Vonage Receives Record Number of New Patents in 2016

HOLMDEL, N.J., Jan. 24, 2017 -- Vonage (NYSE: VG), a leading provider of cloud communications for business, was recently granted 13 new patents by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Vonage ended 2016 with 40 patents for the year, a new record for the Company. As of December 31, 2016, the Company owned 146 U.S. patents, with nearly 200 U.S. patent applications pending, along with many foreign patents and pending applications in jurisdictions worldwide. Among the latest patents issued is one that covers the Verify solution for Nexmo, the Vonage API Platform (Pat. No. 9,516,480 ). Verify is a proprietary offering for companies that depend on consistent, secure and reliable authentication of their users to run their businesses. By providing real-time identity verification that automatically selects an optimal channel for the verification, such as SMS and voice, and moves to a different channel where necessary, Vonage's Verify technology helps to streamline transactions, detect possible fraud, and trigger additional authentication when needed. "When we purchased Nexmo, we envisioned the countless opportunities for combining Vonage's depth in technology innovation, voice and network infrastructure, with the cutting-edge programmable capabilities of our API platform," said Alan Masarek, CEO of Vonage. "Verify reflects the power of that combination, enabling enterprises to provide their customers with robust and optimized authentication and identity management capabilities, without requiring those enterprises to deal with all of the complexity involved in providing those benefits." Global locator app Zenly enables users to connect with friends and family nearby, allowing for instant planning and get-togethers on-the-go. The Zenly app engages Verify technology from Nexmo, the Vonage API Platform, to confirm its user's identity, prevent fraudulent sign ups and assign phone numbers to each user, all within a single API that works globally. "Our mission is to make location sharing a joyful, secure and actionable experience for everyone," Alexis Bonillo, Co-founder & COO, Zenly. "Nexmo's Verify has provided the Zenly app with a 27 percent increase in global reach, in addition to a reliable and scalable phone number authentication solution. It also allows us to offer users around the world a real-time and innovative way to connect with loved ones that is precise, secure and device agnostic." Vonage was also granted patents for technology covering virtual phone numbers and Quality of Service (QoS), both of which are critical features for programmable communications platforms, in addition to patents that enable mobility of users on any device. Mr. Masarek added, "We are focused on continuously redefining communications to offer enterprises new and innovative ways for better employee and customer connections. These new patents reflect that commitment, providing solutions that help to increase mobility, improve flexibility, and enhance collaboration and productivity." Vonage's most recent patents also include:

• A patent covering techniques for efficiently allocating a pool of virtual phone numbers across a large user base (U.S. Pat. No. 9,521,112). Vonage owns several patents (U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,386,111, 7,680,262, 8,213,594, 8,064,582, and 8,588,387) covering its proprietary technology for virtual telephone numbers, which are an important element for communications services delivered through APIs.
• A patent for contextual sharing of call data, such as call recordings and call transcriptions, between applications on a mobile device (Pat. No. 9,516,153).
• Four patents covering improvements to QoS, including techniques for ensuring voice service continuity in the event of network failures (Pat. Nos. 9,516,067, 9,521,029 and 9,521,049); and improved routing based on testing of multiple routes (Pat. No. 9,509,744)  for optimal reliability.
• Six patents covering mobile technologies related to sharing on-demand presence between mobile devices (Pat. No. 9,516,162); enabling notifications for missed calls, unread messages, and new contacts for users of over-the-top VoIP mobile applications (Pat. No. 9,491,597); stabilizing screen orientation when the user is engaged in high-impact activities such as jogging (Pat. No. 9,501,813); and reducing end-user costs for international text and phone communications by routing communications locally where possible, thereby avoiding long-distance charges (Pat. Nos. 9,485,636, 9,491,610 and 9,491,600).

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