Predictive dialer
Encyclopedia
A predictive dialer dials a list of telephone number
s and connects answered dials to people making calls, often referred to as agents. Predictive dialers use statistical algorithm
s to minimize the time that agents spend waiting between conversations, while minimizing the occurrence of someone answering when no agent is available.
When dialing numbers one at a time, there are two sources of delay. First, only some fraction of dials are answered. So, for example, if 1 out of 3 dials are answered, a predictive dialer might dial 3 lines every time an agent becomes available. Second, even dials that are answered take some time before being picked up. If it typically takes 10 seconds for someone to pick up, and conversations typically last 90 seconds, a predictive dialer might start dialing at 80 seconds.
Dialing one number at a time, only when an agent is available, typically keeps agents utilized for 40 minutes per hour. Predictive dialing can increase utilization to 57 minutes per hour.
If someone answers but no agent is available within 2 seconds of the person's greeting, FCC regulations consider the call "abandoned" and require the dialer to play a recorded message. The FCC requires that predictive dialers abandon less than 3% of answered calls.
Telephone number
A telephone number or phone number is a sequence of digits used to call from one telephone line to another in a public switched telephone network. When telephone numbers were invented, they were short — as few as one, two or three digits — and were given orally to a switchboard operator...
s and connects answered dials to people making calls, often referred to as agents. Predictive dialers use statistical algorithm
Algorithm
In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm is an effective method expressed as a finite list of well-defined instructions for calculating a function. Algorithms are used for calculation, data processing, and automated reasoning...
s to minimize the time that agents spend waiting between conversations, while minimizing the occurrence of someone answering when no agent is available.
When dialing numbers one at a time, there are two sources of delay. First, only some fraction of dials are answered. So, for example, if 1 out of 3 dials are answered, a predictive dialer might dial 3 lines every time an agent becomes available. Second, even dials that are answered take some time before being picked up. If it typically takes 10 seconds for someone to pick up, and conversations typically last 90 seconds, a predictive dialer might start dialing at 80 seconds.
Dialing one number at a time, only when an agent is available, typically keeps agents utilized for 40 minutes per hour. Predictive dialing can increase utilization to 57 minutes per hour.
If someone answers but no agent is available within 2 seconds of the person's greeting, FCC regulations consider the call "abandoned" and require the dialer to play a recorded message. The FCC requires that predictive dialers abandon less than 3% of answered calls.
See also
- TelemarketingTelemarketingTelemarketing is a method of direct marketing in which a salesperson solicits prospective customers to buy products or services, either over the phone or through a subsequent face to face or Web conferencing appointment scheduled during the call.Telemarketing can also include recorded sales pitches...
- Do Not Call RegistryDo Not Call RegistryA do not call list, do not call registry, or similar is a list of personal phone numbers that are off-limits to telemarketers in some countries...
- DialerDialerA dialer or dialler is an electronic device that is connected to a telephone line to monitor the dialed numbers and alter them to seamlessly provide services that otherwise require lengthy access codes to be dialed...
- Computer telephony integrationComputer telephony integrationComputer telephony integration, also called computer–telephone integration or CTI, is a common name for any technology that allows interactions on a telephone and a computer to be integrated or coordinated...
- Direct marketingDirect marketingDirect marketing is a channel-agnostic form of advertising that allows businesses and nonprofits to communicate straight to the customer, with advertising techniques such as mobile messaging, email, interactive consumer websites, online display ads, fliers, catalog distribution, promotional...
- RobocallRobocallRobocall is a term for an automated phone call that uses both a computerized autodialer and a computer-delivered pre-recorded message. The implication is that a "robocall" resembles a telephone call from a robot...