PSTN is short for Public Switched Telephone Network which to us normal folk, its known as a telephone line!
What is a PSTN line?
PSTN is effectively an old technology using circuit-switched copper phone lines to transmit analogue voice data.
Its typically the phone line you have at home and in a small business.
As a dedicated service, a PSTN line can’t be used for any other purposes while a call is being made – it’s a call or nothing.
Alternatives to a PSTN line
Up until fairly recently, the main alternative to a PSTN line was an ISDN line.
An ISDN line enabled digital transmission of voice and data services and could handle more than one line at once.
If you’ve worked in an office environment you’d probably seen those (normally blue) cables that connect to your phone or computer.
In call centres, ISDN is very common and connected to a PBX, forms the basis of the contact centre technology.
Here comes the cloud
Contact centre technology is moving to the cloud at a rapid pace.
ISDN is gradually being phased out and replaced with VoIP or IP Technology that enables a host of features over the traditional ISDN including:
- No expensive hardware required
- Flexibility – scale up and down easily
- Ease of use – you don’t need an IT to run it
For smaller call centres, there are fully hosted solutions available where all you need is an internet connection and an IP Phone/Headset and you have a fully functional call centre.
For larger centres, you can privately host your PBX – it’s still a lot cheaper than the traditional options.
Next steps
If you’d like to find suppliers of cloud technology for call centres you can search our Business Directory or use our free CX Connect service and we’ll help you find the right suppliers for your business.
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