Predictive Dialer

What is a predictive dialer?

A predictive dialer is a type of automated dialer within call center technologies that is used to improve outbound call efficiency by automating the dialing process. It bulk-dials numbers from your contact list in a way that is optimized to ensure your agents always have callers readily available in their queue. This means your agents spend less time waiting for users to pick up their call, which can, in turn, significantly improve their efficiency.

With predictive auto-dialers, you can upload your entire contact list into the dialer system at once, and fully automate the dialing process. This also helps available agents place more calls and increase their productivity.

How does predictive dialing work?

Predictive dialers primarily function using smart call analysis algorithms that identify and analyze critical call metrics such as average waiting time and average handle time (AHT). These metrics are then used by the algorithm to calculate variables like calling frequency (number of calls to be made in a timeframe) and call delay (amount of time an agent can be engaged in a call before the next one is placed) that control the dialing process.

You can either install predictive dialer software directly into your contact center infrastructure, obtain it from a cloud-based service provider, or even purchase it as an add-on from your existing contact center solution provider.

Here’s a quick overview of how the predictive dialing process works:

1. Once the initial setup is done, the contact center database is uploaded to the predictive dialer software, and basic operational details such as calling frequency and call drop limits are configured.

2. Agents can then start placing phone calls, while the dialer records all important call data in real-time in the background. Metrics like average speed of answer and number of answered calls are collected by the software.

3. Once there is enough data, the predictive dialing algorithm takes over the process and starts dialing the contacts on behalf of the available agents. The number of concurrent calls that are placed, and the intervals between calls, are all monitored and constantly optimized by the dialer.

4. Every time an agent is about to end a call, the dialer makes sure that there is another answered call waiting in the queue. It also makes sure to screen and drop calls that are not answered by a human, or to leave voicemails on an answering machine, to ensure high response rates and maximum efficiency.

Example

Consider the following hypothetical call statistics recorded by a dialer:

• Only one in two calls gets picked up

• The average call duration is 60 seconds

• The average waiting time before a call is picked up is 10 seconds

Armed with these statistics, the dialer then starts placing two calls right when an agent is 50 seconds into their current call. This ensures that by the time that call is done, there’s an active caller on the next line, ready to be answered.

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How is predictive dialing different from preview dialing or progressive dialing?

Some familiar concepts that come up when discussing predictive dialing are preview dialing and progressive dialing. These are other forms of smart dialing that cater to teams with different needs than predictive dialing users.

Note that even though predictive dialing, preview dialing, and progressive dialing all seem to be individual dialing solutions, some advanced contact center solutions offer all of these as different dialing “modes” — allowing you to switch between these when necessary.

To quickly review the differences between these three types of smart dialing technology, here’s a comparison table:

Does your business need a predictive dialer?

Here are three quick questions you should ask if you’re unsure:

1. Does your business deal with a large volume of outbound calls?
   If your business has an outbound call center with high call volumes, a predictive dialer system can help streamline and automate your outbound voice process to a good extent — removing all the repetitive elements for your agents.
   

2. Is cost-per-call (CPC) one of your most important performance metrics?
   Cost-per-call can be an important indicator of call center efficiency, especially with cold calls. Shorter calls with higher frequency mean you can reach out to a larger number of prospects with the same time frame and budget allocation, and predictive dialers can help you achieve that.
   
   Learn more: How to Save Costs in Customer Care While Improving Customer Experience — According to Customer Service Industry Analyst
   

3. Is manual dialing taking up a lot of your agents’ time, along with high waiting times?
   With manual dialing, agents cannot place multiple calls simultaneously. Automating this aspect of the process using predictive dialers can help save a lot of time, which otherwise could be mundane and repetitive for your agents.

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How can predictive dialer software improve your call center’s operational efficiency?

Here’s how your contact center can benefit from implementing a predictive dialing system.

1. Maximize agent efficiency and customer satisfaction: lesser idle time for your agents means more time to interact with customers — which can translate into a positive customer service experience for your business
   

2. Fully automate the dialing process: no manual dialing means agents can spend more time delivering value to the caller, and also take a higher number of calls in the same period (and by using AI and automation, you can also route and assign calls based on the availability and occupancy of agents, ensuring the workload is evenly distributed)
   
   Learn more: How AI can make your contact center’s routing strategy more efficient
   

3. Increase the volume of answered calls: with a predictive dialer’s smart algorithms, you can decrease the call abandonment rate by ensuring your agents don’t waste time on irrelevant or unanswered calls, and improve the number of answered calls they make in the same period of time

4. Reduce call waiting times and manual dialing efforts: your agents won’t have to manually dial each number, or wait for each caller to answer, since the dialer ensures a sufficient number of active callers in the queue — and automatically adjusts the dialing rate accordingly

5. Increase outbound call volume: bulk-dialing your prospects becomes much easier with predictive dialers, helping you increase the frequency and volume of calls placed

6. Improve conversion rates, leading to higher revenue: the more valid calls your agents place, the bigger the audience you will reach — improving your chances of converting them to customers

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Boost your predictive dialing with Sprinklr’s contact center software

Contact centers often struggle to automate their outbound voice processes, resulting in poor agent productivity and overall efficiency. With Sprinklr Service’s predictive dialing capabilities, built on the world’s first unified customer experience management (Unified-CXM) platform, your business can make sure your call center agents are equipped with the best smart dialing capabilities to help maximize their productivity.

• Integrated voice capabilities with your contact center solution to provide a unified customer support experience

• Smart outbound dialers powered by continuously learning and improving AI models

• 360° customer view to understand previous customer interactions and provide relevant information upfront

• In-depth campaign reporting and integration capabilities with CRM solutions