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Predictive Dialer vs Progressive Dialer - All you need to know

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Predictive Dialer vs Progressive Dialer is one of the most common comparisons that every business goes through while choosing the right dialer for their call center. In order to maximize the call center’s efficiency and elevate customers’ experience, automatic dialers have become the need of the hour. Every call center is different, so are its needs and thus it becomes imperative for a business to choose a dialer accordingly. In this article, we’ll dive deeper into two types of dialers – Predictive Dialer and Progressive Dialer by comparing & contrasting the differences between them. Let’s start:

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Predictive Dialer vs Progressive Dialer All you need to know1

What is a Predictive Dialer?

A predictive dialer is an application that is used for dialing numbers from a list of contacts automatically. With an ability to call various numbers at a time & seamlessly route them to a particular live agent (when needed), predictive dialers are leveraged by call centers & sales teams for reaching out to a huge volume of prospects. As agents don’t have to dial, wait, or screen calls anymore, predictive dialers save a lot of their time and effort, thereby boosting the overall productivity of the call center. Using a predictive dialer can lead to a 300 to 400 % boost in productivity due to the massive increase in agent talk time per hour (with 10-15 minutes per hour to 50 minutes per hour).

How does a Predictive Dialer work?

As the word ‘Predictive’ in its name suggests, a predictive dialer relies on historical data which involves the amount of time an agent spends on a call, the ideal time to call a prospect, numbers to screen out in case the lines are busy or answered by a machine, etc. for maximizing the chances of a connection. 

By leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) & machine learning (ML), a predictive dialer can easily “predict” when an agent will be available again and begins calling multiple numbers to immediately connect agents with a customer the moment they hang up their previous call. This process not only minimizes agents’ idle time but also saves their effort on scouring through their contact lists.

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What are the pros and cons of using a Predictive Dialer?

Pros

  • Increased call volume: Using a predictive dialer increases your agents’ call rates which contribute to more sales.
  • Improved efficiency: As agents’ time doesn’t get wasted in dialing numbers manually and running into busy signals, they focus more on money-making conversations.
  • AI-empowered calling: By using data from agents and contact lists for dialing the right numbers, predictive dialers help to optimize agents’ time while mitigating call abandonment, which is otherwise impossible to achieve without technology.

Cons

  • High burnout: As agents get less time between calls, this leads to increased employee burnout and huge turnover rates.
  • Customer alienation: As some customers hate getting unsolicited calls, they usually end up blocking your numbers.
  • Call abandonment: Predictive dialers can sometimes bring people on the phone even before agents are ready to talk to them. In such a case, customers hang up the call after sitting in wait.
  • Dropped calls: With spam call detection, customers can easily identify your predictive dialer’s outbound calls, thereby preventing you from reaching out to your customers.

What is a Progressive Dialer?

A Progressive Dialer is an application used for automating the process of making outbound calls, so agents don’t have to manually dial phone numbers of customers. Serving an “intermediate ground” between manual dialing and predictive dialing solutions, progressive dialers wait for agents to end their current call before dialing the next number from the contact list, i.e. it only dials when an agent is available to take the call. Moreover, it dials one number per agent only. These dialers can be used in any vertical for a range of purposes such as sales, customer service, telemarketing, etc. 

What are the pros and cons of using a Progressive Dialer?

Pros

  • Fewer hang-ups: Since there’s always an agent to handle a customer, this reduces the chances of unnecessarily long wait times, resulting in fewer hang-ups.
  • Personalized Touch: By following a customer-friendly approach, these dialers are ideal for delivering a personalized experience to the customers which saves you from potential hang-up rates of predictive dialers.
  • More Breathing Space: Using a progressive dialer empowers agents with more time to focus on their respondents so they can collect relevant information about them before making a call.

Cons

  • Fewer effective results: As the dialing rate of a progressive dialer is low as compared to a predictive dialer, this makes it inefficient to use in the case of larger pools of respondents.
  • Low Agent Productivity: In progressive dialers, an agent has to work through 3 phone calls in a call distribution system for getting one live respondent to talk to. This negatively impacts the agents’ productivity. 
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Predictive Dialer vs Progressive Dialer All you need to know4

How does a Progressive Dialer work?

Unlike predictive dialers, a progressive dialer operates on the basis of the number of agents connected at a call center. Also, its calling pace relies on factors such as abandonment rates as well as the rate of connection. Intending to maintain a high level of efficiency, progressive dialers ensure to connect agents to calls that are answered by a live person only. Since the agent is already available to cater to the customer as soon as the call is picked up, therefore, there are fewer abandoned calls in the case of progressive dialers which helps to maintain a steady stream of communication. 

Predictive Dialer vs Progressive Dialer: Making the right choice

While there is no ideal answer to the question of predictive dialer vs progressive dialer, it’s important to choose the one that resonates well with your contact center needs. Considering the pros and cons of each, you can select the appropriate dialer that can help to maximize the efficiency of your call center. 

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Why Voxco is the best bet for predictive dialer and progressive dialer?

Voxco’s exceptional on-premise & cloud-based dialer supports both predictive and progressive modes. Being a state-of-the-art telephony system, Voxco dialer works dynamically with a call center to boost its productivity by as much as 50%. Here’s what makes Voxco Dialer an optimum solution for a call center’s needs: 

  • Flexible Dialing Modes
    Dialing multiple phone numbers can be a tough task and it can negatively impact the agents’ productivity. Voxco Dialer streamlines the process of establishing successful call connections with its versatile 4-in-1 dialing solution. With its 4 different dialing modes (Preview, Progressive, Predictive, and Hybrid), it empowers call centers to tailor the dial pattern of their project as per need.
  • Efficient Performance Management
    Voxco Dialer comes with best-in-class quality assurance features for monitoring, measuring, as well as improving the performance of a call center. Gain a real-time view of how projects are performing and use Dialer Dashboard for creating reports on the agents’ productivity. By filtering out DNC numbers, Voxco Dialer offers a second level of control over numbers that you should not call.
  • Advanced Telephony Features
    Voxco Dialer enables you to make the most of your call center with powerful features like call conferencing, call transfer as well as audio playback. With its ability to blend incoming calls into outbound operations effortlessly, Voxco Dialer is power-packed with intelligent call routing and seamless transfer & return features which makes it an outbound calling powerhouse.

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