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Predictive Dialers Head to the Cloud

By Mae Kowalke, TMCnet Contributor

It is hard to believe that any call center is still having agents manually dial since predictive dialers offer so many advantages. But some still do.

Likewise, it is hard to believe that any call center would choose on-premise predictive dialer now that cloud-based predictive dialing services have matured.

Predictive dialing offers a number of benefits. First and foremost, it spreads calls to agents using virtual intelligence, streamlining the dialing process and ensuring efficient call center operations.

A second important feature of predictive dialers is that they filter specific lists to avoid numbers on Do Not Call lists. With the potential cost of calling Do Not Call numbers being so high, this feature alone makes a predictive dialer essential.

The filtering functionality has a number of other benefits, too. One is that it can screen by time zone, helping to avoid calling a region too late or too early.

Another screening benefit of predictive dialers is that it can help agents avoid no answer, busy signals, fax tones, answering machines and other time-wasters. Agents stay productive by only handling calls with people on the other end, maximizing efficiency.

Obviously, predictive dialers just make sense. So does using a cloud-based solution.

Software-as-a-Service (SaaS (News - Alert)) has taken the business world by storm, and currently every imaginable business function and software application is being moved to a subscription-based, Web model. Call center software is no exception, and predictive dialers now can be leveraged by any business through services such as inContact.

The advantage of cloud-based predictive dialing is that it takes the hassle out of call center software.

First, there is reduced capital expense because there’s no need for predictive dialer software or hardware. All a business needs is a Web browser. Further, the service will draw from operating expenses, not the harder-to-authorize capital expenses ledger.

Second, there are none of the headaches that come from maintenance and upgrades because the cloud-based predictive dialer is serviced and kept cutting-edge by the provider. The call center doesn’t have any of those IT headaches any longer.

Another advantage, often overlooked, is that a cloud-based solution delivers flexibility. Call centers traditionally have been beehives of cubicles, terminals and phones. But with the software in the cloud, agents now can work from anywhere there is an Internet connection. This leads to happier workers and more flexibility for the call center; now the best candidates can be hired irrespective of geographic location.

Companies such as inContact offer full-featured, cloud-based call center solutions that can move not just the predictive dialer function but also the whole call center software platform to the web.

Businesses that don’t use predictive dialers are well behind the curve, and soon those that don’t use cloud-based solutions will similarly be feeling the pinch from their more nimble, efficient competitors.