I-Link's Quantum Leap in IP Telephony Billing to Speed ILEC, CLEC, ISP, ASP and Wireless Adoption of Enhanced Internet Services

Business Wire, March 2, 2000

Business/Technology Editors

DRAPER, Utah--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 2, 2000

Unique billing problems caused by complex enhanced

calling features solved for I-Link's partners

I-Link, Inc., (Nasdaq: ILNK) an enhanced voice/data service provider, today announced completion and implementation of a next generation OSS (billing, provision, order entry, etc.) system that removes one of the most significant barriers impeding the adoption of enhanced Internet Protocol (IP) telephony services by traditional telephone companies. Billing for services such as Internet-based eight-way conference calling and call forwarding can involve simultaneous charges from eight different long-distance or wireless carriers. Existing billing systems, incapable of tracking activity on such services, have slowed adoption and deployment of enhanced telephony services. I-Link's new billing system tracks all enhanced services activity and is the only IP billing system in existence that is capable of passing all of these benefits through to its ILEC, CLEC, ISP, ASP, wireless and Broadband partners.

With many industry analysts predicting elimination of traditional long-distance charges, the industry imperative to deploy value-added enhanced services requires an infrastructure capable of capturing revenue from the new services. Using I-Link's innovative billing system, communications companies can rapidly deploy new enhanced communications services with minimal technical or operations infrastructure investments.

"Staying ahead of changing revenue models is as important to the growth of the communications industry as innovative technology," said Mark Colley, VP of Operations I-Link. "Unlike in the dot com industry, companies in the more mature telecommunications space must continue making money while they grow. Customer expectations and industry partnerships are merging the worlds of single sourcing services and billing. Enabling fast, new cost-effective revenue streams with our SoftSwitch Plus and state-of-the art OSS for our ILEC, CLEC, ISP, ASP, Wireless and Broadband partners makes their evolution to new I-Link services seamless and efficient."

I-Link's billing capabilities also allow for advanced billing functions such as mid-month reporting, dynamic quality control checks, wholesale billing and near term electronic bill presentment. As I-Link adds new services to the company's suite of enhanced IP telephony services, corresponding capabilities will be added to the billing system and passed through to its partners.

SoftSwitch Technology is the key

The core of I-Link's billing system resides within its SoftSwitch Plus technology and scalable database infrastructure. With its SoftSwitch Plus, I-Link can route, track and subsequently bill based on packets of information traveling through its communications network. The softswitch architecture includes resource allocation, routing and failure rerouting of devices, among other features, in the operating system layer. The operational layer provides services such as uniformed billing data collection, real-time monitoring of all network elements, troubleshooting and resource use mechanisms within the softswitch environment.

As a result of these features, communications carriers have an ability to collect customized billing information, monitor any network element in real-time and troubleshoot without building and deploying additional equipment or software.

On Feb. 23, 2000 I-Link announced the pioneering deployment of its softswitch, the first such device to operate within a commercial IP network.

How it works

Using current technology, a conference call between four people in different locations must be coordinated through a conference calling service. Customers are billed for all four lines throughout the entire time the call takes place. If one caller drops out of the conference, billing does not reflect that reduced line. With I-Link's enhanced services, up to eight callers can participate in a conference call initiated and hosted from any telephone, even a cellular phone. If one or more callers drops out of the conference, that reduced number is reflected in the billing system. This is possible because the I-Link SoftSwitch Plus is capable of tracking the activity and reporting the event to I-Link's billing software.

Another example of the I-Link SoftSwitch Plus tracking advanced features includes call forwarding, where users can transfer a call from a cell phone to office phone during a conversation without interrupting the call. Routing the call from a wireless service and then changing to a land-line service, and possibly back to a cell phone again during one call involves billing from wireless carriers and long-distance carriers. The I-Link SoftSwitch Plus tracks each of these changes in service use and reports them back to the billing software.

About I-Link

Headquartered in Draper, Utah, I-Link (Nasdaq:ILNK) 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 http://www.i-link.net.