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A case study on how Link3 Technologies Ltd. achieved the reputation of

exceptional service provider through their communication practices.

Company studied:

BUS500/EMB500 Term project Date: 10-04-15

Faculty: Prof. Alauddin M A Wadud,BP

Group 7 Members:

NAME ID

Shantanu Roy (Representative) 1513026660

Hasibul Islam 1512714690

Khalid Mohd. Sayed 1512828660

Kazi Md. Imran 1330664660

Shahin Mohammed Samiul Haque 1512937660

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Letter of Transmittal

Date (10/04/2015)

To: Prof. Alauddin M A Wadud,BP

Department of Business Administration,

School of Business Studies,

North South University.

Subject: Submission of assignment on “Case Study on Business Communication”

Dear Sir,

Here is the assignment that we were assigned on the topic as per your request. The

assignment has been completed by the knowledge that we have gathered from the course

“Business communication”.

We are thankful to all those who provided us important information and gave us valuable

advices. We have tried to complete this assignment meaningfully and correctly, as much as

possible. We would be happy if you read the report carefully and we will be trying to answer

all the questions that you have about the assignment.

Sincerely,

Shantanu Roy

(Group representative)

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Acknowledgement

The successful completion of this report might never be possible in time without the help some

person whose inspiration and suggestion made it happen. First of all I want to thank my honorable

faculty Prof. Alauddin M A Wadud for helping me completing my report on “Case Study on

Business Communication”.

We would like to acknowledge Mr. Mashhurul Amin Nobin (Assistant General Manager,

Marketing), Mr. Ferdous Wahid (Sr. Manager, Technical), Mr. Mahmud Hasan (Deputy Manager,

Human Resource) and other employees of Link3 Technologies Ltd for their sincere co-operation

while preparing this report.

I would also like to thank Mr. Hasibul Islam, one of my group member and also the deputy

manager at Link3 technologies Ltd. He helped us by providing all the information for this report

to be developed. Without him this case study would have been very difficult.

And finally I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all my group members who made an

effort to make this report informative.

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Executive Summary

Link3 Technologies Ltd. is currently the fastest growing Internet and intranet service

provider. With the view point of valuing the customer’s needs as the top most priority, Link3

Technologies Ltd. has a distinguished and satisfied client group to whom they have already

provided services. The company has achieved this reputation through effective communication

with their valuable customers and efficient communications within the company.

The company categorizes its customers into four types:

Retail

Bank & NBFI

Corporate

Government

Retail – Home broadband connection.

Bank & NBFI – Intranet connection. Data connectivity within the organization/between branch

offices.

Corporate – Corporate internet connection for business organizations.

Government – State owned organizations.

Each of the categorized customers are communicated differently. Link3 adapts to the

specific customer category to communicate efficiently and effectively.

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Through their communication practices, link3 have gained popularity and currently Link3

has the following customer profile:

• As on December 2014, Link3 provides services to 56 out of 61 banks in Bangladesh.

• 3000+ bank & ATM locations are connected via Link3 network.

• Over 50000 home users.

• More than 3000 corporate customers.

Link3 has a very efficient “Service Delivery” department which efficiently communicates

between the customers and the internal departments to provide the best solutions.

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Table of contents

Contents Page no.

Chapter 1 Introduction 7

1.1 Company overview 7

1.2 Methodology 8

1.3 Organization’s Management 9

Chapter 2 Internal and external communication 11

2.1 Internal communication 11

2.2 External Communication 12

2.3 Communication techniques according to customers. 15

2.4 Service Delivery team 25

Chapter 3 Conclusion 31

Reference 32

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Chapter 1: Introduction

1.1 Company overview

Link3 Technologies Ltd. is the market leader in Bangladesh in providing Intranet solutions as

well as broadband Internet services through Fiber Optic and Radio Link connections. Link3

Technologies Ltd. has a distinguished and satisfied client to whom they have already provided

services. Link3 has the largest subscriber base in Dhaka and has spread its POP (Points of

Presence) so that they can provide connectivity at any location from Narayangonj to Gazipur

and Savar, i.e. the whole city is covered through our network coverage.

Business information:

Link3 Technologies Ltd. is holder of the following licenses:

• Nationwide DDCSP (Domestic Data Communications Service Provider) License

• Nationwide Internet Service Provider (ISP) License

• Nationwide 3.5 GHz Exclusive Frequency License

Key Products of Link 3:

• Dedicated Bandwidth Internet

• Wide Area Network

• Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS)

• International Private Leased Circuit (IPLC)

• Video Conferencing Service

• Spam Protection Service

• Security Products and Services

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Link3 Milestones

• August 2000: Link3 starts its journey

• September 2001: Chittagong City

• February 2002: Sylhet City

• July 2003: Khulna & Barisal Cities

• March 2005: Link3’s internal backbone becomes completely fully operational with

redundant links over Radio

• June 2005: Link3’s own fully operational network covers entire Dhaka city

• August 2007 to present: Design and roll-out of SDH network alongside Layer 2/3 MPLS

VPN

There are more than 1100 employees working at present at Link3.

1.2 Methodology

I would like to make sure that I have all the necessary data required to come up with effective

result. Therefore, I have combined both primary and secondary data collection method.

Primary source of data:

Interview of manager working at Link3

Documentations Provided by Link3.

Secondary source of data:

Internet

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1.4 Organization’s management.

The organizational structure is shown in the following diagram.

CEO

Chairman

Managing

Director

CMO CTO CFO CHRO

Strategic

Marketing

Head Of

Admin

Corporate

Marketing

& Sales

Bank &

NBFI

Marketing

& Sales

Retail

Sales

Help Desk

Service

Delevery

Network

Operation

Center

Vertual Private

Network

IPTelephone

Fiber NOC

Wirelss

Infrastructure

Fiber

Infrastructure

Network

Monitoring Center

Web

Accounts

Credit Control

Supply Chain &

Procurement

Credit Recovery

Store

Finance

General

Administration

Safety &

Security

Software

Customer

Support

Fig: Organogram Of Link3 Technologies Ltd

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The arrows in the diagram shows the direct communication between departments or personnel.

Formal communications occur with the directly connected blocks downwards. Link3 believes

in informal communication when they usually talk to each other, this type of communication

creates better understanding of the employees and helps to adapt to them. But, to submit a

proposal, report to their management, they prefer to email communication better.

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Chapter 2: Internal and external communication

2.1 Internal communication.

The flows of communication within the organization may be upward, downward, or

horizontally directed. Link3 has downward, upward and sometimes horizontal communication

flows. The flows are briefly explored in the following.

Downward Communication:

Downward Communication is that from superior to the employee under him/her, and from

policy maker to operating personnel.

Five elements of downward communication are following:

Job instruction: Teaching new or current employees how to do a particular task. Or

assigning the employee with new task. These type of messages are passed usually using

emails, memorandums or by speaking in person.

Information: Orientation to the company - its rules, practices, procedures, and history.

These type of messages are usually provided by arranging a training session, a meeting, or

for less important reasons, memorandums or emails.

Feedback about job performance: Supervisors evaluation or appraisal of employee

performance. These type of messages are passed usually by speaking to the employee in

person or sending him/her an email of appreciation.

Ideology: The effort to convey to and install in employees a degree of enthusiasm, loyalty,

or support for the organization. This is done through arranging seminars or meetings.

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Upward communication: When management requests information from lower organizational

levels, the resulting information becomes feedback to the request. This is called upward

communication. This communication keeps management informed about the feelings of

subordinates, helps management identify both difficult and potentially promotable employees,

and paves the way for even more effective downward communication.

2.2 External communications.

The company is very active when it comes to external communications. Link3 communicates

differently with different type of customer. The very basic variation in customer type is the

new client and existing client.

Service Delivery

Credit Control

Sales

Technical

Fig: General Communication Flow chart with a New client

New Client

Prcoument

Accounts

Store

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New clients have a different requirement than an existing customer. A new network is

being set up for the new client, the client needs to communicate directly to the technical team

to ensure their tech-support. This is done through email and then through a conversation over

telephone. The same process is applied to communicate directly to service delivery team, credit

control team and sales team to ensure proper monetary and technical dealings.

Existing clients can not directly communicate to the departments because they have already

a fully set up network, and needs only the maintenance support. They are first to face the help

desk, where link3 provides efficient support team, who then route the complaint towards the

respective department. Before the routing is done, there is a ticketing process, where the

customers’ complaint is recorded in a format. The summarization part of the ticketing format

is given below as a sample.

(N.B. the actual ticket contains more detailed information)

----------------------[Help Desk]---------------------- Ticket was forward to : Fiber Infrastructure Client Name : Secretary, Ministry Of Civil Aviation & Tourism Problem Category : Link Down Media : P2M (Fiber) Source of Information : Mr.Siam-01674923XXX Client inform us : Link down. Preliminary Findings : Client have already replugged the patch cord and restarted the ONU. But the problem remain same. Please check and forward the concern team. LED Status : power and lan1-on,pon-off,Los-red Informing Person : n/a Complain Received By : SHAWMI EMONA ONTY Fault Occured Time : 8/04/2015 3:00 PM [8/04/2015 3:11:34 PM] Complain Acknowledge Time: 8/04/2015 2:59 PM [8/04/2015 3:11:34 PM]

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The respective department is communicated about the complaint, and the customer is provided service by the “Service Delivery” department.

Existing Client Help Desk

Technical

Sales

Billing

Service Delivery

Fig: General Communication Flow chart with an existing Client

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2.3 Communication techniques according to customers.

Communication with Client:

For a successful business, Link3 mostly focuses on communication with the customers. Their

current business policy focuses on the relationship with their clients for more than half of their

business communication process. Their communication flow with the customers are broader than

the other communications within the organization.

Link3 has categorize its client into four main groups.

1. Retail

2. Bank & NBFI

3. Corporate

4. Government

Retail client:

Retail clients currently are a huge part of Link3’s business. It is the latest addition in their business.

Link3’s retail business is growing by the days as they have covered almost all the major areas in

Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet. Due to its fast and huge growth, the company is highly focused on

their current retail customers.

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There are two sub categories in retail customers.

a) VIP Client ( MD, Chairman, High officials of different organizations, Foreigners)

b) General Client

VIP retail client:

Link3 treats their VIP retail clients with a bit more importance. Their VIP retail customers consists

of MD, Chairman, High officials of different organization and foreigners. The communication

process is also a bit different than the regular retail customers. It is because VIP customers prefers

uninterrupted high quality internet service and willing to pay price for it. Service matters more to

them rather than the pricing. If the service quality can be maintained, they are most likely to

become a dedicated customer for the organization. Also, these customers are a source of

advertising to other organizations and individuals as well. The communication with the VIP

customers are given below.

With new VIP retail client:

1. As for reaching to the client, company has a policy to send the brochures, booklets and

other advertising materials through mails or e-mails. These materials are highly focused on the

service and quality of the service they are selling. These are basically for initial approval from the

clients.

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2. After the confirmation of the approval from the clients over phone or mails, Link3 basically

arranges a meeting with the client. A meeting is arranged with the potential client with a target to

complete a contract.

With existing VIP retail client:

1. Link3 has a policy to monitor the connectivity of the VIP retail client closely at all time. If

the customer faces any problems with the connectivity and traced before customer makes any

complains on the helpdesk, the basic policy is to contact the customer over phone or e-mail or

SMS as soon as possible and provide assistance immediately.

2. If the customer complains on the helpdesk, the regular procedure is followed with high

priority and a dedicated concerned person is informed about the individual’s problem.

Media of communication:

1. Face to face meeting

2. Email

3. Phone

4. SMS

5. Mail

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With general retail client:

General retail clients are basically any clients who don’t fall in to the other three main groups or

the VIP retail clients. In numbers, currently these clients are the biggest part of the customers of

Link3 and still growing. The growth of these customers brought a huge change in the policies of

Link3 business. They are currently one of the main focused clients of the marketing team, as

reaching these customers require a lot of research, surveys and attractive advertisements.

With new general retail client:

1. Reaching these customers is a bit tricky, since a lot of time the service matters as well as

pricing for the services. General retail customers requires a good service within a reasonable price.

A lot of promotional activities are done from the organization with the intention to reach these

customers. These includes reduced pricing for the first month, free servicing for a given period of

time etc.

2. One of the successful ways of reaching the customers is the conventional way of publishing

posters, banners and billboards on the public places. In Bangladesh, it is more far reaching and

more successful.

3. Advertising in the social media has a widespread impact on reaching the retail customers.

The social media advertising includes Television, Radio, Newspaper, Internet, Social Networks

etc.

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4. A client can directly contact with a sales person calling the helpdesk and learn about the

services and offers available for the general retail customers. Most of the communication with the

general retail clients happens through the helpdesk.

With existing general retail client:

1. Existing retail client can communicate with Link3 initially through the helpdesk 24/7 for

service related issues and complains over phone, via mail or SMS. The helpdesk provide assistance

and instructions over phone or via mail to the customers in solving the issue and complaints.

2. If the issue cannot be solved from the helpdesk, the problem is firstly identified and raised

to the concerned personnel or department about the issue. The customers are provided with service

or solution over phone and even by physical presence by that concerned personnel or others from

the concerned department.

Media of communication:

1. Email

2. Phone Calls

3. SMS

4. Television

5. Radio

6. Social Network

7. Newspaper

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Communication with Bank & NBFI:

Banks & NBFI (Non-Bank Financial Institution) are one of the most valued customers of Link3.

Link3 has a dedicated group of people for reaching these organizations. Reaching these clients

requires dedicated and strong policies. Banks and NBFIs requires an uninterrupted and undisturbed

services, which means the connection must stand at all cost and the connection must not be

disturbed. There must be no bugs on the existing connection at all cost since this organizations

deals with various financial activates as the interruption or a bug in the service may cost a huge

deal of problem for the customers and service holder of these financial organizations. So there

must be a promising service from Link3, which includes special policies. Communication with

these financial organizations are mostly formal written communications. Reaching these clients

also requires a different approach and system.

With New Bank & NBFI Client:

1. For advertising, Link3 usually initiates and arranges a formal face to face meeting with the

banks and other financial organizations. These meetings are solely focused on advertising on the

service that can be provided from Link3. These meetings does not fulfill any contracts and does

not end up with any agreement regarding contractual services.

2. To make contracts with these sort of organizations, Link3 marketing team has to attend

tenders. Banks and NBFIs generally do not make contracts with any sort of organization for

services without tenders. The tender gives the contract to the organization, who can fulfill the

required services with the lowest possible charges. Only after a tender agreement, contracts can be

obtained from these financial organizations.

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3. In some exceptional cases, these organizations personally contract with an existing service

employee in requirement for emergency services. These sort of communication completes a

contract on the basis of priority services. Link3 mostly able to complete these contracts if the

required service are is within their coverage area.

With Existing Bank & NBFI client:

1. A dedicated team is provided to monitor the service 24/7. If any interruption or problem

occurs within the service, the client contacts with a concerned person or department over hone or

via email directly without getting through the helpdesk.

2. Most of the problems or complaints from these organizations are handled directly by the

concerned personnel with very high priority as immediately as possible.

Media of communication:

1. Face to face

2. Email

3. Phone

4. Letter

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Corporate Client:

Communications with corporate clients are valued with higher priority in Link3. They are high

valued and mostly dedicated customers of Link3. If services can be maintained with no

interruptions and problems, corporate clients are the best possible clients for organizations like

Link3. Corporate clients usually takes services in a bulk, so communications with the corporate

clients are handled carefully as per Link3 business policy. The bigger the corporates and the bigger

the service taken, the higher the priority is given to the clients. Link3 business policy has prioritized

the corporate customers as one of their highly valued clients. Most of the corporate clients have

dedicated personnel for their services and solutions.

With New Corporate Client:

1. Link3 sends the brochures, booklets and other advertising materials through letters or e-

mails. These materials are highly focused on the service and quality of the service and the solutions

they are selling. These are basically for initial approval from the clients.

2. After the confirmation of the approval from the clients over phone or mails, Link3 arranges

a meeting with the client. A meeting is arranged with the potential client with a target to complete

a contract. The meeting focuses overall services and the solution that can be and will be provided

from Lnk3. These meetings discusses not only the service but also the ability and the possibility

of other technical parameters as well. The meeting consists of the overall service that can be

provided from Link3.

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3. A few corporate customers’ contacts with a sales person over phone with the requirement

of emergency service that can be provided. These sort of services are mostly provided on the basis

of capability and possibility of future contract.

With Existing Corporate Client:

1. A dedicated team observes and maintain the quality of service. If problems can be

identified, the team immediately communicates with the client over phone or via mail. Also,

maintenance and solutions are provided in person depending on the problem after a confirmation

over phone with the client.

2. If a corporate client complains to helpdesk or a technical person, the complaint is handled

as per regulations with higher priority and the concerned personnel or department is informed

about it immediately. Then, the complaint is handled depending m the severity of the problem and

priority of the client.

Media of communication:

1. Face to face

2. Email

3. Letter

4. SMS

5. Phone

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Communication with Government:

Governments is also one of the biggest clients of Link3. Most of the services provided to build a

good faith and image of the organization. Link3 has a lot of existing contracts with the government.

Government contracts require to handle with care and in target to build a good faith.

1. Government contracts can be obtained by attending tenders. Link3 has obtained all the

existing contracts through tenders. Government contacts requires a huge deal of services all over

the country and existing office. The requirement of these contracts are mostly uninterrupted

services. Due to its capability in a wide range, Link3 has obtained a lot of these contracts in terms

of ability of providing such a huge network services

2. After earning the right to make a contract with the government, Link3 arranges a meeting

with the government officials in target to complete the contract and discuss the details of the

required services.

3. Most of the government complains and solutions are handled via a dedicated team in

service of the government requirements. The complaints are made wither via mail or over phone.

The solution team provide the solution with initial arrangements.

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2.4 Service Delivery Team

The service delivery team works at the heart of link3’s communication. It provides all the

communications between departments and routes any complaints towards the respective

department.

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Potential Customers:

Potential Customer is someone who is capable of becoming a purchaser of Link3’s internet

services. They are the future of the business growth. Without converting the potential customers

to actual customers Link3 would not be able to sustain in the future. To make sure potential

customer are turned into actual customers below is the communication flow followed by Link3’s

Service & Marketing Department, Credit Control and Technical Team.

1) Service Delivery Department receives potential customer information from the various

marketing activity initiated from the Marketing department.

2) Service Delivery Department then sorts the potential customer information according to

the service packages the potential customer has shown interest in.

3) The potential customer’s information is then studied by the marketing department and they

gather survey report from the concerned technical team.

4) With the gathered information marketing department sends a price proposal with service

details in the form of brochure and flyer is sent to the potential customer.

5) Once the potential customer responds to the Marketing department communication, they

send the information to the Service delivery department with all the gathered information of the

customers selected internet service package.

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6) The service delivery team then sends order to credit control department to ready the new

installation bill of the customer.

7) After readying the bill the credit control department forwards the bill to the Service

delivery department.

8) The service delivery department then communicates the new installation bill charge to the

customer.

9) After the customer pays of the bill the service delivery system then checks with the

concerned technical team to set up a new service installation.

10) The concerned technical team then communicates the new setup installation update to the

service deliver department.

11) The service delivery department then communicates the new service installation status to

the customer.

12) If there are any service issues faced by the consumer they contact the service delivery

department.

13) The service delivery department then communicates the service issue to the Help Desk.

14) The Help Desk then communicates the service issue with the concerned technical team to

figure out the service issue.

15) The concerned technical team then checks the installation and sends a status report of the

service issue to the Help Desk. The concerned technical team also updates the service delivery

department.

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16) The help desk then communicates the status of the service issue sent by the concerned

technical team.

17) The service delivery department then communicates with the customer and concerned

technical team to check if there are no further service issues.

Communication Medium Department wise.

Service Delivery Department Medium of Communication:

Telephone/Mobile

Email

SMS

Credit Control Department Medium of Communication:

Email: Credit control department always prefer to use email as the tool for communication

with other departments within the organization. This is because they use deal with billing

and finance which require documentation and reference.

Telephone/Mobile: This form of communication tool is used for departmental

communication widely to get updates of bills and other financial mater.

SMS: SMS are used only during urgent communication between intra and inter

departmental communication.

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Marketing Department Medium of Communication:

Telephone/Mobile: This form of communication tool is used most frequently and widely

to contact and reply to customer queries and share offer updates. Also it is used for inter

and intra departmental communication.

Email: Emails are the most common form of communication tool to update consumers of

new offer and send e-brochure and e-flyers. Moreover, they are used to communicate

between departments when documentation is required.

SMS: It’s used frequently to update new and potential consumers of the latest offer on

internet packages.

Brochures: It a small book or magazine containing pictures and information about services

offered by Link3. These are used to communicate latest service offers by Link3 to its

consumers when they arrive at physical stores and service centers.

Flyer: It is a small handbill or leaflet advertising the latest services. These are used to

communicate special service offers by Link3 to its consumers when they arrive at stores

and service centers.

Technical Team Medium of Communication:

Telephone/Mobile: Most of technical team’s communication takes place over telephone or

mobile. This form of communication tool is used for departmental communication widely

to get updates new service instalments and service issues.

SMS: SMS are used frequently for urgent communication for immediate service

installation and service issues.

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Email: Emails are the most common form of communication tool to get instruction on how

to solve a particular service issue with in departments. It is also used to communicate and

update of service issues within organization departments.

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Chapter 3: Conclusion

Link3 believe on strong customer relationship. To build a long lasting relationship with the existing

customers, the technical team often goes beyond their regulation in solving the customer

complaints. Which builds a strong image about the services and the quality of the services of the

company within the customers. Link3 has a strong service delivery team who build a respective

bonding with customer & Internal section. From this report we can conclude that Link3’s

communication flow is well defined and is really overwhelming to see such clarity and direction

in communication between consumers and departments. Not only is the communication flow

effective it helps in a large way to achieve its organizational such as customer service and smooth

departmental workflow. The communication process of Link3 helps the organization to enlarge its

business and grow in the future. So there is no doubt that “Link3 Technologies Ltd. is achieving

the reputation of being an exceptional service provider through their communication practices.

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References:

https://www.link3.net

A personal interview with high official of Link3 Technologies Ltd.

HR Policy Document of Link3 Technologies Ltd

Service SOP Document of Link3 Technologies Ltd

Annual Report of Link3 Technologies Ltd