WHAT IS PREDICTIVE DIALER?

A predictive dialer is a computerized system that connects to multiple agents, has more outbound lines to dial on than agents using the system and dials phone numbers in a fashion to "predict" when a telemarketer will be available. Thus, trying to have a live customer ready for them to speak to faster than if the telemarketer is not using a predictive dialer. Some people may get a predictive dialer confused with a "preview dialer" or an "automatic phone dialer" like is included in database management software such as Act or Goldmine. These types of software are great for a salesperson who needs help keeping their phone calls/ leads/ appointments in order and they will even automatically dial a phone number when you tell it to. It will dial the phone numbers faster than a telemarketer can but will not "predict" when to dial a phone number to keep the agent busy as a predictive dialer will do.

A predictive dialer uses a complex mathematical formula that will try to "predict" when to dial a phone call while taking into account many different factors, which can include the average phone call length, average number of rings before a customer picks up the phone, percentage of dialed phone calls that are answered, average length of talk time on each phone call, number of telemarketers using the system and desired abandonment rate (this is the percentage of people you will not have a live telemarketer available to talk to and will have to hang up on or "abandon"). Currently, the FTC mandates a 3% abandonment rate meaning that for each 97 live people you connect a live telemarketer to you can hang up on or "abandon" only 3. You are also required to leave each of the potential customers you abandon a pre-recorded message. This is one reason that you will want to use caution when buying a used system as many used systems are not capable of this.

Using a hosted predictive dialer like the Promero's Hosted Call Center software has a number of advantages over owning a predictive dialer. Chief among them are:

• No start-up costs
• Easy installation
• No long-distance charges
• Our "Try-Before-You-Buy" means that you do not pay anything until you're done with the trial period
• Scalability to over 1000's of agents
• Remote functionality, enabling you to connect from anywhere
• Easy to use web interface
• Extensive "Real-Time" Reporting functions
• Easy to manage local or remote call centers
• Free support

One thing to look for when purchasing a predictive dialer is what you need the dialer to do. If you are simply looking for a way to have your telemarketers talk to more people per hour than they are currently, then a basic system will do, and may perform better than a much more costly and complicated system. If you are needing every feature under the sun, like digital recording, IVR, branched scripting, in-depth reporting abilities, inbound/ outbound/ blended features, wage calculators, etc., then you will want something other than a "basic" system. Just remember that the more options the dialer has, the more time it is going to take to run and maintain the system. If you do not need the very advanced features, then it may be in your company's best interest to get a "basic" system. Why purchase and have to maintain an expensive computer network with a ton of features that you don't need? If you or your current supervisor's job is to help the callers do their job better, then why purchase a system that is going to have to make you, or your supervisor, become a computer technician when their time is better spent coaching, controlling & motivating your telemarketers?

Auto Dialers:

Auto dialers are computerized systems that will call a potential customer and leave them a pre-recorded message instead of having a live telemarketer talk to them. Auto dialers are quite inexpensive when compared to predictive dialers, but are not suggested by Used Dialers for sales type calls, as most companies that we speak to who have purchased an auto dialer are not happy with the results. Before anyone purchases an auto dialer we strongly recommend researching the laws in your calling area, as the laws are very strict in most cases. Auto dialers are great for emergency notification, appointment reminders, but in our mind they are not suggested for sales type calling.