ADDING THE HUMAN TOUCH TO E-BUSINESS
Lynk White Paper

Lynk's E-Thru protocol is designed to provide another important security layer. Unlike the standard H.323 protocol, E-Thru uses one static TCP and UDP port to communicate with the Internet. The connection is established using the TCP protocol, while voice data is packetised over UDP and sent over the same port. This is a significant distinction from H.323, which requires dynamic TCP and UDP ports to establish connection as well as transfer the call data. There is no need to breach the security of your corporate firewall by opening the multiple dynamic ports required by H.323, since E-TeleLynk only uses a single static port that can be protected easily.

The E-TeleLynk plug-in is equipped with an adaptive technology that supports firewall address translation. Thus in business to business settings, where the user initiating the call is behind a corporate firewall, NAT or proxy, E-TeleLynk works without compromising network security.

How is Superb Quality Speech Transmitted over the Public Internet?

Customers making free calls over the Internet are often willing to trade off some voice quality for convenience, but they will not use the technology if it's too difficult to conduct a intelligible conversation. Lynk's strategy is to provide clear, crisp voice signals, as close as possible to those of regular telephone calls.

The public Internet is largely an unmanaged network that delivers packets to their destination using a "best effort" mechanism (i.e., Internet Protocol)-independent of the requirements of the applications. Packets may travel over separate routes before arriving at their final destination for decompression and reassembly. One packet may take twice the time of another packet to travel through the Internet or can even be lost in cyberspace. Transmission speed can vary dramatically depending on Internet connection speed on each end (i.e., available bandwidth) and overall congestion on the Internet. The challenge is to deliver time sensitive voice information over the Internet with minimal delay, echo, and gaps in conversation.

Lynk's E-Thru technology is a proprietary protocol designed to optimise voice quality over the public Internet. The technology employs a system to prioritise voice traffic within the data stream coupled with a powerful system to detect the quality of service and trigger an adaptive jitter buffering mechanism when required. Jitter delays or voice gaps caused by voice packets arriving out of sync are overcome by sampling the jitter and then dynamically changing the buffer size to smooth the conversation. The Gateway's lost packet interpolation feature offsets packet loss making it unnoticeable.

The conversation can also be hampered by acoustic echo, the disturbing echo generated by feedback between the user's microphone and speakers. This problem is not at all evident to the customer-only to the agent receiving the call. E-TeleLynk's acoustic echo canceller decouples the microphone input from the speaker output to significantly reduce or eliminate echo.

Another important E-TeleLynk feature is support for both full-duplex and half-duplex sound cards. A user who has a multimedia PC with only a half-duplex sound card or driver can either listen or speak to their party but cannot do both at the same time-each party must wait for the other to finish speaking. Communicating in this manner added to the inherent delay created by the Internet takes some getting used to. E-TeleLynk switches between "playing" (i.e., listening) and "recording" (i.e., speaking) functions rapidly, so that customers hardly notice they are only using half-duplex technology.

The combination of these techniques allows E-TeleLynk to achieve remarkably high quality voice over the Internet most of the time, helping to promote customer satisfaction and repeat business.

TYPICAL APPLICATIONS

E-Bank
Each year, hundreds of banks go online and new "virtual" banks pop up worldwide. Wannabe bankers can easily establish a Web presence using off-the-shelf technology and the services of outsourcers. E-Banks enable customers to view and manage their accounts and pay bills online. Some E-Banks offer sophisticated financial services, portfolio management, mortgages, and more. Given the climate of intensified customer service demands and more discerning customers, particularly when it comes to their money, E-Banks must continually improve their service.

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Until recently, a customer visiting an E-bank who was interested in discussing mortgage terms, for example, had to terminate the Internet session and pick up the telephone to dial an 800 number. Research by Net Effect shows that 67% of all Web surfers give up the transaction the moment they have to disconnect.

With Web call-through technology, Lynk has made it possible for E-Banks to improve relationships with their customers and differentiate their service. A customer needing help clicks on the "click & talk" button to call the bank's call centre. The customer then uses a multimedia PC along with a microphone and speakers to have a real-time conversation with the bank's representative. Since the telephone call is transferred over the Internet, there are no extra charges to the customer or the bank. The customer can stay online while the representative points out where to find needed information or forms on the E-bank's Web pages. The bank representative is able to guide the customer to a successful completion of the mortgage process.

ISP & Help Desk

Lynk is working with ISPs who wish to sell click & talk technology to their customers as part of their hosting package. Customers wanting to set up an E-Business can get everything they need-hardware, software, click & talk service, and Internet connectivity-from a single source.

A major local ISP is putting E-TeleLynk to use by offering access to its help desk and subscriptions call centre directly from the Web site. Customers in need of support any time of day or night can call through the ISPs Web pages by clicking on the E-TeleLynk button. Later, the ISP will provide new customers with free microphones together with the ISP's service package. The ISP is also an outsourcer of help desk services for several major high-tech companies. A unique click & talk button enabling customers to call the respective company's help desk appears on the ISP's Web pages.

E-Mall
Almost any type of business and any size business can go online to sell goods and services. E-Malls are typically real or virtual malls featuring multiple storefronts that have joined forces in order to appeal to a wider audience of shoppers and to lower their respective costs of sales. But an E-Mall can also be the endeavour of a single-merchant. The list of products and services that lend themselves to Internet selling is endless: perfume, CDs, books, apparel, flowers, software, hotel rooms, concert and airline tickets, appliances, toys and much much more. Thousands of companies around the globe have discovered that the Web allows them to enjoy higher margins due to reduced overhead and increased sales (aided by the fact that Internet users are usually of high disposable income). Catalogue makers, realizing the natural affinity between shopping via catalogue and shopping via Internet, are also tapping into the explosive E-Commerce market.

E-TeleLynk raises E-Mall shopping to a higher level by bringing human intimacy and instant service to the online shopping experience. Using Lynk's click & talk technology, one company set-up and hosts an E-Mall that enables the local community to contact hundreds of merchants in their area from a single Web site. The E-Mall saves merchants money on marketing costs and makes it easier for local merchants and customers to find each other. While browsing the merchant's online store, customers who need further information to make a purchase decision or just feel more comfortable giving their credit card details over the telephone, can speak with a real salesperson with a click of a button. Calls are routed to individual merchant's telephone numbers by the Gateway located at the host company's site. Lynk's technology enables the merchants to boost sales and customer satisfaction at minimal cost.

SUMMARY

The global electronic business market is booming, enabling companies to streamline their operations, develop closer relationships with customers and business partners, and increase sales. Web call-through technology raises E-Business to new heights by making it possible to deliver the human contact and instant attention customers prefer. In fact, Web call-through technology can be used for so many applications that it might be the next Internet revolution, and in just a few years from now there may not be a Web site that is not call-through enabled. The bottom line, E-TeleLynk gives your company the strategic advantage needed to succeed.

 

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