What Are Progressive Dialers & How Do They Work?

You know how valuable time and efficiency are if you run a telemarketing, market research, or appointment-setting service. While it would be nice to dedicate time to every contact, researching and qualifying them before every call, it’s just not possible in this cutthroat world.

So, how does a tool that gets you the perfect middle ground sound? Well, that’s exactly what a progressive dialer does.

What Is a Progressive Dialer?

A progressive dialer is a type of auto dialer software that call centers use to automate outbound calling. It automatically dials phone numbers from a list but ensures there is an agent available before connecting the call. Unlike other call center tools, progressive dialing focuses on a balance between agent availability and the rapid-fire connecting of calls.

When progressive dialer software recognizes when an agent is available, it displays the customer information on-screen and starts the call.

How Do Progressive Dialers Work?

Unlike other dialer systems that focus on the number of calls, a progressive dialer tries to connect one number per available agent. This takes away the mad rush and the high chance of disconnection.

There’s no complex routing algorithm involved. Instead, after waiting for an agent to finish their current call, the progressive dialer looks up your list and dials the next number specifically for that agent.

If contact information is available (via your list input, phone directory, or CRM), it also displays it on-screen for agents to personalize the call. However, you can turn off this feature.

A progressive dialer bypasses busy signals, answering machines, and disconnected numbers, ensuring no agent time gets wasted and your customers get a better experience. This means call center agents only spend time talking to potential customers instead of wasting time waiting for someone to pick up the phone.

Benefits of Using Progressive Dialers in Call Centers

So, why do contact centers use progressive dialing? Here are four reasons why. 

1. Agent productivity

Opting for a progressive dialer gives you the best of both worlds: speed and agent control. 

Eliminating manual dialing increases agent productivity, but that’s true for any dialer software. Progressive dialers also remove the potential for connecting agents who aren’t ready to start a new call. More aggressive dialer software often lacks balance because it’s too heavily swayed towards speed.

2. Reduced agent idle time

Progressive dialers decrease the idle time between calls. There’s no looking up contacts or list cleansing, but also no chasing around calls that you didn’t accept. This type of dialer only connects agents with live contacts. If the call isn’t ready to be answered (for example, the line is busy or goes to voicemail), there’s no need for agent involvement.

3. Lower call abandonment rates

Along with a reduced idle time, you can expect a lower call abandonment rate and a higher connect rate. Thanks to the time saved by skipping admin and dialing tasks, agents have more time to spend on calls and reading up on their call notes.

4. Higher employee morale

The removal of menial tasks has a great impact on employee morale. Rather than spending hours dialing calls that never connect, updating lists, and losing time where they could be earning commission, sales teams dedicate almost their entire day to pitches, personalization, and closing.

Related: 4 Types of Dialer Software for Call Centers & Top Tools

Typical Use Cases

You can use a progressive dialer in almost any scenario where you want to automate your outbound dialing process. It’s a balanced approach that combines elements of power and preview dialers. 

Here are some of the most frequent uses of progressive dialers we see with Nextiva customers.

Sales calls

Cold calling is probably the most common use case for sales teams. Imagine an agent selling business software. It’s a hectic environment with pressure to connect to as many potential prospects as possible. In this scenario, sales agents don’t have time to sanitize every contact on your list, they waste time on busy tones, or there are no answers.

A progressive dialer calls potential clients while the agent finishes their current call. Then, when the agent becomes available, it connects them with a preview of contact information (if available). The agent can start a personalized sales pitch when they connect to the contact.

This continues all day, leading to:

• Better sales pitches
• More time spent on calls
• Less time spent on admin

Appointment setting

Picture a healthcare provider using a progressive dialer to follow up with patients for appointment scheduling. These might be routine follow-ups, but they could also be emergency scenarios where time is of the essence.

When appointments get scheduled, the dialer connects patients with an agent who can confirm their preferred date and time. Rather than punishing your patients with extended wait times due to admin tasks, misdialing, and poor connections, you provide timely service, and everyone gets what they want.

Customer surveys

Let’s say you’re a bank that needs to gather feedback on its new mobile app. You’ve spent time devising a carefully worded survey, and you need to start collecting responses.

Your progressive dialer automatically dials existing customers, connecting them with agents who explain the survey and guide them through the process. There’s no waiting around, only to get voicemails and engaged numbers. You only get customers who are more than happy to let you know how they’re getting on with your new app.

Market research

One of the most common use cases for a progressive dialer is when companies research consumer preferences for a new product.

Using a list of pre-verified contacts, your dialer connects live respondents with agents who conduct in-depth interviews. To get the most out of your contacts, these customer interactions can take a considerable amount of time. You need quality responses, after all.

This is where a progressive dialer comes into its own. For long calls where you need to ask follow-up questions, trigger both positive and negative reactions, and focus on customer engagement, you must be able to spend the majority of the day on calls rather than misdialing, connecting to busy tones, and updating lists.

Related: Automated Outbound Dialing: How It Works & How to Use It

Alternatives to Progressive Dialers

In some cases, using a progressive dialer might not be right for your business. There’s no one-size-fits-all solution, but a progressive dialer is the closest thing.

If you’re worried about TCPA compliance (a common issue with power dialers), want to give agents more control, or wish to speed up your dials, you might want to consider one of these alternatives.

1. Predictive dialers

A predictive dialer is an outbound call center solution that lets you dial numbers in bulk from a list. It helps to forecast an agent’s availability, calibrates the dialing frequency, and connects agents with live leads.

It’s best suited for high-volume, short-duration calls. The dialing system makes simultaneous calls to multiple numbers (or leads), transferring to a live person only when a contact picks up the phone.

When creating a predictive dialer campaign, you dial multiple numbers per agent, aiming to connect with a live person as soon as possible. The focus of these campaigns is speed and the number of calls.

When considering autodialing versus predictive dialing, a predictive dialer lends itself to more dropped calls and agent idle time if the dialing pace isn’t optimized.

2. Preview dialers

With a preview dialer, the software displays information about the next call before connecting it (via CRM integration). This allows agents to personalize their approach and prepare for the conversation. Preview dialers are good for complex calls requiring preparation. It’s like Call Pop for inbound calls but in reverse.

Unlike predictive dialing, the power to start the call lies with the agent, allowing them enough time to get ready to fully engage with the customer. Once they are armed with everything they need, agents can use the click to call feature to start the call.

3. Manual dialing

You could always stick with the traditional method of agents manually dialing each number. If your goal is total control over timing and personalization, there’s no better option. Agents can spend time researching contacts and preparing a personalized pitch.

Sure, it’s less efficient. But it’s easy to put in place, and it gives agents the most control. Plus, if you have a desk phone, you can throw it on speakerphone and give your headset a rest.

Dial More Efficiently With Nextiva

Choosing the right dialer for your business could be the difference between making 10 and 100 sales. If your focus is too heavily in favor of speed, and your quality is suffering, it will pay to adopt a more balanced approach.

Likewise, if your agents waste too much time before a call gets connected, they need a gentle nudge in the right direction. As a best-of-both-worlds dialer, the progressive option is a fine choice.

If you run a contact center and need a new dialer provider, consider Nextiva. With our full-featured contact center with optimal workflows for automatic dialing, disposition tracking, and robust business integrations in one platform, we’ve helped with countless rollouts and seen some great implementations.

Before you get started, here’s some information you need.

• Nextiva allows auto-dialers (via our SIP trunking service) as long as they’re used for legitimate purposes and the call ratio does not exceed one call per second.
• If your dialing software has a ratio setting, adjust it to meet Nextiva’s requirements.