Combining Overdial and Predial
If you want to explore the interaction of overdial (predictive or power dialing) and predial algorithms in the same campaign, we suggest that you do as follows:
- Begin by assigning all agents to overdial only, on the Extended Properties page
- Then rerun your campaign with the same data, introducing predial gradually, and compare the outputs from the two runs.
As you increase the value of the predial interval. The predial algorithm itself will become a source of abandoned calls, as the value of the predial interval rises above a few seconds only. Yet you will have specified an abandoned call target for your campaign. So, in order not to exceed this target, Oceanic® then dampens down the impact of the overdial algorithm, and its potential to cause abandoned calls. The higher the value of the predial interval, the more the overdial algorithm is dampened. What happens to performance will depend on other campaign parameters, particularly the distribution of call outcome parameters. Let's consider two scenarios:
1) At High Levels of No Answers and Answering Machines
Initially you will notice a modest improvement in talk and wait times. Then at a certain point this improvement will reverse, and the performance you will get may become substantially worse than that from the overdial algorithm alone.
A number of things are contributing to this:
- Some connects are being achieved before the agent for whom they were dialed is free, meaning that the dialing for the pool of agents has become random, rather than targeted.
- Because the overdial algorithm has been restrained, the number of trunks being dialed for each agent becoming available, has also declined substantially.
2) At Low Levels of No Answers and Answering Machines
Increasing the value of the predial interval should bring a modest improvement to begin with in talk and wait times, then they may deteriorate slightly as increases in the predial interval suppress the impact of overdial. You will find that Oceanic® probably won't allow you to go much beyond five or six seconds, before telling you that your predial interval is incompatible with the abandoned call target you have set. You will need to lower the value and run your campaign again at this point.
Note the comments under Assessment 1, in Comparing Overdial and Predial, in respect of sensitivity to abandoned calls at this point, and don't expect in practice to be able to set your predial interval as high as this, because of the practical difficulties of coping with variations in the way agents complete their talk and wrap activities. A guideline is to use Oceanic® to determine the optimum predial time, and then decrease this by 1 - 2 seconds, to allow for variances in real campaigns.