What Is a Publicly Switched Telephone Network (PSTN)?
The publicly switched telephone network (PSTN) is comprised of the world’s telephone infrastructure, including telephone lines, switching centers, fiber optic cables, cellular networks, satellites, and cable systems. It is a hard-wired landline telephone system, and it ensures that calls placed on phones move through the network to reach their recipients. Today, people may use PSTN for communications or Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) which is communications based on internet connections.
Key Facts About the PSTN
Here are some key facts about PSTN:
Originated in the late 1800s
Consists primarily of underground copper wires hardwired from homes and businesses to switching locations
Originally, telephone operators had to make switches manually by connecting wires
Fiber-optic cables now connect thousands of calls on a shared line
PTSN converts sound waves into electrical waves and then back to sound waves – within seconds
Cloud-Based Agility
Moving to the cloud will allow for faster, easier deployments, seamless upgrades, flexible scalability, and reduced capital expenditures associated with on-premises systems.
Connected Journeys
The contact center should support customer journeys across web chat and social messaging apps like Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and others.
Omnichannel Unification
Shoppers will be coming in from many different channels, so it will streamline the customer experience to route interactions using the same logic.
Customer Context
Agents must begin the conversation right where the customer left off online. When the customer’s needs are transferred to an agent in real time, your brand is creating a seamless transition from web to contact center. Remove customer stress, unneeded customer repetition, wasted time, and deliver a world-class customer experience
CRM Integration
Customer relationship management (CRM) system integration can improve the shopper experience by using CRM data to find the last person spoken to, use shopper purchase history to find the best expert, etc. In addition, once the connection occurs, your staff can access past interaction history and CRM information to understand the customer’s journey and deliver a more personalized experience.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
AI can deliver next- best-action recommendations and assist in responses that will improve conversion rates, increase shopping cart value, and speed up responses.
Real-Time Management
Supervisors should monitor messaging interactions in real time and assist if needed, even if they are not in the same location.
AI & PCI Compliance
Intelligent virtual agents (IVAs) can automate payment processing across digital channels and reduce your compliance risk by collecting sensitive customer data without revealing it to a human agent. Make sure that the IVAs can easily integrate with your payment gateways.
