If you are a sales agent who has realized the value of using a dialer over manually calling your leads, you have most likely done some research to see what is out there. You have probably come across the terms predictive dialer and power dialer and may be wondering what sets them apart and which is best for your use. There is no point in implementing a system you do not understand or that may not be ideal for your business model.

For this reason, we will be publishing several blogs related to predictive and power dialers in order to give you a better understanding of how each works, their major differences, and how they can be of value to your business. Please check back over the next several days for these informative posts or subscribe to our company blog to be notified by e-mail of new blog updates.

How do predictive dialers work?

Predictive dialing is a system of outbound calling that dials without an agent on the line. The dialer places numerous calls simultaneously and, when a live answer is detected, it automatically transfers the call to an available agent. This dialer is predictive because it anticipates when the next agent will be available and when the next live answer will be detected. It is all predicted based on calling patterns it observes.

Predictive dialers work best for call center environments where there are multiple agents available to take calls. There need to be agents available for the dialer to transfer a call to in order to avoid dropping calls, which count towards the abandonment rate. If there are not enough agents available for calls to be routed to, the allowed abandonment rate of 3% can potentially be surpassed, which would be a violation of federal laws.

How do power dialers work?

Power dialing is also outbound calling but, unlike predictive dialers, the agent is already on the line. The agent begins the calling session and, when a live answer is detected, the call is patched through to the agent. There is no transferring of calls because, in this case, the agent is already live on the phone.

Power dialers are great for single-agent scenarios or in a remote-agent environment as it is not necessary to have multiple agents standing by for calls to be transferred to. In general, the abandonment rate does not come into play as the majority of power dialers dial on one line at a time, so dropped calls happen infrequently. A single-line power dialer makes 75-80 calls per hour.

Mojo Sales Engine incorporates a triple-line power dialer with lead management software; unlike standard single-line power dialers, it allows users to make 250-300 calls per hour while protecting callers from surpassing the allowed abandonment rate. Check back soon to read more about how we accomplish this!

Which is best for me?

Now that you know how predictive and power dialers function, you should have a better understanding of the differences between them. Predictive dialers work based on algorithms that direct them when to dial someone and which agent to transfer the call to. A power dialer is managed by the caller, allowing them to have complete control of calling without any doubt as to who they will be speaking with next.

Predictive dialers work best in a call-center environment where there are about 15 agents or more available to take calls. This is because the dialer is constantly making calls and then transferring them to an available agent. If all the agents are already on calls, the dialer would drop a call and it would be counted towards the abandonment rate, as previously mentioned. Again, the more agents in a call center, the more effective a predictive dialer would be.

Power dialers work better than predictive dialers in several cases, for independent agents, remote agents (home-based telemarketers), and in call centers with less than 15 agents. Power dialers are less costly than predictive dialers and do not require multiple agents for use.

Generally, predictive dialers are used for business-to-consumer calling while power dialers are used for both business-to-consumer and business-to-business calls. Predictive dialers are generally not used for business-to-business calling.

Finally, predictive dialers are more effective when the leads list has not been pre-selected and many of the numbers are expected to be not working, busy or unanswered. When you are working a list of quality leads, a power dialer may be the route to go so you will have a more quality connection.