Predictive Dialer Architectures

A predictive dialer is essentially a computerized telephone system for call centers designed to connect sales agents to potential customers the predictive dialer software program calls automatically.



There are various ways to implement the capabilities of a predictive dialer system. All of them perform essentially the same set of services, however the efficiency and cost savings can vary significantly. The 5 basic varieties are briefly discussed below:



Soft Dialers:



"Soft Dialers" are software-only techniques which generally cost much less to buy since they do not use telephony hardware (i.e., plug-in boards for computer systems). Soft dialers sometimes offer call progress evaluation and call classification and combine to (or may include) voice recording, interactive voice response (IVR), speech recognition, and text-to-speech applications.



Hard Dialers:



"Hard dialers" use telephony hardware boards for call progress analysis and detecting answering machines. Most frequently, agent audio is related directly to a PBX by way of T1, E1, or ISDN signaling. Hard dialers generally require fewer telephony connections because the hardware can connect directly to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN).



Smart Dialers:



A "Smart predictive dialer" is a relatively new possibility available, and they integrate voice messaging with call center agent connections. In different words, when a call is answered, the smart system will play an introductory recorded message giving the called party the option to talk with an agent to finish the transaction. This method offers additional time savings, consistent greeting identifying the caller and reason for the call, and higher ratio of calls made to available agents.



Hosted Dialer:



The "Hosted dialer" is another new product of the Web phenomenon. On this "Software as a Service" (SaaS) model, a third-party company "hosts" the predictive dialer system for you; you only need a pc, an Web connection, and a telephone line for every agent. The hosted predictive dialer is also called "Virtual Predictive Dialers", "Web-Enabled Predictive Dialers", and "VOIP Predictive Dialers").



Hybrid Dialers:



The ultimate structure, the "Hybrid Predictive Dialer System", is usually a soft dialer on a "hosted VOIP provider" for the actual calls. This method doesn't connect with a PBX system; it connects to a VOIP service provider via the Internet. The distinction between this and the "hosted dialer" system is everything is supplied by the "hosted" service whereas the dialer system resides in and is managed by your facility.





These are the 5 varieties of predictive dialers currently available. You can click here to learn more about the advantages and downsides of each sort of predictive dialer systems as well as how to select the appropriate one for you. More Websites by Dr. Stoker: Casio Piano and Employee Stock Options. Written by Dr. Bryan Stoker.