Do you use a predictive dialer system in your call center?

Yes, predictive dialers are imperative in almost any kind of call center. I work in credit and collections and we now use a predictive dialer especially for collections (delinquency management, early-stage, and default collections). The difference between the use of an auto dialer and a predictive dialer is significant; predictive dialers have the ability to calculate the best volume of calls based your current work-load and staffing in order to achieve higher call efficiency. The shift from outbound dialers to inbound operators reduces the dead-time between calls that was previously spent on dialing the next phone number and waiting for someone to answer. Instead, predictive dialers will continuously dialer through your call list to cue live callers for timely answer when each operator becomes available.

I agree with Eric a predictive dialer is miles ahead, from a productivity standpoint, when compared to an auto dialer. An advanced predictive dialer considers agent specific talk times, agent specific wrap-up times, list specific hit rates, the number of calls on hold and how long calls are on hold when "predicting" when an agent or operator will be ready to take the next call. All of this combines to make your operators/agents more productive by spending more time talking to live contacts.