Predictive, progressive and preview dialing explained

Keeping your agents productive and maximizing call volumes are some of the main challenges faced by busy contact centers. Predictive, progressive and preview dialing can help reduce wasted agent time and maximize the number of calls your team can handle in a day.

But what are these dialing techniques, and which should you be using? We're here to explain each option so you can make the right decision for your teams.

What Is a progressive dialer?

Progressive dialers are fairly simple in their design. With these dialers, when an agent completes their previous call and marks themselves as ready on their phone, the system automatically dials a number for them. This reduces wasted waiting time and is a good choice for teams where most calls are fairly similar, such as outbound "soft lead" sales.

The good thing about progressive dialers is that they don't start making a call unless there's an agent available to take it, reducing the risk of a contact answering a call and getting a dead end. The downside is this means the agent may have to sit and wait for a while until the dialer places a call that gets answered, resulting in unproductive time for that agent.

What Is a predictive dialer?

Predictive dialers use an algorithm to work out how long the average call takes and how many calls are likely to ring out, be rejected or go to answerphone. These dialers pre-preemptively place calls to maximize efficiency, passing valid calls on to an agent as soon as one becomes available.

This type of dialer maximizes productivity, but this can come at the expense of leaving contact center agents burnt out if they're forced to handle too many calls. In addition, Ofcom has strict rules about silent calls and automated calling systems. Any contact center considering using predictive dialers should make sure their system is compliant with Ofcom's requirements.

What Is a preview dialer?

Preview dialers allow contact center advisors to see information about the next call that's queued up for them. They can decide when they'd like the call to be made or skip the call entirely if the system allows this. Preview dialing is often employed for teams that are making more complex or in-depth sales calls or tech-support callbacks because it gives the advisor time to review the customer's details before the call starts.

A team using preview dialers will most likely make fewer calls per day than a team using predictive or progressive dialers. However, if the calls are for high-value sales, customer retention or support purposes, giving agents time to consider their approach and review the customer's case could be more valuable than getting through a few extra calls per agent per day.

Setting up dialers in your contact center

Every team is different. When you're choosing a dialer for your contact center, you'll need to consider how complex the calls your agents will deal with are likely to be and how many calls you need to get through per day to meet your targets. In addition, consider your agents' well-being and how heavy their workloads are likely to be. Finding a balance between productivity and burnout is vital.

If you're looking for efficient, effective dialing tools for your contact center, take a look at our business phone solutions or contact us to request a quote tailored to your organization.