like Amazon can be valuable in navigating Reachaus' own growth plans. With a focus on customer-centricity and operational excellence, the platform aims to expand across Europe and become the number one services platform.

The Vonage Verify API is a product that allows developers to integrate two-factor authentication into their software using a Vonage account, with a built-in workflow for choosing delivery mediums and tracking verification attempts. A WordPress plugin has been created to wrap the API calls and integrate it into the WordPress login process, enabling site administrators to enable 2-factor authentication for users. To use the plugin, a Vonage Developer account is required, which involves creating an account, obtaining a Master API key and API Secret, and configuring the plugin settings. Once set up, users can configure their 2FA settings in their user profiles, and log in using the new sign-in flow that requires completing the Verify process by entering a PIN sent to their cellphone. The plugin has been released for general usage, and further integrations with other CMS platforms are planned.

Chris Tankersley, a seasoned developer advocate, returns to Vonage after a brief absence, taking on the role of Senior PHP Developer Advocate and Server SDK Initiative Lead. He brings over twenty years of development experience and a wealth of knowledge in helping build up the PHP community's developers through various technologies. As part of the new Integration team, Chris will work with developers to help them solve their problems and make Vonage APIs more useful, while also exploring ways to integrate Vonage with existing tools and products. With his extensive experience in programming languages like PHP, Chris is well-equipped to provide guidance on integrating Vonage with other products. He is also an author of two books, "Docker for Developers" and "The Dev Lead Trenches", and enjoys playing video games and Magic the Gathering in his free time.

Vonage Spring Hack is an annual bi-annual internal hackathon organized by the Vonage Developer Relations Team to foster innovation, collaboration, and creativity among employees. The event aims to raise empathy with developer customers, drive innovation, and enhance cross-team collaboration and education. This year's 2022 edition attracted 160 participants from 26 teams, who worked on projects around two themes: Customer Experience and Developer Experience, using Vonage APIs. The hackathon had a hybrid format, with some participants working from home due to the pandemic. The event featured various challenges, including an AWS Challenge, Best UI, and People's Choice awards. The winners were announced in May, with teams such as Team Ecosystem, Team Chat Widget, and Team HoneyBot receiving top prizes for their innovative projects. The hackathon received positive feedback from participants, who praised the creativity, competitiveness, and learning opportunities offered by the event. Overall, Spring Hack 2022 was a success, showcasing the power of collaboration and innovation within the Vonage team.