We are in the process of purchasing a dialler. It
has come down to Amcat & Avaya and i'm leaning towards
the Amcat system. Can anybody give me feedback on the
two predictive diallers.

Both could be considered "big boys" of the industry.

I haven't had a huge amount of experience of Avaya PDS, and this could be thought of as a good thing. If they're not causing people problems that I've no reason to get involved in them.

I've been a little involved with Amcat in the past. I once had a sale presentation from one of their guys and was a little disturbed by the aggressiveness of the sales pitch. He also had a few of his technical details incorrect - but I should stress that it's probably down to one individual and not a trait of Amcat as a whole.

It's worth bearing in mind that some diallers may have been designed for the American market which is a whole world away from ours. The recent Brookmead/DMA report highlights the difference in consumer opinion between UK and US - and it looks like this could very signifcant as we await OFCOM's ruling in the latest silent calls cases.

I don't know about Amcat, but there are certainly plenty of Avaya experts around here. If you need to know anything else to help you make your decision, don't be afraid to ask.

Have you considered using a hosted dialler? Could be a good way for you to see how you get on with the technology before you purchase.

Thanks for the Reply.
The Amcat Sales guy was fine, I have had a lot of experience with Noble
dialler before and agree they were made for the American market and had
no interest in changing some of the system features that had been setup
for the states.
We are currently using a hosted dialler (Magnetic North Power Call) which
is why we are buying our own, The down time is unbelievable and they don't
seem to give a ****

If you're getting that kind of downtime then you shouldn't be with them. The hosted companies I've worked with in the past (MX Digital, Babel/Ultra) have been great. Minimal downtime, fantastic service.

It's important to know what to look for when purchasing a system - even if it's hosted. I'm writing about this very subject in next months CCF - keep a look out for it.

Regards,
db

I've had some experience in both and as far as ease of use I'd have to say Amcat.

The Amcat setup is very easy and quick. I've had a dialler delivered on a Wednesday and setup and running by Friday PM.

It's SQL based in the backend and is very user customizable(?).
Script writing is a breeze as it's all just Html so you can plug whatever you need into it.
The backend can be changed on the fly if really needed (because it's SQL) and the whole lot sits in a Proliant box and churns away itself.

There's no complex setup for adding new phones (all you need is a patch panel from Amcat and an amphinol cable).

Callback managment in a breeze too.

One thing worth looking at is DVDR carousell or just a NAS box to store recordings as it only records as WAV format (which can be quite large depending on the call times). I don't think this has changed since I last used them 10 months ago.

The Amcat support guys are always on hand when there are any issues and can always dial in in the even of major problems.

Hope this helps.

..any views on Avaya?

The Amcat system and the Avaya PDS are in different leagues when it come to several different issues which you would normal investigate when purchasing a predictive dialer.

They are also in different leagues when it comes to cost, so I am very surprised that you are asking us to compare them.

I have a white paper on what to look for when purchasing predictive dialers, if you would like me to send you a copy please email me.

Jason

Hate to say it Colin but thats a very one sided review.

Some issues which should be investigated when purchasing a dialler

PSTN answerphone detection rate
mobile phone detection rates
Hardwiring
Connectivity to voice recording
Call Blending

The Avaya PDS is widely regarding as one of if not the best dialer in the world. It is designed to be implemented into call centres os 6-260 agents and has the ability to Pod up to 960.

Worlds Apart!

Jason

I have Evaluated some of the good dialers available in the market.
I want to share my findings with you.hope this will help.

Introduction

Predictive Dialer system automates the dialing of contacts, producing a higher contact rate for the collectors thus improving productivity

Predictive dialers work through a list of phone numbers for customers or prospective customers, automatically dialing each one, screening out no answers, busy signals, standard information tones (SITs) and answering machines, only sending calls that reach a live person to a sales agent
Predictive dialers uses intelligent algorithms, these devices can detect when an agent is wrapping up a call; they will then begin dialing the next number and send the call to that agent as soon as it reaches a live voice on the other end. These algorithms are also capable of detecting the number of available telephone lines, available operators, and average length of each call

The benefit of predictive dialers is that they can make many, many more calls in a much, much shorter period of time than if an agent had to manually dial each phone number. The system can also keep track of an entire campaign's progress in real time— which would be nearly impossible if attempted manually. In short, Predictive Dialer can help increase sales by more than 400%, improve efficiency, and help streamline telemarketing
The features of Predictive Dialer system are –

1. Integrated Support for Inbound and Outbound campaigns.

2. Multiple outbound Campaigns.

3. Multi country dialing – The system can place outbound calls to multiple countries at one time.

4. Quality Monitoring and Digitized recording features –It can record each and every call and has in-built Quality Monitoring tool and IVR.


5. One Dialer Manager can handle Multiple Campaigns.

6. Preview Dialing – Agent can see the record of the customer before call is connected to him.


7. It can generate Real time & Historical reports.

8. Dialer can also run Test Campaigns for training purposes.
9. It can differentiate among answering machine, busy tones, voice mails, fax tones, fast busy and a live person picking up the line and based on result it can transfer the call to agent.

10. Dialer serves variety of businesses like telemarketing, collections, insurance, lead generations, and Banking.


Evaluation done on:-

1. Melita Divine
2. Concerto Ensemble Pro
3. Noble Dialers
4. Avaya PDS


Client –Server Architecture of Dialer.



In this architecture Dialing engine will be placed at one end and Application & Database server will be placed at other end. There is dedicated bandwidth b/w Dialing engine and Application server (min 128K/100 Agents).
The dialing engine will dial out and only human contacts will be transferred back to
Application server and to agents. Thus saving a lot of bandwidth.






Single Server Architecture of Dialer(Assuming Dialer is used for dialing US from India)



In this architecture Single Server can be placed at either end. If it is placed at
India it will consume a lot of bandwidth because it will utilize IPLC to dial out and
Non human contacts account for more than 80%.for e.g. answering machines, Busy, Fax tones.

If the Single server is placed at U.S it will again consume bandwidth to access Dialer applications moreover the applications can be slow over the IPLCs.




Most of the features in all the dialers are more or less are same but these are the features on the bases of which they can be differentiated.


Comparison of various Dialers

S.No Features
1 Built-in Voice Recordings & Quality Monitoring Tool
2 IVR
3 Predictive Dialing Algorithm
4 Easy build Up CRM & Presentable
5 Integration with Voice Logger
6 Dedicated bandwidth(100 Agents)
7 Customized Reporting
8 Commercials(approx)
9 Ease of administration and routine work
10 Client Server Architecture
11 Support
12 Database
13 Operating System
14 Total Market Share
15 Customers List


Comments:-

Concerto Ensemble Pro stood far ahead of its competitors in every aspect. It has got blend of good features & easy administration. Although both Avaya PDS & Ensemble Pro are good , well tried, stable and tested Product but the capabilities like Inbuilt voice recordings and IVR in Ensemble Pro fulfills every requirement of a call center. Moreover Client - Server architecture in Ensemble Pro adds more flexibility for the Network Setup than Avaya PDS

Melita Divine lacks IVR & voice recordings.



Final Recommendations: - Concerto Ensemble Pro


Regards,
DJ
www.freeonlinebooks.net



Note:

This evaluation has been done in India and is author’s personal views base upon his working experience & knowledge on various Dialers.

Apologees for the one sided approach it was based on technical experience and I have much more of that with an AmCat system than Avaya.

I do not work for AmCat :)

The Avaya system I used was hosted by a client and our input was mainly during the IPagent setup, VPN testing and pop testing.

I was expressing and opinion based on experience.

I agree with Jason that there are more avenues to explore with regards to this but have (again in my own experience) found that although more expensive diallers (Davox, Avaya) are considered the market leaders (and rightly so, they are extremely well built systems) a company who are thinking about getting a PDS in place should walk before they run.
They might not need a huge piece of kit to run a small campaign and would be better aiming for a smaller bit of tech. that can quickly be setup and run to see if it's what they need.

Again this is based on my opinions, based on experience.

If I have caused any offence then I apologise, my post was not intended that way.

Thanks,

Following Deepak's indepth report I have desided to ask one of my more dialer savvy colleagues for a little assitance on this subject.

Interesting comments from Deepak. I too have conducted a number of dialler evaluations for various companies since project managing my first dialler implementation in 1990. I wonder if Deepak is really comparing like with like and what are the implications of a specific country market? My view is that the Ensemble Pro marketing as 'a complete contact center solution' illustrates that 'out of the box' there will be differences between it and the Avaya PDS. The Avaya approach is to permit use of IVR and Call Recording applications as necessary via additional ‘modules’/the products of other manufacturers/partners. This is particularly appropriate for markets such as the UK where regulation makes the playing of recorded messages without permission a high risk strategy (incidentally, a map of vendors used in the OFCOM (UK Communications Regulator) investigations into seven new companies accused of breaching the 'silent call' regulations might make interesting reading in the context of the heading of this discussion).

Regarding Ensemble Pro I’d advise that potential prospects ensure that they are happy with features such as call progress detection (and not just answer phone detect), number of telephone numbers available per contact - e.g. home, work, mobile and others) and the ability to change campaign pacing dynamically while the campaign is running.

Regarding Amcat, I’d advise similar + look at the integrity of the M.I.S provided, the ability to integrate with call recording solutions and ensure that the call back capability is sufficient for your needs.

Ultimately, I’d sympathise with Colin in that many diallers will ‘do a job’. My company has more than one dialling solution in its portfolio. The selection of a dialling solution is very much one to be performed in the context of business requirements. However, within those business requirements the purchaser should ensure that they get the solution that combines the optimum combination of:

• ‘Does the business’ without exposing the organisation to risk of bad publicity
• Value for money
• Good technical support – speedy resolution by local personnel
• Good account management – good to do business with
• Happy that the vendor has a clear product development strategy that aligns with your view of the future.

Trust this is useful.

Matt,

Which other suppliers did you consider, did you look at SER, Concerto and Stratsoft?