Outbound Predictive Dialer Featured Articles

For the all the news – both good and bad – that call centers generate these days, calling potential customers is still one of the most effective ways to gain new business and make a sale. Yet the balance of power has shifted from the business to the customer.

According to a recent whitepaper, the customer’s voice is having a profound effect on how businesses are run.

“In this fast-changing business environment, dated technology platforms and products are no longer sufficient to effectively compete,” the whitepaper said. “The customer revolution is manifested in many areas of technology and business.”

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One of those areas is targeted calls. Today, many consumers recognize and hang up on dead air or that telltale clicking sound that indicates a call center is on the line. In fact, a recent study found that 49 percent of consumers who were surveyed hang up when they hear a delay or pause when answering a call from an unfamiliar phone number.

Customers that do stay on the line are likely to ask to be removed from further communications, confront the caller, or get impatient.

“And, let’s not forget the agents,” the whitepaper adds. “They either hear silence on the other line due to hang-ups, or must deal with unhappy customers at the start of each conversation. This certainly does not lead to optimum effectiveness.” Finally, contact centers must also pay surcharges for short call durations from hang-ups.

But thanks to a new outbound dialing innovation, IT and Call Center executives don’t have to choose. Call centers don’t have to sacrifice excellent service for productivity. Now they can increase efficiency and improve customer relationships, enjoy high agent utilization and connect calls at the first hello.

The new technology is spelled out thusly:

1. Dialing begins and the agent is listening to ringing.

2. When the customer picks up, the agent is connected and listening for the first hello.

3. The outbound dialer technology is actively monitoring both voice channels – the customer and the agent’s. It knows when each party is engaged.

4. The technology knows when a conversation begins, or does not, because it is listening to both channels.

5. If the agent hears a voicemail message, he or she does not engage in a conversation and the technology disposes the call. Another call’s ring is now sent to the agent. No agent action is required for voicemails.

6. If the agent hears a customer voice, a conversation begins. The customer and agent are connected prior to the first hello.

With this new solution, improved customer service and relationships can come first. Why? They lead to efficiency, effectiveness, and business success. Contact centers that have considered but not employed proactive outbound customer service due to call latency issues can now make a positive change.