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July 15, 2010

Using Dialers In A Smart Business Sense

Filed under: dialers — Tags: , — Steven Jenkins @ 12:38 pm

Predictive dialer software is utilized by call centers that make large numbers of phone calls so that you can maximize their efficiency and productivity. A properly run contact center can ensure that the high quality of consumer service is enhanced by the use of predictive dialer software, but these systems can also be misused, resulting in annoying silent calls and unwanted phone telephone calls for the consumer. This type of abuse can backfire on the companies that employ them by ensuring that the people they’re calling feel dehumanized and devalued and so are less likely to want to buy from them.

Predictive dialer software automatically will place telephone calls to customers and it records information concerning the telephone calls that it makes. This information will consist of information concerning the times at which a particular consumer answers or doesn’t answer their telephone. The software can therefore function out when the greatest time to call is and schedule future calls to that quantity accordingly. When the telephone calls are coming from someone to whom the customer wishes to speak this could be a helpful feature as it ensures they will not keep missing the calls.

A well-used predictive dialer can significantly increase efficiency. The agents who work at the call center do not invest their time really dialing telephone calls simply because the predictive dialer software program does this for them. The software program also makes certain that agents don’t need to wait very long in between calls. This indicates that they invest much more time talking to customers and can speak to much more clients during the day. This could benefit the people who are getting calls as they will be known as when required and without having delays. This means that they will not need to wait for an essential call because the call center staff are dealing having a backlog of customers who have to be contacted.

The use of predictive dialer software program can have an adverse effect on customer service, however. If a poor high quality system is being utilized or if it is being utilized improperly, the consumer can suffer. Some predictive dialers take longer than others to connect an answered call to an agent. This means that there’s a noticeable pause in between when the customer answers the call and when they hear somebody on the other end of the line. Picking up the phone without receiving an immediate response can be really irritating. Some call centers actually fill the pause having a recorded message, but this could be even much more annoying since it leaves the customer speaking to a “robot” rather than a real individual.

An even worse problem occurs when the predictive dialer software is unable to correctly time its calls. This can result in some of the answered calls being abandoned because there is no agent available to speak to the customer. The customer picks up the phone and finds that there is no one on the other end. Good predictive dialers minimize the frequency of abandoned calls, but some are still made. In the US, the ratio of abandoned calls to the total number of calls that are answered must not exceed two percent.

Predictive dialer systems have sometimes been misused by con artists. Calls are sometimes made too frequently or at inconvenient times, although there are regulations in place that should prevent this. Predictive dialers have also been used to call people who do not wish to be contacted, but whose phone numbers and personal details have been bought from another company. All of these abuses of the software can be annoying or even harmful to the customer, but responsible call center should avoid these practices.

If a customer is receiving unwanted calls, then they may ask not to be called back. All companies making calls to the US are required to offer a do not call option which customers should take if they are not happy about the calls they are receiving. If no such option is available or if they continue to receive phone calls, then they should contact the appropriate regulatory body. In the US, this is the National Do Not Call Registry.

Find the best solutions for hosted predictive dialers for your business, by using the best predictive dialer in the market.

May 12, 2010

Basic Points of Consideration About Predictive Dialers

Filed under: sales software — Tags: , , , — Jawenski Fortress @ 12:01 am

Automatic dialing systems are used by call centers to speed up their work, by making it easier to ring up each number in a long list of contact details. The difference between a predictive dialing system and the more old-fashioned automatic dialers is that a predictive dialer can monitor what happens at the other end of a call as well as actually dialing the number automatically. This means that it can judge whether or not a call should be passed on to a member of the call center staff, or whether there was no answer and the number should be called again at another time.

An automatic dialer made it easier for call center workers to make large numbers of phone calls, and to avoid making calls to the wrong number, because it automatically placed the call, without requiring the phone number to be manually entered into the phone. However, automatic dialers could not do any more than this. They just made the work easier for employees of the call center.

Predictive dialing systems can do a lot more than this. In addition to automatically dialing the phone numbers, they actually relieve the call center staff of a large and time-consuming part of the work. The predictive dialer removes the need for an actual person to sit and listen to the calls as they are made, because the software can perform the function that employees once had to do. It can recognize a busy tone, a missed call and an answer machine, and it can remove the need for an employee to be involved in any call that results in one of these. This means that no one is wasting their time on phone calls that cannot possible lead to any sales or other interaction with customers. Call center employees will only be connected to a call when there is a customer on the other end of the line.

The advantages of using such a system are increased efficiency and productivity. Since they are no longer required to make unanswered calls as well as talk to the customers who actually answer, call center staff are making much better use of their time. They are being paid only for the really important work of the call center, and therefore their employer’s money is being much better spent.

The downside to using predictive dialer systems is that when a customer answers the phone, they are initially picking up the phone to speak to a piece of software and not a human being. Predictive dialers hand answered calls over to call center employees as quickly as they can, and they time their calls in order to ensure that a member of staff will be ready to take the call if it is answered, but there will always be some small delay. Many customers are now aware of this, and can find it very annoying. People prefer to speak to other people over the phone, and they can feel that their needs are not being prioritized if they know they are being called automatically. Some people even use the slight pause to put the phone down, recognizing that it is likely to be an unsolicited sales call. This means that important calls may be better placed manually by a member of the call center staff than left to a predictive dialer system.

Time to increase your productivity by using a predictive dialer for your call center?

December 19, 2009

Using A Dialer For The Greatest Impact

Filed under: power dialers — Tags: , , , , — Lindy Bischoff @ 12:14 am

If your business relies on a call center to keep generating sales, then it is critically important to use your dialer efficiently and effectively. There are many different types of dialers on the market, and there are ways to increase your calling abilities and save time with each of them.

A predictive dialer is a popular model because it can place an extremely high volume of calls every day. If this is your first time using a dialer like this, you may actually be surprised with how many calls it can actually make. Chances are your call center representatives will soon have more calls than they can actually handle.

With this dialer, be prepared to lose some leads. The way it works is to attempt to predict when the next phone representative will be available to make a call. By making several calls at once, the predictive dialer takes the risk that one of those calls might not be taken by a phone rep before the person on the other end answers.

This is considered an abandoned call and there are regulations in place for how many of your calls are allowed to be abandoned in a day. It also leaves a bad taste in the mouth of the person your company just called.

Power dialers are another popular option. These dialers also automate the calling process, which means you can reach a lot of people every day (up to 300 or 350 calls in some cases). It won’t make as many calls as a predictive dialer, but it will definitely help prevent so many calls from being abandoned.

These power dialers can help you increase your productivity, just like a predictive dialer, but it will require a little more of a hands-on approach. The phone representatives will have a lot more control of the dialed calls, but that also means they will be able to steer the call from the time it is placed.

The most important aspect of this is that the person you’re calling is greeted promptly and efficiently by a human voice, in a timely manner. If the call goes unanswered, the phone rep can then leave a message-a real, live person leaving a message is always better than some poorly timed, pre-recorded message.

A power dialer will help you save time and stop you from losing some leads, but a predictive dialer is also a very useful tool. It doesn’t matter which one you go with as long as you remember that your customers really need to be treated with understanding and respect.

Lisa Anderson has been an avid blogger and print journalist over the last 8 years and has been involved with InsideSales.com. She is an expert in dialers and managing of leads. Learn more here.

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