If you work in any customer-facing department, you’re likely used to picking up the phone, dialing a random string of numbers, and hopefully having your desired conversation. But wouldn't it be nice to let an auto dialer handle the dialing for you? It has to be second nature at this point, right?
While you probably don’t think twice about those actions of placing an outbound call to a customer, have you ever stopped to question how much time you would save if a machine did the work for you? If you haven’t, put the phone down. Because auto dialer software does exactly that.
What is an auto dialer?
An auto dialer is a software tool that will automatically dial telephone numbers from a list. Once the call is answered, the auto dialer will either connect the caller to a person or a prerecorded message.
Auto dialers are used in work settings that include a lot of repetitive phone conversations, including sales, call centers, healthcare, hospitality, and even education.
The purpose of using software like an auto dialer is to eliminate the need for users to spend pointless time manually dialing each and every phone number they need to call. This way, they can focus more on the content and successful delivery of their message.
To properly benefit from an auto dialer, users need a computer, a voice modem, and an active telephone line. However, depending on the tool you select to implement, there are also cloud-based auto dialer options.
Types of auto dialers
There are three different types of automatic dialers: preview, power or progressive, and predictive. The one you select should depend on your business function and how you will be using the auto dialer to support it.
Here are some descriptions so you can make an informed buying decision.
Preview dialers
A preview dialer allows users to place an outbound call or skip it. The alternative to this would be a dialer that automatically calls the next number on the list without giving the user an option.
Preview dialers are used when the user wants to preview some information regarding the individual they are about to speak with before they begin auto dialing. This allows for more personalization and preparation for customer interaction, whether it be a discovery call or a follow-up message.
Preview dialers are a great option for conversations that require unique customer information. If your outbound calling strategy is run on a smaller scale, requires handling complex customer situations, and focuses more on quality than quantity, a preview dialer is your best bet.
Power or progressive dialers
Progressive (or power) dialers differ from preview dialers in that they don’t allow the user to decide whether or not the next call is placed. Instead, the dialer immediately places the next call once the previous one is over.
They are a bit more quantity-focused than the preview dialers. So if you want to connect with as many customers as possible, one after another, a power dialer is the option for you.
Predictive dialers
A predictive dialer takes efficiency to a whole new level by dialing multiple phone numbers at once. But don’t worry, you aren’t expected to talk with multiple customers at the same time.
Using a pacing algorithm, predictive dialers will determine when the user will be done with their current call and will then place the next one before the user finishes the entire sales call script.
Predictive dialing is the most efficient way to connect with as many people on the other end as possible and at a large scale, too. But if you’re looking to have more detailed conversations that require a little research beforehand, it’s likely not ideal for your business.
Want to learn more about Auto Dialer Software? Explore Auto Dialer products.
Auto dialer features
Automatic dialers are full of features that will help you have as many meaningful customer conversations as possible. When selecting a product, ensure it has the following features for the most optimal experience.
Unproductive number detection
Auto dialer technology can tell when a phone number on your list isn’t worth calling, whether it sends numbers to voicemail, an answering machine, or just a busy line.
Unproductive number detection is a huge time saver. You don’t have to remove the number from your list entirely, but this way, you know that your time would be best spent calling someone else for the time being.
List filtering
Plenty of people will be asked to be put on your do not call (DNC) list. You must respect those wishes as a business that doesn’t want to spoil its relationships. Luckily, auto dialers can filter your lists so people on your DNC list won’t be contacted from that point forward.
Integration
Auto dialers can integrate with other software that manages customer contact information, the most important one arguably being your customer relationship management (CRM) solution. CRMs are tools used by businesses to track customer data, including past interactions with your business, preferences, and place in the buyer’s journey.
Valuable information is shared during customer phone calls. When integrated with a CRM, auto dialers can update customer data based on the conversation.
Contact list management
Auto dialers also have the ability to manage your contact list, including segmentations. If you are using a cloud-based system, you can upload customer contact information from other databases. The most up-to-date way to reach a customer is important for efficiency, and auto dialers can take care of that for you.
Time zone management
There are already so many debates about the best time to call a prospective customer, and factoring in time zones is just another headache inducer. However, if you’re using an auto dialer, they can simplify this by adjusting the time zone so you are only calling customers when appropriate.
Call transfer options
The workforce is currently scattered, and you might not have access to your office phone. Or perhaps your job is to qualify a customer before they start a conversation with another person within your business. Either way, if you need to transfer a call to another device or person, auto dialers can do that.
Speed customization
As mentioned before, certain types of autodialers can enter a phone number before you’ve even finished your current phone call. This is a great feature, but it can be a bit presumptuous regarding how much time the user needs between each conversation.
Luckily, users can also customize their auto dialer’s speed based on the needs of their outbound sales campaign.
Message broadcasting
On top of streamlining the outbound calling process, auto dialers can deliver various prerecorded messages once the receiver answers the call. Businesses can, and likely will, have more than one broadcasting message that they can implement depending on the nature of the call.
Key campaigns
After that broadcasted message, the conversation might require action from the person receiving the call. Auto dialers give users the option to offer a menu to their customers depending on the action they want to take to move forward. For example, this might sound something like this:
“Press 1 to be connected with a sales representative.”
Dashboards
Auto dialers provide an overview of an outbound calling campaign's progress using dashboards that update in real time. This way, both users and managers can see the overall performance of the efforts, activity levels, and statistics.
Call monitoring and recording
Have you ever heard a robot-sounding voice say something about the message being recorded or monitored for quality assurance when calling a business? That’s called the call monitoring feature, and it can be extremely helpful for optimizing your outbound calling efforts.
Managers might want to listen in on a conversation (giving both parties warning beforehand, of course) to gather insights into the interaction, assess the caller's performance, and determine improvement areas. They can do this live with monitoring or later with call recording.
Callback scheduling
You won’t reach everyone on the first attempt. Auto dialers recognize that and combat this issue by scheduling follow-ups or callbacks. If someone doesn’t answer your call, the auto dialer will just re-add them to the list, increasing the chances of connecting with and speaking to a customer.
Security
Lastly, like many software solutions in your organization, security is one of the most important features. Your conversations may include valuable private information, and a breach will most likely ruin your relationship with your customers and potentially even your reputation.
Auto dialers implement security measures to keep customer information and data safe from all unauthorized users, making your customers feel safe and more willing to trust you.
How auto dialers work
That’s a heck of many useful features for one software tool. Here’s how it works together as one cohesive unit.
For an auto dialer to run successfully, a user will need three things: a computer for the software, a voice modem, and an active telephone line. The voice modem allows the computer to play recorded messages over the phone, and of course, the people on the sending and receiving end of the phone call.
Auto dialer software will then integrate all those components, along with the system that holds all your customer contact information. Then, using the database of leads, the software will tell the computer which numbers to dial and how to pick up dead ends, voicemails, and busy lines.
Using voice recognition tools, the auto-dialer will determine whether it’s a voicemail or someone on the other end. With that information, it will take the designated action to connect the call recipient with a broadcast message or a real person.
While the calls are being made, auto-dialers will also collect data regarding the pick-up rate, the length of phone calls, and the number of calls sent to voicemail.
Advantages of using an auto dialer
Every job has a tediously mundane task that is always seen as a waste of time and energy. For people who spend their days cold-calling customers, it’s dialing phone numbers, accidentally inputting the wrong one, or constantly being sent to voicemail.
Auto dialers and all of their automation-related features relieve reps' pain points, giving them more time to focus on the customer interaction they are about to have.
First of all, the tool's core feature, dialing phone numbers, saves reps loads of time. Instead of rummaging through a database to find the best phone number to reach a prospect, reps can look at valuable information like their pain points, how the lead was captured, and their current business situation.
Secondly, auto dialers remove the uncertainty of calling every number on your list by segmenting prospects and filtering out potentially unproductive numbers and leads. Reallocating that wasted time will help increase the valuable connections your reps have with prospective buyers.
Lastly, recording and monitoring capabilities offer insight into the overall performance of that particular outbound calling campaign. Which approaches are working? What is the best time of day to call prospects in this audience segment? Where are we seeing the most optimized results and response rates?
Auto dialers can contract that information and turn it into actionable insights regarding your calling efforts.
Limitations of using an auto dialer
Anyone who works on the phone most of the day knows the rules and regulations regarding telemarketing created and governed by the Federal Trade Commission and the Do Not Call Registry. Auto dialers are no exception to these rules.
If not used correctly, they can lead to Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) violations, as they may dial numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry or at prohibited times.
Implementing and maintaining an auto dialer system can be costly, especially for smaller businesses. Additionally, technical difficulties can sometimes impact call quality and potentially lead to dropped calls.
To mitigate these limitations, businesses should ensure compliance with TCPA regulations, strategically use auto dialers in combination with human agents, monitor performance and make adjustments as needed, carefully consider costs and benefits, and address technical issues promptly.
5 best auto dialer software
Sales teams and contact centers use automated calling systems to dial telephone numbers and connect with users via pre-recorded messages or live agents. These solutions eliminate the tedious task of dialing phone numbers. Organizations also integrate auto dialer tools with CRM systems and contact center infrastructure software to automate dialing phone numbers.
To be included in this list, a product must:
- Automatically call phone numbers from a list
- Be able to share a prerecorded message or prompt once the call is answered or connect to a live agent
*Below are the five leading auto dialer solutions from G2's Summer 2024 Grid® Report. Some reviews may have been edited for clarity.
1. Genesys Cloud CX
Genesys Cloud CX is an all-in-one customer experience solution that businesses of all sizes use to unify customer experiences across phone, email, text, chat, and social channels.
What users like best:
“Built using microservices and being the API-first platform, Genesys Cloud CX is a highly recommended contact center platform. The huge documentation on the resource center, its community, and developer forum adds to it."
- Genesys Cloud CX Review, Somik M.
What users dislike:
“While Genesys Cloud CX offers a range of features, it has limitations in customizing certain aspects of the platform to fit specific needs."
- Genesys Cloud CX Review, Ronalisa A.
2. Orum
Orum is an AI-powered live conversation platform that automates manual dialing to help businesses spend more time on human-driven selling. The platform also integrates with leading sales and CRM tools, so you never have to worry about syncing call and activity data.
What users like best:
“It's a super helpful tool that allows outbound sales reps to make the most of their time by dialing an entire CRM list. I love that I can hit dial and just wait for someone to pick up. I also think filters on the lists used in Orum help narrow in on my calls."
- Orum Review, Kara K.
What users dislike:
“The system seems to lag at times. It can be difficult to locate some of the tasks from Outreach that are pulled over to Orum. You think when you are doing all call tasks, all the tasks would pop up, but you sometimes have to go into the specific sequence individually to be able to complete all of the tasks."
- Orum Review, Jessica W.
3. FlashRev
FlashRev is a sales acceleration platform that automates outbound calling tasks. Its autodialer features include predictive dialing, power dialing, click-to-call, call recording, call scripting, and CRM integration, helping sales teams increase efficiency and close more deals.
What users like best:
"It is easy to use, the overall implementation was just a quick login, and it is driven by AI that helps along the way. I use it daily to find prospective clients and engage with them on the same platform. We can integrate our CRM easily. And there is an AI-driven genie now that answers any questions we might have."
- FlashRev Review, Kelly J.
What users dislike:
"There are many CRMs that are not easy to integrate with Flashinfo. This is something that needs to be worked upon."
- FlashRev Review, Liz T.
4. Kixie PowerCall & SMS
Kixie PowerCall & SMS is a sales communication platform that automates outbound calling tasks, enhancing efficiency and productivity. With predictive dialing, power dialing, and click-to-call features, sales teams can optimize their outreach efforts and increase connection rates.
What users like best:
"Love the opportunity to integrate with salesforce. I save so much time with my Salesforce and Microsoft Teams integration in Kixie. It is so easy to setup as well as use. Text messaging is the way of the future, and on a B2B customer level, we use it daily to keep in touch with our customers and prospective customers.
When issues arise, the intercom chat is quick and helps us resolve our issues promptly. The mobile accessibility is an even more exciting feature."
- Kixie PowerCall & SMS Review, Lydia J.
What users dislike:
"The least helpful about Kixie Power Call & SMS is that it sometimes crashes within our CRM portal. It just takes a quick reload, but sometimes it can occur several times in a shift. This may be attributed to the CRM portal, not the Kixie app itself.
The downside to Kixie is in the reporting database under the agent's call history, which is under actions. There are instances where the CRM link doesn't show (or is broken), and the (incoming or outgoing) phone number must be manually copied and pasted into the CRM to find the call recording on an inquiry."
- Kixie PowerCall & SMS Review, Mary D.
5. NICE CXone
NICE CXone is a leading cloud contact center software that makes it easy for businesses to deliver humanized conversational experiences with cutting-edge technologies. Features of this software solution include omnichannel routing, analytics, workforce optimization, and artificial intelligence.
What users like best:
“This cloud-based platform has a very user-friendly interface, many bells and whistles, and I love the prebuilt reports. Having the supervisor tools to listen in to calls is nice, and it's very easy to search and find recorded calls. Love the coaching and interaction options and schedule management tools built into the system."
- NICE CXone Review, Tadao H.
What users dislike:
“Workforce management can be a bit confusing to set up and maintain, and I would like an application-based version of the max agent. Getting support for small issues can be difficult."
- NICE CXone Review, Nick B.
Automate where you can
There aren’t enough hours in the day, and taking advantage of time to automate a process is a great productivity practice. Auto dialers are a perfect example of eliminating a tedious task and creating more time to focus on your business's fuel: the customer.
No answer? No problem. Here’s how to leave a sales voicemail to get you a callback.
This article was originally published in 2020. It has been updated with new information.
Mary Clare Novak
Mary Clare Novak is a former Content Marketing Specialist at G2 based in Burlington, Vermont, where she is explored topics related to sales and customer relationship management. In her free time, you can find her doing a crossword puzzle, listening to cover bands, or eating fish tacos. (she/her/hers)
