Power dialing is the automated dialing of the records for each agent.  This calling method increases the productivity of each agent by automatically scheduling (and rescheduling) calls, sending calls to the appropriate agent at the optimal time. A Power dialer prioritizes records in a queue, brings up the appropriate record at the optimal time, supports multiple agents simultaneously and dials / hangs-up the phone automatically. Power dialers can detect busy and no answers and automatically recycle the records for future dialing.  Furthermore, it eliminates unnecessary delay between calls by hanging up the call and dialing the next record without agent intervention.

Using Power dialing, the agent hears the system dialing the number and waits for the call to be answered.  Before the call is answered, the agent can review the record and call history. If no live person answers, the agent will enter the call disposition in a window, causing the dialer to hang-up and proceed to the next record. If the call is answered, the agent begins the script.

Predictive dialing is a system of outbound calling that dials without the agent on the line. The system dials the phone, listens and when a live "hello" or short greeting is detected, automatically transfers the call to an available agent. The dialer places numerous calls simultaneously, checking each number for a live "hello" or for another call disposition. If the call is busy, no answer, not working, etc., the dialer either discards or reschedules the call, then dials another number. The dialer is predictive because it anticipates when the next agent will become available, and when the next "hello" will be detected.

Most predictive phone dialers automatically adjust to calling patterns, the number of agents, and the average call length. If calls are short, a dialer should dial more lines. If fewer agents are available, a dialer should dial less frequently. If calling patterns change, the dialer should change with them. It should also be able to handle multiple projects, and multiple calling lists, seamlessly switching between them. Finally, one should be able to modify the frequency with which the dialer "abandons" a call. An abandoned call occurs when a live person picks up the phone, but there are no available agents to take the call.  When the person hangs up the phone before the dialer switches the call to an agent, the call is "abandoned". A high quality dialer will automatically adjust the calling rate to minimize abandoned calls and maximize agent talk time.

Predictive dialing is generally used for business-to-consumer calling, where the individual identity of the consumer is not completely relevant to the call. Using predictive dialing, the agent has no time to preview the call before the connection. Additionally, it is assumed that abandoned calls to anonymous consumers do not harm the call centers business. However, because businesses answer their calls with a business greeting and require individual advance preparation, predictive dialing is generally not used to call business customers.

Furthermore, predictive dialing is most effective when the list has not been pre-selected and many of the numbers can be expected to be not working, busy or not answered. The agent does not need a personal approach with the respondent and desires only to present a ‘sales pitch’ or obtain information. Predictive dialing will then eliminate much of the dead time and dramatically improve productivity. Statistically, the higher the contact rate of the list, the less need for predictive dialing and the more need for Power dialing. However, the lower the contact rate, the less effective Power dialing will be and the more impact predictive dialing will have on performance.

Predictive systems cannot be used when agents own their own records. The principle of predictive dialing requires that lists be "shared", so a call can be transferred to any available agent.

The mathematics of predictive dialing also affect performance. Generally, using only eight or nine agents with predictive phone dialing software will not produce better contact time than Power dialing. The reason for this is with only eight agents, the dialer's "predictions" on agent availability will be poor, resulting in many abandoned calls or long waits for connections. When at least twelve agents are working, statistics demonstrate that the dialer will outperform Power dialing given a poor phone list.

Power-Dialers are more appropriate when the call center has less than 12 agents, calling a pre-qualified (good) list, or quality of call is paramount.  As describe above, for call centers with less than 12 agents, Power-Dialers are more effective.  The mathematics of the call center show Power-dialers and predictive dialers will perform the same and predictive dialers do not justify the additional cost.  Power-Dialers will achieve almost the same productivity rates as predictive dialers at a significantly lower cost.  Power-Dialers do not require the additional reporting requirements as predictive dialers saving management time. 

If the list is a good list, many of the non working numbers have already been removed so the agents do not have to handle these numbers increasing overall productivity.  Membership or other types of pre-selected lists may merit either Power dialing or predictive dialing, depending on the nature of the campaign. Power dialing affords the agent time to prepare and to support the "pitch" with information from the database. In contrast, predictive dialing will pop the record at the same time the agent is expected to begin speaking with the person, permitting no preparation and eliminating the possibility of a personal approach.

Since all calls by the Power-Dialer are monitored by the agent, the agent hears the phone picked up by the called person and the complete greeting.  There is not a pause between when the called person finishes saying their greeting and when the call is connected to an agent.  All predictive dialers have a pause between the time the call is answered and connected to an agent.  If the predictive dialer is set to detect answering machines, the pause will be longer resulting in poor call quality.  If the predictive dialer is set to connect answers at the fastest rate, the pause will be shorter but the agent will be connected to all answering machines resulting in agent downtime.

Both Power dialing and predictive dialing will result in significant improvement over manual dialing.  As predictive dialing is more expensive than Power dialing, cost/benefit is very important.

Telemarketers using predictive dialers must comply with additional FTC regulations or face severe fines.  Telemarketers must not exceed a 3% abandonment rate per campaign per day.  In addition, extensive record keeping of each call, call duration, and call result is required.  Predictive dialing software must track the dead air time on all predictive calls, enabling users to comply with the record keeping requirement and provide actual abandonment rates. The Predictive dialer must play a custom message if the system has kept the recipient on hold for more than the two-second maximum and can be configured to ring four times before classifying the call as "no answer."

Most predictive dialers can be configured so it will never abandon any calls. Agents will still wait for a live connection, but their wait time will be significantly longer.  This type of dialing is the same as Power dialing.

Power dialing is an attractive alternative. It provides many unique benefits that fully comply with the new dialing regulations. As a software-based dialing application that dials with the agent on the line, Power dialing has a zero abandonment rate. Therefore, any additional regulations related to predictive dialers are not applicable and there is no requirement to purchase additional recording equipment if it is not necessary to your campaign.

Power dialing offers significant productivity gains over other dialing options. Compared to manual dialing, Power dialing has been shown to regularly double productivity and provides a quick ROI (return on investment) at a fraction of the price of predictive dialing. Operationally, Power dialing utilizes a single line telephony Agent dialer connected to an analog line or a digital line. The system dials for the agent, detects busy and no answers, and once the agent detects the answered call, they begin their script.

This documentation is not intended to provide legal advice or create warranties of any kind, expressed or implied, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. The information herein is based on the FTC regulations.  

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