ADDING THE HUMAN TOUCH TO E-BUSINESS
Lynk White Paper

Both concerns, quality and security, combined with important customer care issues, are resolved through Lynk's hardware and software solutions, capitalizing on the company's strengths in security, Quality of Service technologies and VoIP applications.

LYNK'S E-BUSINESS STRATEGY: E-TELELYNK

Lynk's strategy is to provide both the advanced technologies required to support demanding E-Business applications and the ease-of-use and instant access that grabs and retains customers. Lynk accomplishes this strategy through E-TeleLynk, a breakthrough Web call-through solution. This solution is comprised of the E-TeleLynk Gateway and E-TeleLynk plug-in for establishing click & talk functionality on Web pages.

E-TeleLynk uses hardware devices combined with Lynk's proprietary E-Thru technology to provide three main advantages:

The first is outstanding voice quality over the Internet. E-Thru ensures voice integrity by detecting the quality of service and triggering a dynamic jitter buffering mechanism. This is combined with other mechanisms, detailed later in this document, for a powerful voice quality system.

The second is a uniquely small plug-in. This plug-in, at about 50K, depending on your browser, is 15 times smaller than any plug-in of its kind presently offered. Thus, the E-TeleLynk plug-in can be downloaded in about the same time it takes to load a Web page. The customer simply clicks on the click & talk button on your Web site and talks to your company representative within seconds, while continuing to browse the Web or complete a transaction.

Lastly, the E-Thru protocol allows you to maintain the high-level of security you demand for your network by using a single static TCP and UDP port to transfer packets. Additional features are provided by the Gateway to secure against hacker abuses. (See Protecting your Telephony Network below).

How Does it Work?

When a customer clicks the E-TeleLynk click & talk hot link on a Web page, a window called "the monitor window" will open up. The first time the customer clicks the button the E-TeleLynk plug-in will be downloaded and installed to his/her PC (running Windows) in a matter of seconds. While typically about 50K, the actual download size depends on the browser being used-Netscape Navigator, Internet Explorer or any browser using ActiveX controls. (The plug-in is signed by Lynk's parent company, Better On-line Solutions, to indicate that it is a certified plug-in that can be safely installed on the user's computer.) When the monitor window is open a call is initiated. The VoIP gateway translates the number received to a telephone number according to its translation table, and routes the call using its Least Cost Routing table. The gateway can be set to send the call to another VoIP gateway that is closer to the destination of the call or directly to the PSTN network to terminate the call. Almost immediately, the customer hears the agent's telephone ring. When the representative picks-up, a real-time voice conversation is carried out, with the agent using a regular telephone and the customer using speakers, a Windows PC equipped with a sound card, and a microphone (or a basic headset for even better quality).

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There can be several E-TeleLynk buttons on a single Web page, each pointing to a different telephone number such as regional sales offices or individuals in an organization. The phone number behind each E-TeleLynk button is set by the Web site builder or network manager and is coded into the page's HTML code. The telephone number is sent to the E-TeleLynk Gateway using Lynk's E-Thru protocol. The gateway is essential to enable calls to be routed to and from the Internet and the regular telephony network and to provide advanced services and intelligence such as smart routing, packet compression/decompression, and more.

The E-TeleLynk gateway is an IP telephony gateway comprised of modular H.323-compliant DSP Plug and Play adapter cards that reside in a 1U rack mountable unit. The E-TeleLynk gateway provides real-time, two-way communications between a telephone connected to the PSTN network and the customer's multimedia PC connected to the Internet. This is achieved by connecting the gateway, on one hand, to the corporate telephone system (PBX, key systems) or directly to PSTN lines using a standard analogue (FXO, FXS) or digital (E1/T1 PRI) interface. On the other hand, the gateway is connected to the Internet network. TeleLynk Gateway adapters are available in different analogue and digital modes, starting from two analogue extensions/trunks and up to 90 digital channels per platform, to support companies with different needs.

Customizing for the Perfect Fit

The E-TeleLynk plug-in is fully customisable to fit your company's needs and Web site design. There are two steps to setting up E-TeleLynk:

1. Install and configure the E-TeleLynk Gateway at the desired location.
2. Add one or more E-TeleLynk "click & talk" link/buttons on the company Web site.

The first step is usually performed by a Lynk technician or the companies network manager and the latter is easily accomplished by your Webmaster or HTML designer.

The click & talk plug-in is actually a Java-script code that triggers a onetime installation of the VoIP client on the user's PC. Your HTML designer simply follows a brief set of instructions provided to add support for the plug-in and incorporate click & talk tags into your HTML pages. Included in the E-TeleLynk package are examples of how to integrate and customize E-TeleLynk click & talk buttons for your Web site. Each click & talk button is defined according to several parameters: Shape, colour, size, telephone number that should be dialled, and the E-TeleLynk Gateway's IP address. The monitor window, which the customer sees, is also an HTML code that can be customized by your Webmaster. The monitor window contains a written description of the status (for example, "connecting to Tom White ") and two clickable buttons: "Dial" and "Settings". The "Dial" button allows the customer to dial or hang-up, whereas "Settings" is used to adjust multimedia properties of the user's PC such as volume control and microphone sensitivity. The Webmaster can change the monitor window size, colour and buttons. Within minutes click & talk is ready to go.

Protecting your Telephony Network

Since E-TeleLynk is designed to be open and easily customized, the plug-in's HTML code is easy to view via the company's Web page. A hacker who copies your page can attempt to interfere with the gateway's operation or steal calls by changing the telephone number to be dialled via your gateway. E-TeleLynk is secured against such threats in several ways. To begin with unauthorized individuals cannot access the actual telephone number to be dialled. The number displayed in the HTML code of the click & talk button is merely a dial shortcut that is resolved by the Gateway's translation table. This translation table resides on the Gateway and cannot be reached without authentication and authorization.

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