Hi new to this but need help! Can somebody explain the difference in dailler mode power and progressive?

Firstly, I'm not convinced that this query should be appended to the bottom of the existing topic. Can one of the lovely admins re-locate it?

Different people's have different opinions on this (especially if it's a salesman that you're talking to), and what follows below is my point of view.

Power dialling usually refers to dialling technology as a whole. This is any system whereby automation is involved in some part of the dialling process. This breaks down into two very broad catagories:

Progressive or preview where the system dials the number, usually after the agent's told it that they're ready for the next call. This is usually on a one call / one agent ratio, and always after the previous call has completed.

Predictive where the software does clever maths to calculate (predict?) call end and the number of customers that need to be called in order to acheive one successful connection.

I would think that your "Power" is some sort of progressive dial. It's possible that your software may make allowances for overdialling, but if it does then it'll probably be a fixed parameter for the campaign.

On this subject - we seem to suffer more that the next industry when it comes to jargon and acronyms and the like. Does anyone know of a good glossary online anywhere? If not then I might consider putting one together, as I'm sure there's a great demand for it!

Regards,
Darryl Beckford
www.darrylbeckford.co.uk

Hi Sue

Power dialing is where the system dials as many calls as it has lines available and using answer machine detection puts through live calls to agents.

Predictive is similar to power dialing but it minimises the number of nuisance calls. This is done by using pacing algorithms to forcast how many agents will be free to connect to the likely number of live calls, rather than just power dialing out.

So progressive dialing is similar to predictive dialing but it monitors the status of operators before calls are made, so the chance of nuisance calls is almost completely eradicated.

I also have a white paper, so if you need more information please email me.

Jason

Hi everyone. I've created a new topic and moved the replies.

John

And how did you do that then?

DaveA

Hi Dave,

Let's just say I had to put my boiler suit on and climb inside the database...

(note to self: make splitting topics easier to do ;-)

John

These terms are given slightly different twists by some vendors.

In my view, "Preview" should always be reserved for the case when the agent has to press a button to activate the call to the customer. The agent "previews" the customer information presented by the Dialer desktop, familiarizing themselves with other aspects of the customer through auxiliary applications, perhaps keyed off the Dialer UI, then presses "Accept". Typically there is a button to "Cancel" the reservation and be taken to the "Not Ready" state. Some UIs have buttons for "Reject", "Reject and Close" etc.

Clearly the agent utilization is extremely low, but useful for calling valued customers or somewhat difficult customers (delinquent loan collections etc.). When in Preview mode, the call should be made from the agent's phone, so they can hear full progress of the call. Answering machine detection is not used.

Cisco use the term "Progressive" when there is no real intelligence attached to the Dialing algorithm, but the Campaign can still be set to be overdial some fixed ratio of "lines" per available agent. Nuisance calls can be created in this mode.

If there is no overdialing, in my mind the Dialer should call using the agent's phone so they can hear the progress of the call, rather than calling from a port on the Dialer and transferring on answer. Unless answering machine detection is engaged including having a transfer to the IVR to play a message, I don't think increased utilization can be achieved in this mode. The best customer experience is when the system calls from the agent's phone.

Others have defined "Predictive Dialing" well, though in some cases it does not really "predict". Some predictive algorithms launch a certain number of calls when an agent becomes free, and alter this number between specified minimum and maximum values in order to keep nuisance calls under a predefined percentage and maximize agent utilization. They don't actually "predict" that an agent will become free in the next X seconds and launch a call in anticipation.

I don't use the term "Power Dialing" much.