Imagine this: You have a long list of promising leads and you’re eager to maximize your outreach. But which tool should you use for this job? This is where you need to understand the concept of Predictive Dialer vs Auto Dialer. Imagine making 50% more calls in the same amount of time, drastically increasing the contact rate and reducing the idle time between the calls.
“Auto dialer can increase talk times of agents by as much as 200–300% compared to manual dialing.” This isn’t just a theoretical number, but rather a real insight from the industry leaders. Source
The choice between a predictive dialer vs auto dialer can be the difference between soaring success and missed opportunities. Through this blog, we will be understanding the predictive dialer vs auto dialer solutions, their benefits, and their weaknesses. Also, we are going to equip you with the knowledge to choose the right dialer for your needs.
Here we go!
What is an Auto Dialer?
As the term suggests, it is an automatic calling software or tool that eliminates the need for manual call dialing, thus easing the life of call center agents. An automatic dialer systematically dials phone numbers from a list of leads and connects the answered calls with available agents.
Before launching a campaign, the agent needs to upload a list of prospects in the auto-dialer software. Then the ‘Dial Rate Per Agent’ is manually set up like 1:1 or 3:1 which means 1 number per agent and 3 numbers per agent. Then the phone numbers are dialed sequentially by the software and it connects the answered calls with the available agent. Auto dialers are capable of detecting disconnected numbers, busy signals, voicemails, and unanswered phone calls.
What is Predictive Dialer?
It is a type of auto-dialer that primarily aims at a higher calling rate by connecting with the maximum number of leads. A predictive dialer achieves this by initiating multiple calls simultaneously and directing answered calls to the available agents.
This type of dialer makes use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to predict the availability of the agent based on the number of available agents, the average duration of the calls, the call abandonment rate, and various other real-time stats.
Predictive dialers automatically dial a phone number even before the current call gets completed. This means that the agent can immediately move from one call to another, without wasting any time in-between. These dialers are a more evolved and sophisticated version of the traditional dialers as they make use of AI for their work.
Just like an auto dialer, the predictive dialer can also detect disconnected numbers, voicemails, answering machines, busy signals, and unanswered numbers.
Predictive Dialer vs Auto Dialer: 7 Key Differences
This section chalks out the key differences between predictive dialer vs auto dialer. Have a look:
Benefits of Automatic Dialer
The manual way of call dialing is a daunting task and consumes too much time for the agents. With auto-dialers, the dialing process became automated and helped agents focus more on interacting with customers. Overall, auto-dialers can benefit businesses through:
- Increased call connection rates
- Reduced idle time for agents and increased talk time
- Enhanced productivity and efficiency of agents
- Reduced call center operating costs
- Distributes calls between available agents
- Offers call waiting
- Sends a recorded message when voicemails pick up calls
Weaknesses of Auto Dialer
- It does not verify the availability of the agent, leading to dropped calls.
- There’s a brief waiting time before the call is connected to agents which could annoy customers
- It requires multiple outbound calling agents for optimal working
- It may fail to correctly detect answering machines
Features and Benefits of Predictive Dialer
According to a report by Grand View Research, the global predictive dialer software market is expected to reach USD 12.2 billion by 2028, with the market size valued at USD 1.03 billion in 2020.
Predictive dialers come with a variety of features and benefits to enhance the efficiency of call centers as well as boost the productivity of agents.
Features of Predictive Dialers
- Call Routing
- Predictive Algorithms
- Call Monitoring
- CRM Integration
- Analytics and Reporting
Predictive Dialer Benefits
The traditional service level benchmark in contact centers is to answer 80% of calls in 20 seconds. Source
Predictive dialers offer all the benefits provided by auto dialers. However, it offers some additional benefits also. Let’s go through the main benefits of the predictive dialer:
Improved Agent Productivity
Dialing one number at a time keeps agents utilized for around 40 minutes per hour, while predictive dialing can increase utilization to 57 minutes per hour. Source
Predictive dialers primarily focus on optimizing the dialing pace, reducing idle time for agents in between calls. Agents spend more time conversing with the clients to resolve their issues. Consequently, agents are able to handle a larger volume of support tickets, improving their overall productivity. This is highly useful in handling customer support in call centers.
Higher Connection Rates
A predictive dialer takes into consideration the historical data and the current availability of the agent to optimize call pace. The system dials phone numbers only when the agents are likely to finish their ongoing calls. This results in a constant stream of answered calls leading to higher connection rates.
Scalability
During dynamic marketing campaigns, a predictive dialer adjusts the dialing rate automatically. During peak, the dialer accelerates the dialing pace to ensure that agents are consistently engaged with potential clients. Likewise, during slow periods, it reduces the dialing pace to maintain smooth operations.
Cost Savings
A predictive dialer increases the number of queries agents can handle within the same time frame. This increase in efficiency leads to a reduction in lower labor costs per customer interaction. With this, the overall operational expense of the company also gets reduced.
Call Monitoring and Analysis
Predictive dialers make it easy to monitor outbound calling campaigns. It provides different useful metrics related to outbound calls such as the number of calls generated, the average call duration, etc. These insights help supervisors in monitoring the performance of the campaigns as well as the agents.
Weaknesses of a Predictive Dialer
- Agents must have the ability to promptly handle the calls one after the other
- In case the customer representative takes too much time to connect then it may lead to abandonment of the call.
- Its efficiency increases in larger campaigns because of the availability of more data for the algorithm to learn better.
- It’s highly dependent on the algorithm. So if the algorithm malfunctions, then it may create serious risks for the business.
Auto Dialer vs Predictive Dialer: Ideal Use Cases
Automatic Dialer Use Case
1. Conducting Customer Surveys
Suppose a market research firm makes use of an autodialer to execute a customer satisfaction survey. The auto dialer software system dials the numbers from the list and prompts the customers to participate in the survey. This streamlines the process of data collection along with a higher number of completed surveys within a shorter timeframe.
2. Appointment Reminders
A healthcare provider can send appointment reminders to patients using an auto dialer. The software system can automatically call patients to remind them about the upcoming appointment schedule. This leads to reduced no-show rates and adds efficiency to the overall scheduling process.
Predictive Dialer Use Case
1. Subscription Renewals and Upselling
A subscription-based service provider can use a predictive dialer to remind customers about renewals and upsell its services. As the dialer optimizes the productivity of the agents, they can engage with the clients more effectively.
2. Fundraising Campaign
Suppose a non-profit organization uses a predictive dialer for its fundraising campaign. The dialer dynamically connects the calls with available agents. It also optimizes the call pace, thus maximizing the engagement of the donors, resulting in increased donations.
Which Businesses Benefit Most From Predictive Dialers?
Predictive dialers perform best for organizations with a larger volume of outbound calls. Typically mid-sized and large businesses with a solid team of customer support agents can get the desired outcome from predictive dialers.
There are 2 reasons for this. The first one is because the dialer makes use of AI-based algorithms, the more data it has to learn from, the better it will perform. The second reason is that predictive dialers can initiate multiple active calls simultaneously, so you need a good number of agents to handle those calls. Otherwise, the chances of facing dropped calls would be high.
Some industries and businesses that can find significant advantages by using predictive dialers include sales and telemarketing companies, customer support centers, Market Research Companies, and Appointment-based businesses.
Which Businesses Benefit Most From Auto Dialers?
Automatic dialers are best suitable for companies with a lesser number of agents and campaigns with small contact lists. This is because auto-dialers help agents focus on the conversations rather than worrying about the calls in the queue. This works best for small-sized teams and campaigns.
Auto Dialer vs Predictive Dialer: How to Choose?
Consider these 3 aspects if you want to choose the best dialer for your business i.e. predictive dialer vs auto dialer.
Understand your Objective: What did you want to achieve through your sales campaign? If it is about delivering more personalized interactions with customers, then auto dialer is the way to go. However, for campaigns that need to be conducted swiftly for a mass audience, predictive dialers better fit it.
Consider the Size of Your Business: This is one of the most crucial factors in the debate of predictive dialer vs auto dialer. We have already mentioned that auto-dialers are more suitable for small-sized teams. On the contrary, predictive dialers are ideal for large-scale teams.
Consider the Size of Your Customer Base: Businesses with small customer bases can benefit from auto-dialers as they focus on quality conversations and engagement. Companies with large customer bases can benefit from predictive dialers as the software can handle a large volume of outbound calls in a given timeframe.
Dialers are often a part of VoIP phone systems. So if you are choosing a VoIP phone system with a dialer, then ensure the below-mentioned points:
- Go for a trial before finalizing a dialer. Make sure it is intuitive and easy to use.
- Select a vendor that has an established reputation in the market to ensure receiving reliable service.
- Ask for the customer support policy of the vendor so that you have expert assistance whenever required.
Top 5 Auto Dialer vs Predictive Dialer: Comparison
The following table presents a comparison of the top 5 software offering both automatic and predictive dialing.
Optimal Outbound Calling Strategies for Your Business
Even when you have decided upon the best dialer between predictive dialer vs auto dialer, some proven strategies can help you optimize outbound calls for your business.
Customized Scripts
Sales scripts establish the purpose behind your outbound calls. However, relying entirely upon such scripts can cause damage to your business. You can avoid this situation by training your sales and support teams to utilize data from CRM systems and personalize scripts for every call. So matter which dialer your team uses between predictive dialer vs auto dialer, customized scripts can add additional value.
Use Different Channels for Awareness Campaigns
There’s always a section of customers who don’t attend telemarketing calls. So how do you reach them? Leverage email, SMS and chat to extend your outreach rather than relying only on a cold calling approach.
Analyze and Scale your Call Center Operations
Analyze your call-related data such as the number of calls per day, average call handling time, and, employee performance, etc. Through this data, you can gauge the required number of support agents for effectively achieving your business goals.
Conclusion
So it all boils down to this question – Which dialer leads to more sales? Which dialer is more beneficial for your business? Both the Auto Dialer vs Predictive Dialer technologies can add immense value to businesses by automating call operations.
However, it is crucial to consider the unique features and benefits offered by each dialer. If your business calling needs are straightforward then Auto Dialer is the right choice. On the other hand, if your need is to optimize your call center operations and outreach efforts, then Predictive Dialers are great for you. Ultimately, your choice of auto dialer vs predictive dialer will depend upon your business requirements and goals.
