A predictive dialer is a piece of software/hardware that ensures every phone banker is working at top efficiency. The dialer calculates how many numbers must be dialed before a live person answers based on how many phone bankers are using the system. It then dials through a call list and finds live answers just as phone bankers are finishing their last call.
With a predictive dialer anyone, anywhere can use the technology that professional call centers use to complete thousands of calls per hour.
Say you have five volunteers who come in to phone bank for three hours. Typically, they would contact 150-200 people. With a predictive dialer, they could contact 500-900 people, three to five times as many.
It is surprisingly simple. A volunteer comes in to phone bank, sits down at a computer and logs in to a website. The website prompts the volunteer for an ID (so you can track the performance of each station) and a password. Once the volunteer is logged in, the volunteer uses a phone line to call into the system’s switch. The switch asks for the same ID and password, and the dialer begins to make outbound calls. When the dialer finds a live answer, there is a short tone on the line to let the volunteer know to begin speaking and click the “refresh” button. The called person’s name and address display. When the call is completed, the volunteer enters the result of the call on the telephone keypad. Once the result has been entered, the dialer sends another tone, and a new call begins.
- A major increase (300 to 500%) in the efficiency of volunteer phone banking.
- Extended volunteer phone banking hours, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Volunteers often only phone bank from 6 to 9 p.m. because it is so difficult to reach people at home during the day. The virtual predictive dialer eliminates this problem by sorting through all the bad numbers and no-answers to help find live answers.
- Daily reporting and data file of previous day’s results to update master voter/membership database.
- Finally, a group of satisfied volunteers. The number one complaint from volunteers who phone bank is that they cannot reach anyone. Every one of your volunteers will realize they are making a difference after contacting 200 people in one night.
All you need is a computer with high-speed internet access and a separate phone line. Many law offices, insurance offices and real estate offices already have all the equipment you need. You can get donated space, or set up your own call center with rental computers.
The dialer costs 19 cents per minute for the first 1,000 hours and then 15 cents per minute thereafter with a $2500 minimum. You are only charged for the hours you use. Our system more than 35% cheaper than comparable systems.