Best Predictive Dialer Software
Buyer's Guide
Most outbound sales and marketing calls either never get answered or go straight to voicemail. If you’re running a call center, you’re probably as familiar with this problem as Douglas Samuelson was — the man who invented his revolutionary predictive dialer software in the 1980s.
Modern predictive dialers can screen and eliminate busy signals, hang-ups and answering machines to ensure that agents only connect to live calls. They’re the perfect call center solution for optimizing your outbound campaigns and boosting lead generation. But with so many choices on the market, arriving at a decision can be daunting. This buyer’s guide can help you make the right choice. Let’s learn more!
Executive Summary
- Predictive dialer software automatically dials numbers with the best chances of being answered and then routes answered calls to available agents.
- Predictive dialers are available as standalone applications or as a part of a more comprehensive call center management platform.
- Before making a final decision on which tool to use, make sure to ask the vendor any questions you have and ensure that it meets your specific needs and requirements.
What Is Predictive Dialer Software?
Predictive dialer software is a type of auto-dialer that dials numbers in the background and then automatically routes answered calls to available agents. It can dial multiple phone numbers simultaneously, upload call lists, screen for busy signals or volumes and more. It helps reduce idle or wasted time resulting from manual dialing or unanswered calls.
The software can make “predictions” by feeding data points, like average call length or rate of abandoned calls, into statistical algorithms. This allows it to predict when agents will wrap up a call and be ready to answer the next one, and which connections will most likely be fruitful.
In call centers, predictive dialers can also be used for better resource allocation. When the availability of agents is higher than the number of calls, the software dials numbers more frequently. Similarly, if agent availability is less than the average talk time, the tool adjusts accordingly to avoid keeping customers on hold.
Predictive dialer software can enhance your outbound campaigns, optimize the use of time and resources, and help your agents generate more leads.
Primary Benefits
Let’s take a look at some of the primary benefits of predictive dialer software.
Faster Outbound Calling
Predictive dialer software allows your call center agents to field more calls by automating the tedious and repetitive task of dialing numbers manually. The software can line up the next call before the agent is done with their current call so that once they hang up, they can immediately move on to a new contact.
Integrating technology into your call centers can empower agents and make them more efficient at their jobs, creating superhuman agents.
Better Queue Prioritization
With high call volumes, agents can often find it difficult to prioritize their call lists. Predictive dialers can help optimize agents’ queues by prioritizing which caller gets initial calls and callbacks first based on time zones, conversion potential and more. It also arranges outbound calls based on the agent selected. You can adjust your call schedule based on time zones to encourage higher pickup rates from important clients.
Combining this with call center scripting software can help improve lead generation and boost sales. Hubspot found that making the sales process more efficient is a top priority for two-thirds of professionals surveyed. Predictive dialer software can help you achieve exactly that.
Increased Contact Rates
A study by Hiya found that unanswered phone calls negatively impact customer retention, sales volumes, customer satisfaction and productivity. Predictive dialers can help you increase contact rates and avoid these pitfalls.
The software can identify and skip busy signals, fake numbers and answering machines to enable agents to spend their time more productively on live conversations, generate more leads and close more deals. This also helps you reduce idle time and maximizes call handling time, which improves agent productivity.
Additionally, predictive dialer software can ring multiple numbers simultaneously, which allows agents to field more calls and improve their chances of making a live connection.
Improved Lead Generation
The aforementioned benefits of predictive dialers lead to improved lead generation and conversion. But, in addition to what we already went over, there are other ways the software supports this as well.
Predictive dialer software can improve campaign outreach and workforce management by assigning each lead to suitable agents and boosting the chances of lead generation. The software is a better tool for this than power dialers because it allows agents the option to set up all outreach efforts according to existing client relationships. It can also be integrated with your CRM platform for long-term campaigns.
No Maintenance Cost
For cloud-based predictive dialer software, businesses don’t need to invest in infrastructure and hardware. All they need is a robust and reliable internet connection with enough bandwidth. Moreover, the vendor updates the software regularly wherever the new version is available without bothering the customers and agents. Cloud-based predictive dialers are also very suitable for virtual call centers.
Key Features & Functionality
| Upload Lists | Agents can upload contact lists for campaigns in CSV format. |
|---|---|
| Manage Numbers | Administer numbers in contact lists and ensure that even if a number appears more than once in the list, it only gets called once. You can also avoid calling numbers or cell phones in specific area codes. |
| Do Not Call (DNC) Compliance | Track customers’ requests to be placed on the DNC list in real time to ensure compliance with FTC rules. You can also upload your organization’s DNC list to the National Registry and exclude those numbers from their campaigns. |
| Vertical Dialing | Agents working in collection agencies can upload and dial multiple phone numbers for each contact to improve list penetration rates in an outbound campaign. |
| Customer Caller ID | Control the numbers and names that appear on outbound caller ID and dial out from a number with the same area code as the contact. |
| Call Scheduling Rules | Limit the number of times the dialer begins and ends making calls in a day. |
| Agent Scripts | Customize branching scripts that allow agents to handle calls throughout the contact center. |
| Dialing Rate | Control the number of times agents dial each contact and adjust the dialing rate for outbound sales calls according to lead priority. |
| Pacing Algorithms | Define a call abandonment rate and if the user exceeds this rate, they can adjust pacing by dialing fewer numbers until the abandonment rate drops. |
| Answering Machine Detection | Screen calls answered by machines and avoid FAX, voicemail, busy signals and more. |
Software Comparison Strategy
With so many providers and features to consider, choosing the right predictive dialer software may seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. To start out, you should outline your organizational goals and objectives, determine your organization’s core strengths and weaknesses, and define a solid framework based on your company’s needs.
It’s helpful to create a requirements checklist that clarifies what features will help your company most. Our requirements template can help you get a clearer picture of what your needs are. Finally, compare vendors or talk to our experts who can assist you with the best product depending on your budget, requirements and eligibility.
Cost & Pricing Considerations
When evaluating predictive dialer software, you must keep your budget in mind. Pricing depends on various factors such as deployment strategy, number of user licenses required and the modules and add-ons. You can also opt for packages and support options if necessary but be careful to evaluate the cost of the system before taking a pick.
If you’re using an on-premise solution, it’s always a good idea to check whether the one-time payment includes the cost of updates, repairs and maintenance. You may also have to pay extra for version upgrades down the line.
The Most Popular Predictive Dialer Software
It can be daunting to navigate all the options on the predictive dialer software market. To help you on your search, we’ve listed three top performers that hold a unique position among competitors and successfully deliver the essential requirements.
Aspect
Aspect is a leading call center solution that supports both inbound and outbound calls from across the globe over voice, email, SMS and other communication channels. It’s available with a wide range of contact management features such as inbound and outbound voice support, omnichannel agent and digital self-service designed to enhance operational efficiency and ensure compliance to deliver world-class customer experiences.
Outbound campaign management with Aspect. Source
Nextiva
Nextiva is a premier telecommunications management solution that allows organizations to integrate their customer service platform with AI, analytics and VoIP phones in a single platform to deliver a simplified and user-friendly experience to customers. Agents can access this software from anywhere and interact using video chat, message and email modules.
Contact management with Nextiva. Source
Five9
Five9 is a cloud-based contact center management solution that can help you enhance your call center’s productivity. Five9 is a reliable and secure platform that offers tools like artificial intelligence, agent assist, workflow automation and interactive analysis to enhance customer experience and improve agent productivity. Since it’s a cloud-based solution, it offers full support for remote agents and virtual call centers.
Contact management with Five9. Source
Questions To Ask
Selecting software for any organization involves a lot of research and analysis. Before deciding on a product, ask yourself these questions and evaluate software in the context of your organization’s needs:
- What features of the solution will be influential for my business workflows?
- What are my present and future priorities regarding business growth and development?
- Am I overpaying for the solution?
- Will the new predictive dialer system be able to integrate with my existing call center technology?
- How well will it replace or enhance the functionalities of the existing system?
Use these questions as a starting point for conversations with the vendor:
- How scalable is the software?
- How do updates occur and if they occur automatically, will they impact the software's accessibility?
- How well does the software integrate with other call center tools?
- What customization is available?
- Are there any extra costs associated with the plan?
Next Steps
The predictive dialer is an important part of any call center and streamlines critical parts of an organization’s outbound campaigns. It helps agents provide better customer experiences, create long-term relationships and stay on top of leads.
If you’re ready for the next step, our free comparison report can help you see how leading products match up with what your business needs. We hope this guide helped you on your software selection journey!
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