Predictive Dialing (23)

InterCloud9's call center solution and predictive dialer provides a robust call distribution platform that handles both inbound and outbound calling capabilities with an integrated CRM, first in class reporting and agent monitoring.

Monday, 07 October 2013 02:00

Different features of the predictive dialer

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Predictive dialer systems are often used by telemarketing organizations involved in "business to consumer" calling, because sales agents require more customer contact time for better sales ratio. However, if your call center or agents need to contact any phone list and would like the agent to be the most productive, you should use a predictive dialer.  Business survey firms and debt collection services providing companies that need to personally speak to clients by phone may also use predictive dialers. To automate all kinds of calls, this technology is used as a quick and easy way, rather than dialing numbers manually by a call center, such as service callbacks, or welcome calls for new customers. The predictive dialer has the power to predict and transfer the call to the available agent on the available line and skips no answers, busy signals, answering machines (optional) and the fax machines. Only available agents receive live calls increasing the efficiency of your dialing campaigns.

Predictive dialers have features like interactive voice response (IVR), automatic call distribution (ACD) and call recording that has added a new dimension to the predictive dialer and auto dialer capabilities of this system. The basic goal in this regard was to reduce idle time as far as possible and achieve more sales. It has basically three different types: VoIP predictive dialers, Hosted predictive dialers and web based dialers. The dialer uses an algorithm to deliver calls. The dialer comes with an ability to manage time zones and call blending. It is also equipped with features like handling “do not call” lists. The objective of a predictive dialer is to connect an agent with a potential client as soon as a call is completed without wasting any time.

One of the predictive dialers is the soft dialer. These are to some extent cheaper than other types. The reason behind this is the soft dialers do not need physical telephone components. They use shorter development cycles with greater computational power. The software dialer is connected to the PBX system through PBX CTI link and with this type of dialer it is much easier to integrate functions like IVR and voice recording. The software can be customized pretty easily to meet the individual needs. Aspects like "call progress analysis" and "call classification" are all incorporated in the software. 

This efficient technology is more advanced than the commonly used auto dialer applications. The major reason is that, predictive dialers use algorithms to collect call related statistics and time on calls of call center agents. This system can also predict the availability of next call center agent.  This also kept close tabs on the opportunity to connect to potential customers.

Lastly,  how  does one choose the right contact center software for their needs? They need to review the different functionality of each system before moving forward as not all systems are the same. People should decide based on their current needs and future growth. Another thing to be considered is that it must be able to integrate with other technologies you may be using. Overall, a predictive dialer will prove to be a reliable and cost effective service for every call center.

The predictive dialer is an application which has the ability to dial a huge list of phone numbers. It performs over manual dialing of phone numbers by checking which agents are available and are not busy on other calls. It then connects the calls to these available agents. It can predict the number of available agents, available lines, average call handling time and various other factors and adjust the flow of the outbound calls accordingly. This measurement delivers a high level of efficiency to the call centers.

Before the era of the predictive dialing system, auto dialers were used in huge numbers in call centers. In this process, software is programmed to dial a huge list of phone calls automatically.  However the predictive dialers can detect whether a live agent is present for receiving the call. A pre-recorded marketing message can also be played in the back ground while the person waits for the dialer to find an available agent if one is unavailable.

The predictive dialer, on the other hand, predicts when there will be an agent available for a call. It uses a mathematical algorithm for analyzing when to transfer the call to the agent.  This is a major difference between a predictive dialer and an auto dialer. In normal performance, they dial more calls than number of agents and when an agent is available it switches the potential customer to that agent, because it has an estimated time related to how long an agent spends on a call. In this way it makes the job of a telemarketer much easier.

When combined with typical CRM software, the predictive dialer system becomes a complete call center solution. With the new predictive dialer system revolutionizing the predictive dialing process, the call center can generate more revenue with more calls handled by a minimum number of agents, also including work at home employees. The modern dialing systems far outpace old predictive dialer technology.

Most auto dialer software generally allows sales reps to dial a huge volume of leads, but predictive dialers carry out this by calling more numbers than there are available sales representatives or agents. When calls are made by a standard auto dialer there is a chance that there will be no sales reps to talk to that lead. These calls are generally dropped and those leads are then wasted. Once you have a predictive dialer and get it all set up, you import your list of phone numbers.  The primary function is to find people to answer the phone calls and let agents talk to them.  If the software system does the dialing method, you will always be able to talk to more people in a specified time period.

Predictive dialers are normally the best tools that a call center has at their disposal. They have the ability to dial multiple phone numbers, and direct the calls to the next line that is available to take them. They help companies save huge amounts of time- instead of having a agent sit there and physically dial each number until they found one willing to talk, this software could dial huge list of numbers in a short span of time and connect the functional ones to whichever representative would be free. The thing is, there are some positive and negative attributes of a predictive dialer, and some definite Dos and Don'ts that typical businesses should follow.

This software is a computer telephony system that automatically dials a list of telephone numbers, in such a manner that it filters and eliminates all the unproductive calls such as "do not call" numbers, automatic answering machine, busy tone, no signal, fax tone etc. The main advantage of this system is that it can automatically dials the telephone numbers. Hence, it reduced the time and efforts of manual dialing and increased the productivity of the agents and ultimately optimized the output of the call centers. The goal of this software is to consume idle time for the call center agents and get more sales.

This technology, along with customer relationship management (CRM) software takes a form of complete call center software solution. With the invention of new predictive dialer system these Business to Consumer firms are enjoying their increased operation, productivity and efficiency. Consumer’s satisfaction is the sole aim of any business and that is what telemarketing organizations are being able to hit at with this great solution. You will come across many companies that are in to the production of these speed dialing devices and it completely depends on your selection. Statistics show that call center agents increase their total sales time on the phone from 15 minutes per hour on average to just under forty minutes per hour. This is achieved by saving the agent from dialing numbers, waiting for the phone to ring, and tackling with unanswered calls or answering systems.

Depending on the requirements of your organization/firm, prices of these dialers can range from $3,600 to $65,000. The more expensive packages have very advanced features which their low priced models lack. Many sellers of the components of dialers are accessible through their websites on the internet. After purchasing any of these systems, additional services like installation, maintenance and training of users could be offered. Therefore, if your organization requires a unique communication solution for managing customer relationships, the predictive dialer is the answer. This will help you to increase your productivity level and therefore increase revenue. This will make your business more profitable.

 

There are a lot of dialing solutions for a call center in the market. Among these available solutions, the best one is the hosted predictive dialer. It is also referred to as a web based predictive dialer. A predictive dialer is an automated telephone system which works on a statistical algorithm and dials a series of telephone numbers, transferring the answered calls to the agents. It can increase the productivity of a call center to a great extent. The most popular businesses these days use call centers, and the most important tool to operate a call center is a predictive dialer. The key point of a predictive dialer is to make call agents more competent and productive as the dialer cuts down the idle time by almost 70%. Thus, agents can speak more often with the caller (potential customer) and are able to handle the prospect as quickly as possible. With the help of predictive dialer software your call center can do its work in less time.

Hosted predictive dialers are comprised of more advanced technology than the traditional automatic dialers. With automatic dialers the dialer automatically dials the calls and transfers them to the agents, however it does not screen the call which results in an unnecessary wastage of time. This definitely results in less productivity. A hosted predictive dialer, on the other hand, screens the unnecessary calls, and is programmed to predict when the next agent will be available to pick up the next call. It can predict the number of available agents, available lines, average call handling time and various other factors and adjust the flow of the outbound calls accordingly. Therefore this software delivers a high level of efficiency to the call centers. This process increases productivity as the agents can spend their time talking to the customers rather than dealing with answering machines, busy signals or fax machines.

The information related to the telephone numbers is usually stored on the network servers in the call centers. Hosted predictive dialer and the computer systems of the agents making calls are linked to the network servers which contain telephone numbers. A software application linked with the predictive dialer is installed on the computers. This software application performs the process of dialing for the agents. As soon as the agent receives the call, the software application displays all the information related to the potential customer on the agent's computer screen, so the agent can begin the conversation accordingly. Predictive dialing automatically predicts and transfers the call to the available agent on the available line and disconnects from the no answers, busy signals, answering machines and the fax machines. Only the live call is transferred to the agent.

Another great benefit of using such a dialer system is that it can make your call center agents virtual. In other words, your agents can be the part of call center even if they are not physically present at the call center. Hosted predictive dialers can enable agents to work from any place. As it is a web based solution, managers have full control to keep track of the agents' efficiency and productivity. The most successful businesses and enterprises wanted to have a solution for increased productivity in their call center and the search led them to the best available, and that solution is the predictive dialer.

Monday, 06 May 2013 02:00

Predictive dialing for an increase in your sales

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A predictive dialer is the system that significantly increases the productivity when your staff doesn't need to place calls. This way the staff working at the call center can just talk to your customers and give them the much needed answers to get more leads thus improving the productivity and profits. With the help of a predictive dialer they never have to dial a single number and wait for someone to answer. This saves an incredible amount of time. A predictive dialing system offers the ability to dial a large list of phone numbers with great ease. With a single mouse click you can dial phone number after phone number instantly, which speeds up the process of dialing the numbers. This increases the efficiency of the work flow and cuts out wasted time from dialing numbers that don’t connect. Predictive dialing software competently handles outgoing call flow of your business through its highly efficient dialer system. The mechanism is developed around identifying a human voice on any given call and then immediately transferring that call to the very first accessible agent for further assistance.

The predictive dialer monitoring system is designed to only connect a sales representative/ telemarketer to calls that are answered by a person. It discards any calls that are not answered, have busy signals, disconnected lines, lines picked up by answering machines, fax machines, or any other form of automated services. The predictive dialer saves telemarketers time because they no longer have to manually dial telephone numbers, listen to ring tones or unanswered calls. Thus, a predictive dialer allows a telemarketer to spend more time communicating with customers and less time that was once wasted on dialing and waiting for a customer to answer their phone.

Prior to its development, most phone centers utilized devices known as auto dialers, which were merely computers equipped with telephony boards that could dial a range with out a caller having to manually enter it on a keypad. Predictive dialing is an advanced technology that moves past the pure auto dialers mainly because it monitors calls made to see how they're answered. If the call goes unanswered, is met with a busy signal, answering machine, or fax machine the predictive dialer instantly moves onto the next call. Usually, the predictive dialers are the systems that are used by the call centers. The number of calls made by the software is much higher than the calls made by the real person sitting at the call center, thus enhancing the productivity. It automatically places enough calls to increase the productivity by targeting the sales and leads needed. Also this is the system that connects the call to the prospect and still adds prospect into the hold where they wait for an available agent. This automatically starts the next call when the previous call ends.

With new and improved software solutions, the distribution of voice messages to answering machines has become really easy. You have to record your message in advance, and then make some technical modifications to your dialing system. When an answering machine or voicemail is reached you can easily play the message at the push of a button. For telemarketing companies, this feature is an additional advantage which is enough to encourage them to buy enhanced dialing solutions. Similarly, when your agents spend most of their time talking with your prospective clients they are bound to deliver good results. The predictive dialing process helps a lot in generating numerous hot leads that result in increased profit generation.

Monday, 03 June 2013 02:00

Hosted predictive dialer services

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A hosted predictive dialer service provides the client with a high performance and efficient automated predictive dialer solution usually with monthly based payments. The dialer is normally made ready for use and supported by the service provider and then delivered to the customer ready to be used within an hour. This technology can greatly increase the productivity or efficiency of the contact center staff. The predictive software has become extremely popular in a short span of time. The predictive dialer is a system that automatically dials a list of phone numbers and this is the secret behind the efficacy of the agents at the call centers. The dialer dials the telephone numbers of the potential customers ahead of the company agents and this enables the company's dial rates to shoot up. With the success of the dialers several platforms are now available in the market. Though the functions of all types of predictive dialers are the essentially the same they differ in terms of delivery methods and architecture.

A hosted predictive dialer is also known as web based predictive dialer. It is software provided as a service model solution offered by some of the well known hosting companies. This dialer solution is actually a normal predictive dialer solution, but it is offered through web hosted interface. Just like the normal service, web based solution dials a list of predefined cell phone and telephone numbers in such a calculated way that it eliminates those calls that are busy, no answer, fax, answering machine, and even those numbers that are enlisted with National Do Not Call Registry. This hosted solution is an ideal and cost effective solution for all call centers as it can efficiently improve their sales and marketing activities.

Predictive dialer-applications allow the call centers to significantly increase revenue and productivity because the software eliminates the time that call agents spend manually dialing numbers and waiting for telephone calls to be answered. This modern technology ensures that agents spend their time in an efficient manner. The system can estimate or predict when an agent is likely to finish his current phone call, and dials using another phone line automatically while the agent is still in conversation. As soon as the agent is available for a call, the dialer software passes the phone call to the agent after the phone call is answered by the client.

With this technology, a huge amount of time is saved courtesy of the lead management feature. This option cleans the dialing list against any state and federal forbidden list, at the same time organizing vital information like callbacks, leads and sales. Predictive dialer-software also allows for better control of the agents in a call center, because the applications allow the call center management to listen to agents at any time, without the agent's knowledge. It is also possible to view the number of calls agents have completed in real time and the total break time each agent has taken in a particular working period.

Monday, 10 June 2013 02:00

Role of the Predictive Dialer in a Call Center

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Today the most important factor for promoting your business or company is advertising that always gives you maximum results. It has never been easy to open a call center and hire agents who have to manually dial numbers, but the predictive dialer has made it easy, comprehensive and a more profitable business. It is a software application that is operated by a computer system to help the call center agent dial the given list of telephone numbers, although it can be an expensive solution, keep in mind that it is an investment in saving time and completing more sales.

When using a predictive dialer, an agent or call center as a whole can make more progress in less time and would be able to get the maximum rate of return of profit. A predictive dialer device has the ability to enhance the productivity, efficiency and performance of the call center or the agent who works from home. In the past when an agent was dialing the numbers manually they might only be speaking to actual clients for approximately 15 minutes. Now, with the use of a predictive dialer it is raised up to 45 minutes per hour which is awesome. The latest software is used to enhance the performance more then 300%. All of this will save time, gaining maximum profit and allow the agents to interact with more customers throughout the workday.

One other great advantage of this technology is that it dials numbers automatically, once you supply the desired phone number list. It reads these numbers and dials by sequence, thus you can save manual dialing time which can also lead to fewer employees needed in your call center. These type of dialers are a cost-effective solution for call centers and also very helpful in increasing sales and advertising efforts.

Here are some of the major and prestigious advantages of predictive dialer software:

1. Filters useless and unproductive calls allowing a call center to enhance profit and improve performance because it can get rid of lost time, spent dialing the numbers manually. This technology makes sure the agents time is spent in a useful way.

2. With the help of this technology you can also save your time by leading management abilities. The “do not call” is an important command which is used to make sure you are not contacting prospects who do not want to be called again.

3. The other big advantage of such an advanced system is you can get feedback from customers quickly and efficiently.

4. A predictive dialer helps to increase per hour sales and thus increase profit.

5. It also helps to control leads. It automatically stores the number once it dials. You just need to use the dial command and it will automatically pick the numbers from memory which is useful.

In the dialing process when the server or dialer starts calling the number, it is the predictive dialer that manages the calls. In a situation where there is no response or silence from other side, the dialer hangs up. Regarding the other calls, the dialer will screen out busy, unanswered, and answering machine calls (optional). You can choose to have only the live calls put through to the agents. As soon as the agent gets connected to a call he can view all the information related to the call on his screen.

Monday, 26 August 2013 02:00

What is a hosted predictive dialer?

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A hosted predictive dialer service provides the client with a high performance and efficient automated dialing solution for telemarketing purposes. The dialer is made available and supported by the service provider and access is delivered to the customer ready to be used online, usually immediately, but could take longer depending on the company. This technology can increase the productivity and efficiency of an entire call center or an individual agent to a great extent. The average talk time of an agent, when manually dialing is 16 minutes per hour, while when this technology is used, it can be increased to 47 minutes per hour. This modern software increases efficiency over 350%. This will result in immense cost savings for any size firm or call center. Taking into account the huge increment in sales and leads (depending on your type of services) due to the increased agent talk time, you can see why auto dialers are gaining so much popularity.

Hosted predictive dialers consist of a more advanced technology than the traditional automatic dialers. In automatic dialers the dialer automatically dials the calls and transfers it to the agents, however it does not screen the call which results in unnecessary wastage of time. This will obviously result in low productivity. A hosted predictive dialer on the other hand, screens the unnecessary calls, and is programmed to predict when the next agent will be available to pick up the next call. It can predict the number of available agents, available lines, average call handling time and various other factors and adjust the flow of the outbound calls accordingly. This measurement delivers a high level of work efficiency to the call centers. This process increases productivity as the agents can spend their time talking to the customers and prospects rather than having to handle the answering machines, busy signals or fax machines.

The information in the contact list along with the telephone numbers is usually stored on the network servers in the call centers. With a hosted predictive dialer the computers of the agents making calls are linked to the network servers which contain the telephone numbers. A software application linked with the predictive dialer is available online to all of the agents. This software application performs the process of dialing for the agents. As soon as the agent receives a call, the software application displays all of the information related to the potential customer on the agent's computer screen, so the agent can begin the conversation accordingly. A predictive dialer automatically predicts and transfers the call to the available agent on the next available line and skips over the no answers, busy signals, answering machines and the fax machines. Only the calls that are desired are transferred to the agent resulting in much more time spent on the phone talking to real contacts.

Another great benefit of using a predictive dialer system is that it can make your call center agents virtual. In other words, your agents can be the part of call center even if they are not physically present at the call center. The agents can work from home or anywhere they have an internet connection. A hosted predictive dialer can lower overhead as you can save money on having an office. As it is a web based solution, managers have full control to keep track of the agents' efficiency and productivity.

Monday, 19 August 2013 02:00

Predictive dialers increase your sales.

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Predictive dialers are among the best tools that a call center has at their disposal. They dial multiple phone numbers from a contact list and direct the calls that connect to a live person to the next available agent. They help companies and firms save tremendous amounts of time. Instead of having a representative sit there and physically dial each number until they find one willing to pick up, a predictive dialer can dial multiple numbers in a short period of time, and connect the good ones to whichever agent is free. There are some positives and negatives to using a predictive dialer, and some definite “do’s and don'ts” businesses should follow.

The predictive dialer monitor is designed to only connect a sales representative/ telemarketer to calls that are answered by a person. It discards any calls that are not answered, have busy signals, disconnected lines, fax machines, or any other form of automated services, and has an option to move past lines picked up by answering machines and voicemails. The predictive dialer saves telemarketers time because they no longer have to manually dial telephone numbers, listen to ring tones or unanswered calls. Thus, a predictive dialer allows a telemarketer to spend more time communicating with customers, time that was once wasted on dialing and waiting for a customer to answer their phone.

Predictive dialer systems have features such as automatic call distribution (ACD), interactive voice response (IVR) and call recording that added a new dimension to the predictive dialer and auto dialer capabilities of this system. The computer telephony software opens this phone system to outside applications and developers. Some predictive dialer systems have an extra edge in efficiency and productivity not available in other dialing systems where the agents have the option at any time during a call to click to “transfer” or “3-way” the call to another agent.

When your agents spend most of their time talking with your prospects or clients they are bound to deliver good results. Predictive dialing assists greatly generating numerous hot leads that gradually results in more profit generation.
The advantages of this software are that it is more inexpensive and has a flexible architecture that works amazingly well in distributed areas and multi-sites. However it has a few disadvantages as well. The old dialers make errors in call classification and some of the older PBXs and are unable to function with the configuration of the soft dialer.

Other types of dialers include the smart predictive dialers, hard dialers, hosted dialers and hybrid dialers. Each of these types has their own set of pros and cons. An organization must everything into consideration before opting for a particular type.

A hosted predictive dialer goes through a series of computer statistical algorithms to make calls, and predicts the availability of agents. It adjusts the calling process in accordance to the number of agents available as calls are connecting to the contact list. The predictive dialer monitors and y predicts the calls it places, taking into account the number of available agents, actual time difference between each answered calls and how longer it takes to answer the call. The dialer moves past calls which are not answered, fax machines, answering machines, busy numbers and disconnected numbers. In short, it only connects the answered calls to the agents. This valuable process saves a huge amount of time for call centers as the agents don't have to dial the calls manually and don't have to wait for calls that aren’t connecting or answering machines.

Predictive dialer-applications allow call centers to significantly increase revenue and productivity rate because the software eliminates the time that call agents spend manually dialing numbers and waiting for telephone calls to be answered. This modern technology ensures that agents spend their time in an efficient manner. The system can estimate or predict when an agent is likely to finish his current phone call, and dials another phone line automatically while the agent is still in conversation. As soon as the agent is available for a call, the dialer software passes the phone call to the agent with the prospect on the line.

The benefit of using such a system is that it has the ability to make your call center agents virtual. In other words, your agents can be the part of the call center even if they are not present at the facility. Hosted predictive dialer technology enables employees/agents to work from any place with an internet connection. The only other required item is a headset. As it is a hosted solution, managers can keep track of the agents' productivity and efficiency. Furthermore, they can immediately get the agents' work reports, even if they are traveling.

Hosted predictive dialers are also known as web based predictive dialers. This dialer solution is actually a normal predictive dialer solution, but it is offered through a web hosted interface. Just like the normal service, web based solution dials a list of predefined cell phone and telephone numbers in such a calculated way that it eliminates those calls that are busy, no answer, fax, answering machine. Some dialers offer the removal of numbers that are enlisted with the National Do Not Call Registry. This hosted solution is an ideal and cost effective solution for call center that can efficiently improve sales and marketing activities. It is Software as a Service model solution offered by some of the well known hosting companies.

With this technology, large amounts of time can be saved courtesy of the lead management feature. This option organizes vital information like callbacks, leads and sales. Some predictive dialer solutions allow for better management of the agents in a call center because the applications allow the call center management to listen to agents at any time, without the agent's knowledge. It is also possible to view the number of calls agents have completed in real time and the total break time each agent has taken in a particular working period.

 

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