When it comes to cold calling tools, we always think about auto dialers as they are the most universal and effective software tools for automating and optimizing your cold calling campaigns. But a few know that auto dialers also differ from each other, and such a term as “predictive dialer software” isn’t synonymous with “auto dialer” or “automated cold calling system”.
Thus, our today’s goal is to find out what is the difference between an auto dialer and a predictive dialer, what is the definition of a predictive dialer, and what are the other types of auto dialers available on the market.
Moreover, it is also important to find out what auto dialer can be the most beneficial for your business, isn’t it?
Auto dialer meaning
Auto dialer is a software tool that automates the dialing process and boosts the efficiency of your cold calling campaigns. Basically, the term “auto dialer” covers all software tools that are used for automating cold calls, so, as you could guess, there are a few different types of auto dialers.
In most cases, it is generally accepted that there are three types of auto dialers – a predictive dialer, a power dialer, and a preview dialer. Nonetheless, some companies use different terminology – for instance, there are experts that state that there is also a progressive dialer, but we accept the point of view that the term “progressive dialer” is just a synonym for “power dialer”.
As you can see, the auto dialer is a wide term that includes all types of auto dialers, so it also covers the term “predictive dialer” as it is just one of the other types of auto dialers.
Predictive dialer definition
A predictive dialer is an auto dialer tool with the most advanced algorithm that allows performing over 100 dials per hour. Why is it called “the most advanced”? First of all, the predictive dialer is the fastest auto dialer ever – its competitors can’t offer the same calling speed. Secondly, its algorithm is intelligent enough to predict the average call duration for each agent that is online, and start dialing even when agents are engaged in talking with customers. So, by measuring average call duration times and average time spent on reaching out to a cold prospect, it starts calling exactly at the moment when the previous call is going to end. Thus, when the previous call is over, the new call will be linked to the agent in a few seconds – this is vital not only to reach 100 dials per hour calling speed but also to provide customers with real calls to work with. Therefore, the average agent occupancy rate is around 75% or even 80% when working with a predictive dialer. Finally, the predictive dialer offers also the highest average success rate for cold calls – over 75% are successful and answered by real prospective customers, while such a success rate for manual cold calling is just unreal.
Nonetheless, if a predictive dialer is such an ultimate tool, why are there two different auto dialers? Let us find it out.
Other auto dialer types
There are also two different types of auto dialers besides a predictive dialer.
Power dialer
A power dialer works absolutely different compared to a predictive dialer – it just uses a stable dialing ratio and starts dialing only when the previous call is finished and an agent is free. This means that the dialing speed is a bit slower than the predictive dialer has – over 75% dials per hour. Furthermore, the success rate can be lower too – it strongly depends on your contact list quality, for low quality lists it is around 50%, but for high-quality contact lists it may be even higher than 75%.
So, if it offers a lower success rate and lower dialing speed, what can it offer to beat the predictive dialer’s benefits? First of all, a predictive dialer needs a few agents to work properly – at least 5 agents are required – while a power dialer needs only one operator. Secondly, the predictive dialer, especially if set up improperly, can cause dropped calls – and in some countries dropped calls during telemarketing campaigns are illegal, for instance, in the US this rate can’t be over 5% if you don’t want to be fined. Finally, some Power dialers can leave voicemail drops during cold calling campaigns so you get over 20% of callbacks.
Preview dialer
Preview dialer works almost the same as power dialer but it is used for absolutely different purposes. It has an even lower dialing speed – around 50 dials per hour with a success rate depending on contact list quality, but almost always higher than 50%. But it has an advantage over other auto dialers – it shows the customer card with all the customer data from the CRM system before each dialing attempt – this feature allows you to provide highly personalized customer service in such industries as banking, insurance, e-commerce, healthcare, and in all other industries where personalized service is needed or where you need a tool to serve your VIP customers.
Other features of the auto dialers
All types of auto dialers can identify invalid contacts from your lists, including answering machines or invalid phone numbers and redial unsuccessful calls, such as out-of-zone or busy signals, in accordance with pre-set customizable redialing rules. All auto dialers provide you with detailed reports about cold calling campaigns, as well as you can run multiple cold calling campaigns.
What auto dialer do you need?
While predictive dialer is mostly used for telemarketing and lead generation, power dialer is perfect for warm contact lists processing, and preview dialer is perfectly suited for servicing VIP customers, you need to cover all your business needs, so isn’t it perfect to get a solution that will include all three dialing modes? We have such a solution – the VoIPTime hosted auto dialer for ultimate cold calling!
