Predictive Dialers Getting Smarter Every Day

By PATRICK BARNARD
TMCnet Associate Editor


Today’s predictive dialers are more intelligent and sophisticated than those of just a few years ago. The current generation of predictive dialers is much better at generating the appropriate amount of call volume to match the number of agents who are available to handle calls. Using advanced algorithms, these predictive dialers can accurately balance how many calls are being picked up, how many potential customers are currently on hold, and how many agents are available or will be available – a delicate tightrope walk which is difficult to achieve with older systems. This is a key capability which predictive dialers have over their predecessors, the now dinosaur-like auto-dialers.

Today’s predictive dialers can achieve a perfect balance between the number of called parties that are waiting to talk to an agent and the number of agents that are available to handle calls. That means the call center never has too much – or too few – calls to handle, and thus can operate much more efficiently.

Not only do today’s predictive dialers more accurately balance the number of auto-dialed calls with the number of available agents, they also play recorded messages to call recipients as soon as they pick up the phone. These messages can be tailored to target certain types of customers and hold them on the line until a live agent is able to take the call. These recordings typically tell the call recipient who is calling and why, and may even include a little sales pitch designed to pique the recipient’s interest and keep them on the line.

In the event that a predictive dialer encounters an answering machine, busy signal, fax or modem signal, or no answer, it “knows” (thanks to the advanced algorithms used) NOT to connect the call to an agent. However, if someone picks up the phone, the predictive dialer will play a message and then connect the call when the next agent is ready. Furthermore, today’s predictive dialers can be programmed to go back and re-dial the numbers which it could not get through to on the first attempt.

The day is fast approaching when predictive dialers will feature IVR-like capabilities, where the caller can actually respond to the computer–generated voice and tell it that they want to speak to an agent, or that they are not interested. As such, the predictive dialers of the future will need to employ even more sophisticated algorithms to ensure that the right number of agents are available at all times, so that when the call recipient asks to speak with an agent, they get one right away. In fact, predictive dialers coupled with advanced IVR solutions could eventually give way to fully-automated marketing campaigns, where transactions can be completed without an agent ever picking up the line.

In addition, one can expect that the predictive dialers of the future will become more deeply integrated with company business systems – particularly CRM systems. In fact, most predictive dialers are already capable of being integrated with CRM software, for the purpose of generating call lists and reporting the number of call attempts. The data gathered from the predictive dialer is typically analyzed to determine the efficiency of the system – and, naturally, the efficiency of the agents handling the calls. If, in the event, the predictive dialer is committing errors, it can be re-programmed to take corrective action (re-queue the calls for re-dialing), or the agents can dial the numbers which were problematic manually, if need be.

Today’s predictive dialers can provide businesses with valuable data about their targeted customers. Typically this information is sorted by geographic region (area code/exchange/zip code) but also by a myriad of other factors. This not only includes information about how many calls are going through, and how many are connected to an agent, but also what the result of the interaction was (successful/unsuccessful). As such, a company can use the data gathered from a predictive dialer to assess what the success rate might be in a particular region - or what the success rate will be with a particular targeted group of (potential) customers. With some predictive dialers, this data can be based on the call recipient’s initial interaction with the dialer- including their reaction to the product or service being offered.

Other common uses for today’s predictive dialers - beyond sales calls - include appointment confirmations, customer service call backs and welcome calls for new customers. Just about any routine service call can be handled by a predictive dialer - and the capabilities of predictive dialers will only increase in the years to come.

---------
Patrick Barnard is Assignment Editor for TMCnet and a columnist covering the telecom industry. To see more of his articles, please visit Patrick Barnard’s columnist page.