I-Link Again Pioneers IP Telephony
First to Make Voice-over IP Conference Calling and Text-to-Speech Enhanced Services Available Nationwide to Third-Party IP Telephony Programmers
I-Link's GateLink Programming Interface Allows Linux, Windows and Unix Application Builders to Offer Complex Internet Telephony Services to Customers Without Hardware and Development Costs
DRAPER, Utah--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 16, 2000-- I-Link, Inc. (Nasdaq:ILNK - news) an enhanced voice/data service provider, today announced another pioneering step in IP Telephony communications. As of today, the company will offer its patented Internet Protocol (IP) conference calling service and its text-to-speech service to third-party telephony applications developers. Application developers using I-Link's GateLink(TM) open-API programming platform for enhanced Internet Protocol (IP) communications will for the first time be able to add conference calling and text-to-speech features to their customized communications offerings on a national scale without deploying a single piece of network infrastructure.
By having telephony services created with GateLink and hosted on the I-Link network, developers save time and money by avoiding the risks and capital investments needed to create and deploy these types of advanced services themselves. Through the GateLink API interface, application programmers can already resource a full range of IP Telephony enhanced telephone services including: one-number call routing, caller screening, unified voice, fax, pager and e-mail messaging and voice-and fax-on-demand.
With the newly available services, users will have the ability to conduct seamless conference calls with an unlimited number of participants. The text-to-speech feature will deliver a variety of Internet conveniences to users via telephone, such as the ability to listen to e-mail messages, receive verbal notice of appointments or listen to updated stock quotes. As a result, service providers have a low-cost method to deliver highly complex communications services to the end user.
``We have made it our goal to pioneer quality enhanced services and make them readily available to application developers around the world,' said Alex Radulovic, founder and CTO of I-Link. ``For almost no investment, developers can create new services and have them deployed for commercial or corporate use. With GateLink there is no risk-taking, no need to try multiple API libraries that only work on a `box' basis and no need to sift through the `islands' of technical bits. Writing to GateLink means writing once for nationwide deployment, forgetting about lower layer details and focusing more time on the creation of the user solution.'
GateLink lets programmers build software that connects to I-Link's service platform, utilizing its enhanced communications operating system. Third party organizations can then deploy the enhanced communications services immediately, running them over I-Link's nationwide IP communications network. GateLink supports Linux, Windows and Unix operating systems, making the network available to any organization without constraints based on existing software or operating systems.
The conference calling and text-to-speech services are connected to SoftSwitch Plus, I-Link's programmable software-based switch and operating system that is supported by GateLink. I-Link's softswitch architecture includes resource allocation, routing and failure rerouting of devices with the network. The company adds a brand new benefit to traditional softswitch architecture with its operating system layer, which provides services such as uniformed billing data collection, real-time monitoring of all network elements, troubleshooting and resource use mechanisms within the softswitch environment.
About I-Link
Headquartered in Draper, Utah, I-Link (Nasdaq:ILNK - news) is an enhanced voice/data service provider. With its software defined network architecture, I-Link simplifies the delivery of unified communications today. I-Link offers a full range of enhanced services such as one-number call routing, caller screening, unified voice, fax, pager and e-mail messaging, voice-and fax-on-demand, conference calling and seamless call transfer from cell phone to land-line and vice-versa via a direct connection to its nationally deployed Internet Protocol telephony network. For further information visit I-Link's Web site at i-link.net. |
