I have a table that users need to scroll through and carry out specific actions. The actions are things like "Remove", "Flag", "Send to", but in the mockup below they're just Action 1, 2, etc.

Right now the idea is to have an 'action panel' to the right of the table, and when a row is highlighted, the options become accessible.

What are some other potential ways to present these actions without the use of a UI element external to the table?

I'm considering the use of contextual hover links (last mockup below) but this feels more like a navigational tool, than one with which to carry out the main action of this part of the interface.

^{download bmml source – Wireframes created with Balsamiq Mockups}