Predictive Dialers

When looking for a free predictive dialer there are a few options. One is a free trail from one of the various predictive dialer vendors. A second is option is the open source route. This can be quite involved, but some things to look into include gnudialer, osdial, and asterisk as well. Good luck in your search for information on free predictive dialers.

Finding the top predictive dialer for your business isn’t an easy process. Below please find some dialer terms to know before embarking on the selection process.

• Agent: person to whom a predictive dialer sends connected calls.

• Predictive dialer algorithm: predictive dialers use complex algorithms to adjust / optimize the system’s calling process based on a number of variables such as the number of agents, predicted availability of agents, expected percentage of called party answers, call lengths, etc…

• Auto dialer (power dialer): simpler than predictive dialers, auto dialers automatically dial telephone numbers and little more.

• Call blending: having the capability to handle both inbound and outbound calls.

• Dialer: this is a general term for a system which places outbound calls, then connects answered calls to call center agents.

• Hosted (VOIP / web-based) predictive dialer: service which provides predictive dialer capability over the internet. This way customers do not have to buy or maintain costly dialer hardware.

• Overdials: term used to refer to calls made when the dialer calls too rapidly, resulting in more answered phone calls than there are agents availble to handle the calls.

• PBX (switch): this is a private branch exchange that makes connections among the internal telephones of a private organization.

• Predictive dialer: a computerized system that automatically dials telephone numbers and connects calls to agents. These systems are heavily used in call centers as they maximize agent productivity in part by freeing the agents from unanswered calls.

• Silent (abandoned) call: a call in which the called party just hears silence or a call tone. These silent calls are often generated by a predictive dialer which hangs up when it does not have an agent immediately available to handle the call it placed.
  

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Algorithms play a central role in predictive dialer performance. If the system places too many calls then many of the receiving parties will get silent calls since no agents will be available. If the system places too few calls the call center agents will be left twiddling their thumbs. Getting the call rate just right is a balancing act, and that is where predictive dialer algorithms come into play.

Many parameter values feed into a dialer’s call rate algorithm. These values include expected staff availability numbers, total number of phone lines available, typical call durations, and call pickup percentage / number of achieved connections. The dialer system often tracks these values on an ongoing basis.

This page is related to: call center predictive dialer, predictive phone dialer, predictive autodialer, dialer software, top 10 dialers, top ranked, and outbound predictive dialer.