Predictive dialer vs power dialer – which one is good for contact centers

It’s no secret that maximizing talk time and minimizing agent wait time are important aims of any outbound call center project. This aspect makes auto dialers especially attractive in the eyes of call center admins. In particular, power and predictive modes assist your operations in tackling long databases as quickly as possible.

Choosing between predictive vs power dialer comes down to your project’s specifics, including the type of campaign you’re running, the size and quality of your database, the script your agents will be using and the number of agents in your team.

In this article, we’ll summarize the fundamentals of predictive and power dialing and give you some examples to help you pick the best option for your campaign. Unsure about ringing contacts this way? You’ll find some information on manual and mixed alternatives at the end, too.

Automatic dialing

If you’re running an outbound campaign with a large database, choosing an auto dialer is probably more suitable than ringing contacts manually. By saving time on dialing, you’ll be able to increase productivity, make more calls in less time and have quicker and better results.

In the following sections, you’ll read about the characteristics of two auto dialing methods, predictive and power dialing. We also included a few cases where these methods are typically used.

Predictive dialer for boosting efficiency

A predictive dialer is an intelligent outbound call processing and managing system that uses statistical data to help predict how many numbers need to be dialed at any one time, making sure that every agent is always in an active call.

Predictive dialers work by dialing numbers while agents are still in a call, often initiating more calls than the number of free agents on the line. By the time an agent finishes their previous call, the system has already dialed the next number. Once the operator finishes their current call, the dialer already has the next call ringing and ready to handle.

Therefore, the average waiting time agents spend between two calls is usually only a few seconds. The number of abandoned calls (i.e. a call initiated by the predictive dialer and answered by the customer while there are still no agents available to handle it) is usually kept under 3%. If it becomes higher than this, the system automatically decreases the number of calls it initiates for agents. With VCC Live’s highly customizable solution, the result can be up to 45 minutes of active talk time per hour.

▶ When to choose predictive dialing

If your campaign has at least five agents, a large database, a straightforward script and more or less similar call lengths, a predictive dialer can be a great option. These circumstances usually apply in massive B2C sales campaigns and in debt collection projects.

Power dialer for accelerated number selection and dialing

Power dialers automatically start as many calls as there are free agents on the line. Once an agent finishes a call and becomes available again, the system rings a new contact for them.

This method is especially useful in cases when customers have been promised a callback as power dialers automatically schedule and initiate them. Agents still need to wait for the ringing period to end and for customers to pick up, and they might encounter voicemail. In short, this option helps decrease dialing time between two calls.

In comparison to predictive mode, which start more calls than the number of free agents on the line, power dialers initiate only as many calls as the number of free agents on the line. As a result, they are ideal for smaller teams working with 1-3 operators who cannot handle the number of calls a predictive dialer normally initiates but still wish to save a certain degree of time on dialing.

▶ When to use power dialer

A power dialer can be ideal for B2B campaigns where agents require more pre-call and afterwork time than what their predictive counterpart would offer. It’s also suitable for social and political surveys as it allows agents to prepare for personalized conversations and schedules callbacks for them automatically.

Manual dialer for handling complex issues

Are you unsure if automatic dialing is the best option for you?

Perhaps you don’t want to risk overdialing and disturbing contacts with calls where there’s no agent on the other end. Perhaps your agents need long preparation times for a specific campaign, and taking things slowly could lead to better results.

In these cases, choosing manual dialing might be a suitable option, as it gives agents time to prepare for the conversation, allowing them to get acquainted with the customer’s case and details. It’s perfect for complex issues when agents need to go through scripts and make sure they are fully prepared for a conversation.

▶ When to choose a manual dialer

Having a manual dialer gives more control for highly personalized campaigns with long prep times. It’s also suitable for customer service teams who need to follow up on previous calls. This method can also be an ideal solution for teams handling customer interactions on several channels, such as email and chat.

▶ Combine manual and auto dialer

Even if you need manual and automatic dialing in the same project, VCC Live has solutions for you. The system is flexible enough to handle both at the same time. This can be set up in two ways.

You can either segment your database, and determine which contacts will be dialed automatically vs manually within the same campaign. This solution is recommended if your agents are promoting a new product, and you plan to use different scripts for non-customers and already existing ones (and perhaps a third script for VIP customers).

Alternatively, you can divide your agents into different groups and assign different contacts for them based on how you want these numbers to be dialed.

More resources to boost your outbound campaigns

Now that you’ve picked the right dialer based on your project’s needs, check out these posts to make your outbound projects even more successful:

• 5 features you may not be using (yet) in your call center scripting software
• Effective ways to leverage outbound IVR in the call center
• 5 contact center metrics for successful outbound sales