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CCW Digital Glossary: Predictive Dialer

An automated dialing system that filters out non-answers (as well as voicemails, faxes, busy signals, etc) to ensure agents are only connected to live customers.  It makes multiple calls at once; the dialing rate is calculated based on predicted agent availability, drawing from key metrics and statistics.  Calls are made pre-emptively in accordance with those stats and the determined rate, with the idea being that a live customer will be ready for the agent as soon as he ends his call.  This maximizes efficiency but also comes with risks.  Routing will be delayed until the customer’s voice is detected.  Immediate routing to an agent, moreover, may be impossible if agent does not become available as quickly as the system predicted, thus either leading to dead air or a need for a predictive hang-up.