Manual Dialing
This is where most small to medium businesses start. There’s no reason to rush into a capital expenditure until you’ve outgrown manual. Allowing agents to choose who to call, on what number and when, gives them the autonomy and responsibility that many sales people need to succeed.
Preview Dialer
Like the click-to-call option, preview dialers also allow agents to review all of the prospect’s information so they can prepare for the conversation before the call. This is often the best option for sensitive calls like collections, inside sales calls, etc.
Click-to-Call
If you already have a robust CRM system, integrating a click-to-call feature will allow your sales agents to just click on the phone number in your CRM to make an outbound call. It is slow compared to a power dialer, but all the information about the prospect is right there so agents can more effectively sell and upsell while on the call. Also, any information gained on the call goes directly into your system-wide database that your team can use to follow up on later.
Predictive Dialer
Predictive dialers collect a large amount of information about the agents handling calls and place outbound calls just before the agent become available. They automatically dial several contacts at the same time until one answers; and then transfers the call to the most appropriate agent. These dialers can dramatically reduce idle time and increase efficiency and therefore are great for small sales forces that need to maximize the time they spend on the phone.