used predictive dialers

Predictive dialers started as small, stand-alone dialers in five-seat configurations that used thousands of call records in flat text files. The user interface was a character-based screen. Today, the configurations typically involve distributed dialers, which are centrally controlled and serve hundreds of agents on local area networks (LANs). Predictive dialers are often part of a customer information system that uses relational databases containing thousands of records. These systems display both the customer account information and the dialing information through graphical user interfaces (GUIs).

Predictive dialers automatically initiate outbound calls from programmed calling lists and hand off the completed calls to agents. Predictive dialing algorithms "predict" that customers answer the phone only a certain percentage of the time and, consequently, make an appropriate number of outbound calls to produce a manageable number of completed calls to agents. This prediction saves time for agents, since they don't have to wait while the phone rings or listen to answering machines and busy signals.

The most flexible predictive dialers are constructed using a building block approach. They are built on open systems, with client/server distributed processing that enables various components to be enhanced and updated as new technology becomes available. Advanced predictive dialers are software-based solutions that use computer-telephony integration (CTI) technology to dial numbers predictively. Such a solution allows predictive dialing to be carried out from any phone terminal in an enterprise network, instead of limiting predictive dialing functionality to phones/terminals in call centers.