Outbound IVR vs. Predictive Dialers

For years, predictive dialers have been employed by telemarketers so that one operator can call several phone numbers simultaneously and make a sales pitch to the first person that answers his or her phone. Predictive dialers are also used by some companies to communicate with their customers and clients. The systems are popular because of their cost effectiveness since they allow operators to connect to a customer almost every time they dial a group of numbers. As efficient as the systems are for operators, they can be equally frustrating for the customer who is the second or third to answer the call in the few seconds after the operator has already connected with the first customer. Those later customers are greeted with silence and usually assume it to be a wrong number. Those same customers may be called several more times in the following minutes before finally being connected to the operator, at which time the customer is usually not interested in the information or the sales pitch.

Recent data suggests that outbound IVRs are rapidly taking the place of predictive dialers as speech recognition and dual-tone multi-frequency technology improves. Some companies are even employing them as a means to conduct standard business transactions in lieu of operator assisted calls thanks to the ability to verify customer identity and record user submitted information through the IVR system. There are several advantages, the greatest of which is cost. Live operators are still employed to assist if problems should arise during a call, but far fewer are required than in a call center using predictive dialers. Furthermore, customer satisfaction is greatly improved as calls are received by the customer on the first attempt rather than multiple attempts. Current trends suggest that outbound IVR will continue to excel as the technology improves resulting in greater cost savings through efficiency and improved customer satisfaction.