Dialing Modes

There are four different dialing modes for outbound campaigns:

• Predictive

• Progressive

• Preview

• Power

The dialing mode chosen depends on the type of campaign, the number of agents assigned to the campaign, and legal requirements.

Predictive Dialer

The dialer uses an algorithm to predict agent availability and call results so that it can safely dial multiple phone numbers for each available agent. Once a live contact is reached, the system transfers the call to an available agent. The dialer calculates how many lines to dial per agent based on the desired call abandonment rate.

Variables to be considered:

• Resources

  • Number of available agents

  • Number of available ports

• Statistics

  • Abandon rate (i.e. routing-node exists after last timeout)

  • Average waiting time for a certain inbound skill group

  • Average talk time (for both outbound and inbound calls)

  • Average not ready time

  • Average wrap-up time

  • Average contact rate per campaign (percentage of answered calls over total dialed calls)

  • Number of currently queued calls (both inbound and outbound)

Recommended for high-volume campaigns

Progressive Dialer

The dialer places only one call for every one available agent. The number of calls that are dialed depends on the number of ready agents. Reserves an agent upfront. This guarantees that there’s an available agent for every contact who picks up the phone.

When a campaign runs in Transfer mode, the system waits until it has a contact on the line before it checks the routing parameters and looks for an agent. Because this process will always take longer than two seconds, it’s not recommended in sales or telemarketing campaigns that are bound by federal regulations.

Recommended for low-volume campaigns.

Preview Dialer

An agent requests (pulls) records from the system, previews the record, call history, previous notes, and other relevant information and then decides whether to dial the call.

Recommended for small business that deal with relatively smaller lists.

Power Dialer

Dialer waits to dial until an agent is available to process the call. System automatically dials a preset ratio of calls per available agent. Dials the next number on the list if the call isn’t answered or if the line is busy.

Recommended for high-volume campaigns.

The difference between power dialer and progressive dialer is that power dialers make calls one at a time, while progressive dialers can call multiple lines simultaneously, based on agent availability, likelihood of a pickup, and other factors.