Predictive Dialer

Many people are quick to confuse predictive dialers with the old technology they were designed to replace, auto dialers. Before predictive dialers came along “auto dialers” were considered to be very premitive and unsophisticated tools of telemarketers and call centers. Although they managed to perform the task of automatically dialing numbers, that’s all they ever did. The predictive dialers of today are much more advance and but odly enough much easier to operate. While both are able to save call center agents time by automaticall dialing numbers, the difference between to the two goes far beyond simple automation.

Predictive dialers rapidly became popular due their “predictive” nature of being able to tell if there was a live person on the other end of the line instead of forcing agents to do it themselves. Predictive dialers are able to produce a massive increase in call center productivity because agents never have to waste their time dealing with busy lines, unanswered calls, or people who answer and then quickly hang up. This allows call center agents to make more calls, in less time, and with less effort. In fact, a 2002 survey showed that call center agents using predictive dialers spent 20% more time on the phone talking to real people as opposed to call center agents who didn’t use predictive dialers.

There are two main types of predictive dialer solutions available to businsses, the first is known as a “hard dialer”, or a hardware based dialer. Hardware based dialers are actual and phsyical computer equipment that is hooked up to the call center and managed locally on site. Hard dialers are popular with call centers who have complex telemarketing or contact needs, or call centers with exceptionally high calling volume.

The second type of predictive dialer is what is known as a hosted dialer, also known as a virtual dialer or web based dialer. With hosted dialers there is no hardware required except for a computer with internet access, the call center manager simply uploads and configures all of the call settings in the web based interface and then call center agents login to the website and begin performing their required tasks. Hosted and web based dialers were at one time considered only acceptable for smaller call center operations but with recent advances in technology and voip quality they are becoming more and more popular, even with major corporations who wish to cut down on costs and new call center operations that are on a budget.