Before wondering which dialer you should use, you should understand the different dialers there are and how they work. A dialer automates the process of dialing to an external contact number so that contact center agents are freed from manually dialing each number every time. This is crucial as the productivity of the call center largely depends on the number of calls addressed per day. Moreover, the dialer oversees re-calling any contact in case there were missed calls, calls on hold, calls not picked up, numbers out of service or connected to fax machines. Dialers try to have all the agents on call all the time.
In this article, we will focus in 2 dialers, Predictive and Power, and when should one or the other be used.
How do Predictive Dialers work?
Predictive Dialers work with an algorithm that works with statistical strategies, repeating previous patterns, that allow the dialer to dial the number on the database sequentially in a predictive way, without an agent on the line. The outbound dialer dials several numbers simultaneously and when a person answers on the other end, it automatically transfers the call to any available agent.
With this dialer, agents just wait for the system to transfer calls to them, without having the chance to decide whether they want to answer or not the call. The Dialer tries to have all agents busy all the time. However, with Predictive Dialers you cannot define the amount of calls that are going to be made, it’s the system that assigns them.
How do Power Dialers work?
The Power Dialer system, dials contacts while there are agents available to answer calls in the campaign. This means that as the agents became available, the dialer will make calls until it connects one with an available agent. This dialer also avoids giving the agent calls that are busy, not answered or not existing, so it delivers only calls that are actually answered. With Power Dialer, you have more control because there are two parameters: percentage of over-dial and maximum number of concurrent calls. Supervisors have the possibility of increasing the over-dial percentage or increasing the number of channels in order to increase the efficiency of the call center.
So, how do we choose between them? This depends on the quality of the list that you have and the capabilities that your contact center has in terms of channels. If you have a fixed quantity of channels assigned to a dialer and you do not mind having a higher abandon rate but have all agents on call, (classic example Sales Calls) then, you should go with Power Dialer. But if you want the dialer to adjust the maximum number of outgoing calls and a large amount of channels based on active agents, then Predictive is the way to go.