PSTN transfer reservations

Although transferring calls to Mindful Feedback via SIP is our recommended best practice, it is also possible to send calls to Mindful Feedback via the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). This article provides a general outline of a generic PSTN-based integration.

Transfer Calls via PSTN with Metadata

When transferring calls via the PSTN, which does not support metadata, it is still possible to associate contextual metadata with surveys via API.

Use the following steps as a guide to configuring your telephony system to route calls to Mindful and attach context via API.

  • Acquire a pool of PSTN numbers based on your requirements. Ensure that each number is configured in Mindful Feedback with a Default Survey Association. To learn more, see Add a Survey by Default Survey Association.
Note:

The default survey association does not need to reference the same survey that the API request will reference. You can use a default survey for inbound calls.

  • At the point in the customer interaction at which all required context is known, still prior to transferring the call, make an API call to Mindful Feedback to create a new PSTN Transfer Reservation. Pass the attributes needed for the survey interaction, such as the name or ID of the agent, the type of interaction, or customer data.

  • Capture the API response, which will contain an attribute named inbound_number.

  • Immediately transfer the call to the number returned for the inbound_number attribute. Mindful Feedback will match the data passed in the API request to the inbound phone call that arrives on the specified number. Mindful Feedback will then parse the data from the request into the survey attributes.

Important:
  • Data passed in an API request is only reserved for approximately 10 seconds. It is important to transfer a call to the inbound_number immediately after making an API request.
  • If a subsequent request is received for a PSTN Transfer Reservation before the previous call's reservation has expired, and there are no numbers associated with a default survey in Mindful Feedback, then the oldest reservation will be rewritten.
  • If there are not enough numbers available for near concurrent transfers using this method, it is possible data will be associated with the wrong survey phone call. Use an Erlang B calculator to ensure your pool of numbers is large enough to allow for near 0% blocking.