What is power dialing and why should you use it?
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Dialing technologies have changed the way contact center agents work. They’ve eliminated the need for operators to manually dial all the numbers on their call lists. Not only does this save your team members from a tedious process, but dialing technologies allow your business phone system to be more productive by increasing workflow automation.
It might sound simple, but when a sales rep is able to make more calls, they’re able to make more sales. This is why having a sales dialer is critical to business success.
To help you make the right choice for your business, we’re going to talk about and compare the two most popular kinds of dialing technology: a power dialer vs a predictive dialer. Keep reading to find out:
While both technologies solve the same problems, they are distinct. The following information will help you make an informed choice based on your business needs.
What is power dialing?
A power dialer is a piece of automated telephone technology that dials a phone number right after a call is completed. As soon as an operator is finished with a call, the power dialer will call the next contact on the list.
Power dialing lets your team members be more efficient because they don’t have to spend time figuring out which number to call next. Plus, your agents won’t be wasting time manually dialing numbers—the call center software does it for them.
How does a power dialer work?
When a power dialer reaches a number that’s disconnected, busy, or unattended, it will automatically call the next phone number on the contact list. When a contact answers the phone, the power dialer immediately connects them to one of your call center agents.
What is a predictive dialer in a call center?
A predictive dialer is automatically dialing multiple contacts at the same time while a contact center supervisor oversees the number of outgoing dials.. These outbound dialers use algorithms to predict the typical amount of time it takes for a call to be answered and info on agent availability to make successful live connections.
In a sense, predictive dialers anticipate when an agent will be available and adjusts its dialing rate accordingly.
This dialing technology makes sure that your team members spend their time on the phone only with calls that are answered by a live person. With predictive dialers, your operators won’t have to waste time with disconnected telephones, busy lines, calls that go unanswered, or any other kind of automated response.
What is the difference between a predictive and progressive dialer?
As you’ve read, both kinds of dialers increase agent productivity and efficiency by freeing your agents from having to dial phone numbers themselves. However, the best dialer for your business is going to depend on your operations.
Let’s take a closer look at some of the differences between the dialers.
- Dropped calls and possible fines
Did you know that it’s actually illegal to have a dropped call rate of over 3% in the US? If the algorithm contacts more customers than you have agents available, this will result in call drops and the possibility of risking going over your allotted dropped call percentage.
Predictive dialers call more than one number at a time. So, if you’re going to use this type of dialer, you need to guarantee that you have enough team members to answer the calls when multiple calls connect at the same time.
- Answering delays
When you answer the phone, you expect the person who called you to be present. Yet, have you ever picked up the phone to say hello but nobody was there to respond? So, you repeat yourself—you keep saying hello until you either hang up, or someone finally answers on the other side of the call. It’s a very frustrating experience.
A downside to predictive callers is the delay that can happen between the time a customer answers the phone and the time it takes for an agent to connect to the call.
Since predictive dialers use an algorithm to anticipate agent availability, a customer can answer an outbound call before an agent is ready to respond. This delay at the beginning of a phone call can be a negative experience for your customer and can be the difference between a successful or unsuccessful customer engagement experience.
Agents who use power dialers will always be present the moment a customer answers their phone call. While agents with predictive dialers might miss a customer’s greeting causing an awkward delay in response, agents with power dialers are more likely to be there the moment a live connection is made.
- Voicemail connections
When you’re making large numbers of calls a day, not everyone is going to pick up. Depending on the dialing mode, when a call goes to an answering machine different things will happen.
If you’re using predictive dialers, any call that’s picked up by a voicemail is immediately dropped. The machine will then move on to the next number on its contact list.
While some power dialers will also drop calls as soon as it reaches a voicemail, others will let operators pick up calls that are answered by automated voice messages. This allows your team members to leave voicemails, which can be useful if you’re contacting a lead or when leaving a message is good enough.
- The efficiency of automated dialers
Strictly speaking, predictive dialers are more efficient than power dialers. By working with algorithms, a predictive dialer makes sure that when your agents are at work, they’re always working. It uses statistics from call center operations to know when calls should be made to maximize agent availability.
Power dialers work by lining up each phone number with a live agent. Rather than making multiple calls at a time, they call phone numbers one-by-one. This means that they’re unable to match the level of efficiency that predictive dialers can reach.
When should you use power dialing?
Although predictive dialing is better in terms of efficiency, power dialing gives your agents more control. A predictive dialer’s dialing speed is determined by an algorithm. A power dialer’s speed can be selected by your agents or their managers. So if you find it dialing too fast, you can simply change the settings.
Since power dialers go through a contact list one-by-one, your agents are always present at the moment a call is connected. This guarantees that you don’t miss any leads because of delays which cause customers to hang up live calls before an agent can get on the line. So if your connect ratio is above 50% (more than half of the calls made are answered), power dialing is the better choice.
A perfect time to use power dialers is when a contact list is large enough to need automatic dialing, but the contacts still require personalized care. Your agents will be able to reach their contacts quickly without dropping any calls. Additionally, with the right dialer software, your team members will be prepared with relevant customer info when they connect with customers.
Benefits of power dialing
- Increased agent efficiency
- Better lead management
- Personalized customer service
- Higher sales conversions
Call center software with dialing technology is a must
Power dialing with RingCentral software can achieve better customer experiences and more successful call interactions. With CRM integration, it can increase efficiency by retrieving the relevant history and any previous call data of the customer your agent is contacting.
In addition, RingCentral Engage Voice allows you to display caller IDs, so your customers can see your company’s name when you call them. It also gives your managers tools to effectively monitor your team’s power dialing performance with logs, call storage and call recording. Your managers can even whisper instructions to your agents if they require support on a call, or they can take over a call if the need arises.