Predictive dialing software is used to automatically place scheduled calls to coincide with the availability of call center staff members. Ideally, the software makes enough calls for someone to answer and no agent in the call center will have to wait for someone to speak to them. However, they will not make too many calls, otherwise customers will pick up the phone and find that there is no one on the other end.
The advantages of using a predictive dialing system are that it allows call center employees to spend their time talking to customers instead of placing calls themselves and waiting for someone to answer and that’s it. This ensures that call center staff spend less time performing monotonous and boring tasks and more time talking to customers. Productivity can be increased significantly when using predictive dialing software because it reduces the amount of time an agent has to be idle between calls.
However, there are some drawbacks to the use of predictive markers. Most of these issues are associated with using poor quality software or a system that has not been configured with a concern for the quality of the customer experience.
If the system doesn’t have enough data or hasn’t been configured well enough, it may not be able to correctly predict how to time the calls you make. This could cause some customers to take silent or abandoned calls, as there will not be a call center agent available to speak with them. A good predictive dialer should be able to avoid this situation as much as possible by carefully scheduling their calls so that there is always a member of the call center staff ready to speak to the customer if the call is answered.
Malfunctioning predictive dialing systems can also make it obvious to the customer that they are receiving a robocall, for example by leaving a long pause between when they answer the phone and when they hear someone speaking on the other end. This can be very annoying for the person answering the phone and can also give the impression that the company calling them doesn’t care enough about them to provide a more personalized service.
Predictive dialing software can be very useful for large call centers, allowing agents to spend more time talking to customers and improving efficiency and productivity. However, the system must be configured to avoid alienating customers by reducing the quality of service. Smaller businesses that need to make fewer calls, or businesses where the personal touch is valued, may find that the disadvantages of using predictive dialing software are not outweighed by the advantages, as the increased efficiency will be less important for them.