Predictive Dialing

Top-notch performance while maintaining compliance.

At a Glance

Established Success in Predictive Dialing

The predictive dialer incorporated into Softdial Contact Center™ (SCC) boasts exceptional predictive dialing performance while adhering to US regulations regarding abandoned calls.

The AI Dialer™ is utilized in various call center sectors worldwide, including Market Research, Collections, Sales, and Telemarketing.

Numerous contact center vendors offer it under their own brand, confident in its status as a premier product from a trusted software provider.

The AI Dialer™ automates the handling of non-live calls, thus optimizing agent talk time. Our cutting-edge algorithm accurately predicts the ideal dialing rate to ensure agents remain occupied consistently.

Predictive Dialing – Staying Profitable and Legal in 2023

The landscape for predictive dialing has indeed undergone significant changes in the last two decades, driven by evolving regulations, technology advancements, and shifting consumer preferences. To explore the five key elements crucial for a profitable outbound predictive dialing operation in 2023, you can follow the provided link for more detailed information.

Virtual Event Machine (VEM)®

The key to effective predictive dialing lies in the quality of dialing algorithms and the design of the dialer itself. We have invested numerous man-years of development into its dialing engine, known as the Virtual Event Machine (VEM)®. This specialized simulator engine was purpose-built for the outbound call center industry.

Using VEM®, all the user needs to do is specify a maximum target for abandoned calls, and then VEM® takes care of the rest. It continuously achieves the maximum dialing efficiency for the specified rate of abandoned calls. There are no calls left waiting in hold queues, and it avoids undesirable practices such as quickly hanging up on unanswered numbers. The supervisor can focus on managing the campaign itself without needing to interfere with the dialer, which autonomously manages its pacing.

VEM® constantly monitors all events involved in the dialing process and updates the dialing rate through ongoing calculations. Thanks to the power of VEM®, which can simulate up to 50 million calls per second (yes, per second), these updates happen in milliseconds.

Figure 1 and Figure 2 show examples of how VEM® responds immediately to changes in campaign conditions

Figure 1: Number of agents available

Figure 2: The dialing rate responding to changing conditions

Call progress detection

A predictive dialer aims to filter calls, allowing only live connections to agents. We offer software and features to enable this functionality. However, it’s important to note that despite industry assertions, this process isn’t always precise. Certain responses, such as out-of-service numbers and many voicemail systems, can be swiftly identified with minimal call delay. On the other hand, distinguishing between live respondents and answering machines may require several seconds.

AI Dialer includes this software, and its performance rating is on par with the industry’s best. Nevertheless, it’s advisable to exercise caution because the time spent on detection is also the time during which you anticipate a person to remain on the line, wondering about the incoming call. If maintaining call quality is paramount, it might be prudent to consider disabling this type of detection.

Outbound dialing regulations and compliance

This means that when organizations use the dialing solutions and operate under the rules and regulations set forth by regulatory bodies like the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), including Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), and Do Not Call, our technology actively enforces compliance with these regulations. Consequently, businesses can rely on our expertise and technology to ensure they remain in compliance with the specific rules governing outbound dialing practices. This proactive approach minimizes the risk of non-compliance and associated penalties, providing organizations with peace of mind when conducting outbound telemarketing, debt collections or sales campaigns.

Measuring predictive vs. progressive

When investing in a predictive dialer solution, it’s crucial to understand that you’re essentially paying for what’s known as “predictive gain” – the additional talk time per hour that predictive dialing can generate compared to progressive dialing. It’s entirely reasonable to request a free trial or a demonstration where you can measure this gain. A reputable dialer vendor should be able to seamlessly switch between progressive and predictive modes for measurement purposes. This step is essential because, until you witness this test conducted accurately, you may not have a clear picture of what you’re actually purchasing.

However, the effectiveness of predictive gain hinges on the quality of the dialer design. If the dialer’s design is subpar, only a fraction of the potential gain will be realized. In such cases, the dialer might quickly exhaust its allotted quota for nuisance calls and revert to progressive dialing.

Beyond assessing predictive gain, it’s vital to understand how it was achieved. Familiarize yourself with local regulations or best practice guidelines and ask pertinent questions to ensure compliance. For instance, verify that abandoned calls are measured correctly. If you’re uncertain about how to assess compliance or the specific rules governing your operations, don’t hesitate to seek guidance from DataTel.

Remember, without reasonable assurance that predictive dialing rules are being followed, you won’t be able to conduct a thorough evaluation of the dialer’s performance and adherence to regulations.

Did you know?

The AI Dialer™ track record speaks volumes – we have consistently outperformed competitors in predictive dialer performance trials. Their unmatched approach to predictive dialing, driven by simulation and AI, remains unrivaled. We maintain that this expertise extends to optimizing agent utilization in a blended inbound/outbound, multi-channel, multi-session environment.

Efficient Transition to Home-Based Work

SCC ensures that remote working, whether deployed from a data center or in the cloud, remains feature rich. It supports both VPN connectivity and secure Internet access via HTTPS.

For organizations relying on legacy systems and requiring a swift shift to remote work for their agents, cloud deployment provides the most expedited transition. Leveraging our extensive expertise in deploying solutions across major cloud platforms such as Amazon AWS and Microsoft Azure, the essential infrastructure for remote work can be established within a matter of days. This allows users to start with simplicity and then rapidly expand, providing a comprehensive user experience that’s seamlessly integrated with the backend systems.

Other dialing modes

The AI Dialer™ offers versatile usage modes, including: Progressive – Each available call center agent dials one number at a time. While a number is being dialed for a specific agent, screen pop information can be sent to that agent as soon as the dialing process begins. Preview – The agent is presented with details of the next number in the cache through a screen pop. The agent can then choose to either dial that number or skip to the next number in the cache. Manual – SCC can improve manual dialing by initiating call recording from the beginning, ensuring that incorrect numbers are not dialed, and enforcing time limits for ringing. You can find more information on software support for manual dialing (SSMD) in our resource here. See also… AI Dialer™ World-class predictive dialing that excels under all compliance regulations Softdial Campaign Manager™ Extensive setup and management options for outbound campaigns Global Compliance™ Adaptable regulations to safeguard both contact centers and consumers