By and large, the traditional call center model is falling by the wayside. Instead of relying on employees to manually make calls day in and out, companies are instead choosing to rely on call center dialers for more efficient operations. Dialers are applications that work to automate the call process to help ramp up lead generation and increase the volume of outbound communications. While call center dialers are incredibly effective tools, it’s important to understand the “why†behind them to correctly integrate them into a business.
The impact of developing technology
If you’re looking into a call center dialer or contact dialer, it’s important to select one that’s keeping up with ever-changing technological needs. In particular, many dialers are making use of artificial intelligence. A good number of CEOs and other C-level executives have stated an intention to increase AI spending over the coming years, especially in applications that enhance the customer experience.
This will be particularly important for interactive voice response (IVR) programs which are working to incorporate natural language more effectively into the call center dialers. It significantly betters the customer experience while removing the need for lengthy call queues. On top of this, AI can streamline the process of filling out forms and input missing information without the need for a human, which benefits both the consumer and the agent. Naturally, some more complex processes still require a human touch to properly execute, but the number of these is steadily decreasing.
Cloud capability for enhanced security
If you thought the cloud would be any less pervasive in the coming years, its ubiquity might surprise you. Nowadays, many companies are moving away from the traditional model of creating standard products and are instead relying on the cloud to develop “as a service†offerings. Many call center dialer applications are no exception. Being that call centers tend to handle sensitive customer information and rely on cloud functionality to house data, it’s of the utmost importance that dialers come with heightened security protocols to ward off breaches and information theft.
A vast majority of modern consumers hold the expectation that businesses protect their information, but the seemingly growing number of data breaches isn’t doing much to foster trust. If you’re not doing your best to safely and securely handle customer data, you’re putting your business’s reputation and authority at stake. On top of selecting the right dialer, it’s a good idea to offer some form of transparency as to how your business handles customer data and why you collect certain pieces of information.
Types of dialer applications
While call center dialers may seem fairly straightforward, there are several distinctions in how the applications work. One popular style of dialer is known as a predictive dialer which collects information about the agents handling calls, automatically dials numerous prospects at the same time and, when a prospect answers, redirects them to the most appropriate agent. This reduces wait times and helps to mobilize smaller sales teams.
Click to call options are also very popular. Once a number has been captured in a CRM, all an agent has to do is click on it to reach out to a prospect. It provides enough info on the consumer to make sales and upsells that much easier, and is one of the more affordable setups.
If you’re looking for ways to leverage technology more effectively in your business, a call center dialer might be the most natural next step on your growth path. While not every business needs a dialer in place, managing larger volumes of outbound calls, especially in sales environments, makes these applications no-brainers.