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Predictive Dialer:
Guide & Sales Dialer Alternatives For 2024
Optimize your outbound call campaigns to reach more prospects faster while keeping downtime and call costs to a minimum.
Find out what a predictive dialer is, what it does, and how it works, and discover the best CloudTalk sales dialer alternatives to maximize your performance in 2024.
4,000+ innovative companies run on CloudTalk call center software
What Is A Predictive Dialer?
Predictive dialers are a type of auto-dialing software used in outbound sales to maximize agent productivity. The name is derived from the system’s key ability to predict agent availability and dial the next contact in a queue, even before the previous call ends.
Originally designed by Douglas Samuelson in the late 1980s, the technology has since moved from analog to digital solutions and become a common feature in VoIP call center systems, sometimes also known as a hosted predictive dialer.
What Is The Difference Between A Predictive Dialer, Auto Dialer, Power Dialer, And Smart Dialer?
Comparison
Auto Dialer
Predictive Dialer
Power Dialer
Smart Dialer
Overview
Auto Dialers are an umbrella term for hardware and software systems that allow users to make calls without needing to manually dial phone numbers.
Predictive, power, and smart dialers are all auto dialers.
Predictive dialers are systems that can anticipate call center capacity and initiate multiple calls simultaneously to effectively utilize all available resources.
Sometimes, it can boost successful calls by <400%.
Power dialers make one call at a time for each available agent. They don’t require complex algorithms and are perfect for more controlled outbound campaigns.
They can help you reach 3x more customers in a day.
Smart dialers go beyond the standard capabilities of a predictive dialer and allow you to make customized adaptive call queues with a single click from your browser or CRM.
They can lower call times by <50%.
Pros
Easy to use, minimal requirements, improves number of calls made.
Capacity prediction, non-human number filtering, performance tracking.
Pacing management, workflow automation, lower call abandonment
Intelligent call pacing, adaptive algorithms, ensured compliance.
Cons
No targeting, no additional workflow automation, can lead to burnout.
May overestimate capacity and cause call abandonment and burnout.
Slightly more downtime, smaller increase in daily calls, limited filtering.
Potentially more expensive, may require additional agent training.
Best For
Low-cost, high-volume call campaigns.
High-volume call campaigns with limited resources.
High-volume call campaigns with a personalized approach.
High-value, medium-volume call campaigns optimized for CSAT.
How Does A Predictive Dialer Work?
Predictive dialers initiate multiple calls from a list/queue of contacts, canceling the ones that don’t get a response in a predefined time frame and routing the ones that do to available agents, which allows businesses to maximize agent productivity at the call center level.
Meanwhile, it gives agents the time to properly attend each caller without having to worry about repetitive tasks, such as manual dialing and after-call-work (ACW), boosting customer satisfaction and conversion rates in the process.
To achieve this, predictive dialers use a pacing algorithm, which allows them to evaluate the call center’s currently available resources and adapt the number of call attempts and times between them accordingly. Predictive dialers do this based on the following factors:
- Average Talk/Call Handle Time: How long does a successful call take to conclude?
- Necessary Call Attempts: How many calls does the system need to make to connect?
- Abandonment Rate: How many people cancel the call before they connect to a rep?
- Agent Availability: How many agents are currently available to take an outbound call?
- AM Detection: Was the phone call picked up by a human or an answering machine?
- Do-Not-Call: Is the specific number on a DNC list, or can it be contacted freely?
- Callback: Will this specific contact attempt require an agent to call back later?
#1 Rated inbound call center software
Based on 1800+ CloudTalk reviews on 6 independent software marketplaces & platforms
Speed Up Your Sales
Eliminate tedious tasks like manual dialing, note-taking, voicemails, and on-call qualification with AI-powered sales dialers to maximize outbound efficiency and reach more leads faster.
Increase Revenue
Increase call volume, provide better experiences, and lower costs to maximize your revenue. Automate your sales team’s daily workflows, evaluate performance in real-time, and close deals.
Improve Agent Productivity
Get the most out of your sales team. Streamline daily operations with automated call queues and speed up resolution times with pre-written scripts, questionnaires, and on-call tagging.
Improve Connection Rates
Automatically account for time zones and prospect needs based on previous interactions to ensure your calls always reach the right person at the right time with the right messaging.
How Much Does A Predictive Dialer Cost?
The cost of a predictive dialer largely depends on the provider, the number of users, deployment, and additional features. Due to that, it’s difficult to give a specific number, but you can expect to pay anywhere between a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. On top of that, standalone dialers are fairly rare, so you may have to choose from a limited number of providers and end up paying more than you feel comfortable with.
So, what should you do?
The Cost-Effective Alternative: Hosted Sales Dialer Software
As mentioned above, predictive and other sales dialers are often bundled with other powerful automation features in VoIP and next-gen business calling solutions, such as CloudTalk. This allows you to get the most bang for your buck, as you can access 100+ features, including both a Power and Smart Dialer, and 35+ market-leading integrations for just $25 per user/month.
Furthermore, CloudTalk’s hosted sales dialer software is quick to deploy (1-7 days) thanks to its no-code architecture, easy to use, and fully remote-friendly. With this in mind, the question is…
Should You Use A Predictive Dialer?
If it makes sense for your business and nothing else will do, then absolutely! However, if you want to be as efficient as possible and care more about conversions than just the number of daily calls, you may want to consider trying CloudTalk’s Power Dialer. It offers the best of both worlds. But you don’t have to take our word for it. You can see it in action yourself.
FAQ
Are Predictive Dialers Illegal?
Predictive dialers are not inherently illegal, but they are subject to several laws and regulations that limit their use in order to protect consumers from unwanted or abusive telemarketing. This is the case in the US, Canada, UK, EU, Australia, India, and others.
Regulations include:
– Do-Not Call Regulations
– Consent Requirements
– Abandoned Call Requirements
– Time-Of-Day Restrictions
– TCPA Compliance
CloudTalk is compliant with all relevant laws and regulations, including GDPR, STIR/SHAKEN, and MAN compliant. You can learn more about our security standards here.
How Does A Predictive Dialer Work With A Cell Phone?
Analog predictive dialers don’t work with cell phones because they have to be wired via landline to function. However, hosted sales dialer solutions can be easily downloaded from Google Play and the App Store and used on any smartphone via an app like CloudTalk Go.