Predictive Dialing

Predictive Dialing

One of the roles that Newfies-Dialer can be applied to is as predictive dialer software. Predictive dialing is where the rate of calling is regulated according to the number of agents that are available to take calls.

Predictive dialling is an efficient method of making calls for a call center compared to click to dial. Predictive Dialling potentially increases the time an agent can be engaged in productive conversation compared to click-to-dial or dialing manually where the agent has to wait for each call to be answered.

How does Predictive Dialing work

Predictive dialing works by making multiple calls per agent available. On answer, the dialer identifies whether it’s a person or machine answering the call. If it’s a person, then the call is bridged directly to the agent.

In the case of an answering machine, the system can drop the call or wait until the end of the greeting message and drop a message right after the beep.

The number of calls per agent available can be adjusted manually depending on the response rate, so at times of day when most people are at work and not answering their landline, the rate of calling can be increased, and lowered again when the response rate increases.

Calls can be passed back to a company’s own telephone system or to the comprehensive call center suite included in Newfies-Dialer.

There are a range of statistics and metrics showing the performance of a predictive dialing campaign which can be viewed on screen and in realtime and downloaded for further analysis.

Legal considerations for predictive dialing

There can be large fines for indiscriminate dialing. You should aim to:

  • Not call people on Do-Not-Call lists: Some countries maintain a DNC list which must be consulted before calling contacts.
  • Get Permission to Call; Certain types of campaign require the contact’s permission to call.
  • Avoid Silent calls; if an agent fails to answer then a pre-recorded message may have to be played.
  • Give Sufficient Ring Time; the contact should be given a reasonable time to answer the phone.
  • Callbacks and retries; a suitable amount of time should be left before reattempting calls.
  • Present a Valid caller ID; Proper caller ID should be used, with a destination to catch callers who return a missed call.
  • Have accurate answering machine detection.

 

It is important to take the laws of your country into account, and ensure who is responsible for compliance, as well as ensure that you can comply with the law.