Types of Dialers, Sorted by How Many Calls Each Starts per Caller

Types of dialers in call center work

Types of dialers differ on one measurable point: how many outbound calls are ringing for each person who will do the talking. A manual setup has one, started by hand. Preview and power dialers also hold it at one, but software picks the number, and the preview kind waits for a go-ahead. Progressive dialing ties that single call to the moment an agent turns available. Predictive dialers lift the count above one using answer-rate statistics, and parallel dialers fix it at several lines for one rep. Once the count passes one, somebody can pick up and find nobody there, which is why regulators watch those two types closely: Canada's CRTC caps abandoned calls from a predictive dialing device at 5 percent per calendar month, for example. The Auto Dialer holds the count at exactly one, placed from the handset's own SIM, so it sits with the power dialers.

The CRTC figure is general information, not legal advice; the country rules are on separate pages.

Types of dialers by calls ringing per caller

Types of dialers by calling line

The second way to sort dialers is by the road the call takes. A SIM based dialer hands each number to the phone's mobile network, so the person sees a normal mobile number and one handset can carry one call. An internet calling (VoIP) dialer sends calls over data lines rented from a telephony provider, which is what makes several lines per agent possible. The pacing types above that need more than one line per person, predictive and parallel, therefore live on VoIP platforms, while the one-call types run happily on a phone. Starting a single call from a link is its own small topic, covered under click to call explained, and recordings sent with no caller are under voice broadcasting.

Guides to the types of dialers

Each type and each head-to-head comparison has its own page, and the shared vocabulary is gathered under auto dialing terms:

• SIM based auto dialer

  Calls through the SIM in the phone, compared with cloud dialers and manual dialing.

• Auto dialer vs predictive dialer

  One call per caller against several calls per agent, side by side.

• Predictive dialer

  How pacing algorithms dial ahead of agents, and the abandoned calls that result.

• Power dialer

  One number after another as soon as the caller is free, with no dialing ahead.

• Preview dialer

  The caller reads the record first and decides when to call.

• Progressive dialer

  Dialing tied to agent availability, and how the term overlaps with power dialing.

• Parallel dialer

  Several lines at once for one rep, and the silent-call trade-off.

• Auto dialer vs manual dialer

  Typing each number against letting software place the call, measured in time and errors.

• Auto dialer vs power dialer

  Why one term is the family and the other a member of it.

• Power dialer vs predictive dialer

  One line per rep against a pacing ratio, by team size and list quality.

• Predictive dialer vs progressive dialer

  Statistical pacing against availability-based dialing, for contact centre managers.

• Power dialer vs parallel dialer

  Sequential calls against simultaneous ones for a single sales rep.

• VoIP auto dialer

  Internet-calling dialers explained and compared with SIM calling.

Types of dialers by team size

• One person with a warm list. Power dialing on the phone already in your pocket; the label itself is unpacked in how a power dialer differs from the wider auto dialer family. Best for enquiries, renewals and callbacks.
• Two to fifteen callers. Power or progressive dialing with an owner who assigns leads and reads the call logs. Best for small sales and telecalling desks.
• Twenty-five agents or more on one campaign. A predictive platform with a supervisor who tunes it. Best for large cold lists.
• A rep prospecting cold business numbers. A parallel dialer, if the rules where you call allow it. Best for high-volume first contact, where cold calling tips matter as much as the dialer.

The Auto Dialer serves the first two groups only; how they use it trade by trade is under auto dialer for business. A floor of agents sharing one predictive campaign needs a cloud contact centre product instead; the trade-offs are set out in auto dialers for call centres and, for outsourcing firms, in choosing a dialer for a BPO.