Engage Voice | Making an outbound call
with the preview dialer
As discussed in Outbound dialing for agents overview, preview dialing allows you to study lead information like call history, customer preferences, and notes on previous interactions before placing calls.
Unlike predictive dialing where the system dials multiple numbers and assigns a call to an agent, preview dialing functions on a one-to-one basis where one lead is connected to one agent. This dialing mode ensures that you have time to view important information about each lead before a call is placed.
Preview dialing is similar to progressive dialing, but the key difference between the two is that in progressive dialing, you can only study the lead info in a set amount of time configured by your administrators.
Fetching and dialing leads
In predictive dialing, leads are automatically dialed by the system. However, with preview dialing, you can fetch a predetermined number of leads and place those calls yourself.
To fetch and dial a lead, follow these steps:
1. Navigate to Outbound dialer via the left-hand navigation bar.
2. Select the Fetch leads button located at the bottom of the left-hand panel to populate a list of leads available for dialing.
3. Click on a lead from the list of fetched leads.
4. Review the Details and Script tabs as needed.
5. Once you’re ready, dial that lead in one of the following ways:
a. Click on the green phone call icon beside the lead’s name.
b. Click the phone number just below the lead and campaign’s name.
c. Click the phone number under the lead’s name in the fetched lead list.
Fetching leads with the progressive dialer
The Progressive dialing mode is a combination of preview and predictive dialing, but it is specifically a subset of preview dialing. It also works on a one-to-one basis, but it has an added countdown timer that lets you review lead info before the system automatically dials the lead for you.
Upon logging in to a progressive dial group, you must first set your agent state to available. When you navigate to the Outbound dialer via the left nav bar, you’ll find the Start dialer button at the bottom of the left panel instead of Fetch leads. When you click on Start dialer, the system will fetch a list of leads and a countdown timer will appear just to the right of the Start dialer. This timer will show you how much time you have to review the lead information and the script before the system dials the first lead for you.
Fetching and dialing leads with multiple numbers
If a lead has multiple numbers, dialing will behave the same way it does if a lead has only one phone number. When a list is loaded, the lead’s summary info displayed in the fetched lead list will display Multiple numbers instead of the lead’s phone number under the lead’s name. Clicking on the lead will display the Lead info page, and the multiple phone numbers will be displayed in a blue font underneath the lead’s name.
You may click on the green phone call icon beside the lead’s name to dial the first number in the list, or you may click on the blue phone number itself.
Once a number has been dialed and the call does not connect, that specific phone number will be grayed out and will not be available for dialing. However, the remaining phone numbers that haven't been dialed will remain blue.
Filtering your lead fetch
Once you’ve fetched your leads, you may also have permissions to filter your lead list by only the leads you want to see. To filter your leads, click on Show filters at the top of the generated lead list to reveal a dropdown list of fields you can insert text into to search for specific leads. These fields will depend on what is allowed by the admin.
Updating a lead’s information
Updating a lead’s information is possible under the Details tab after you click on a specific lead fetched from the left-hand panel. Depending on the permission given to your account, you may not be able to update a lead’s information.
To update a lead’s information, follow these steps:
1. Fetch your leads.
2. Select the lead whose information you’d like to update.
3. Under the Details tab, select the pencil icon next to Lead details to bring up the modal window.
4. Make updates to any of the available lead info fields as necessary.
5. Click the Save button at bottom right to save your changes.
Another way to update lead information is to navigate to Lead search via the left nav bar. After entering and searching for filters, click on the blue pencil icon under the Detail column to update information on that specific lead.
Again, some lead info may not be available to you for updating. Here are some of the basic lead information you can update:
- Lead Phone: The lead’s phone number (required).
- Extern ID: A unique identification number (of your choice) for the lead. This can be the lead’s telephone number (required) if the lead list doesn’t contain identification numbers (required).
- State: Lead’s state (geographical location).
- Lead Timezone: Lead’s timezone.
- Pending Agent ID: The system ID number for any reserved agent assigned to the lead.
- Title: Lead’s title.
- First Name: Lead’s first name.
- Middle Name: Lead’s middle name.
- Last Name: Lead’s last name.
- Suffix: Any suffix associated with the lead.
- Email: Lead’s email.
- Address 1: Lead’s address.
- Address 2: Second address for lead.
- City: Lead’s city.
- Zip: Lead’s zip code.
- Gate Keeper: A term used to describe the person to ask for when dialing this lead (e.g., the lead’s receptionist or assistant). This can also be used as an additional auxiliary field.
- Aux Data fields 1-5: Fields that can be used to store additional lead information.
- Aux Phone: A field that can be used to store any additional phone numbers relevant to the lead or the campaign.
Showing a lead’s history
A lead’s history will help you determine how to handle a call by giving you information such as their pass number, the last agent who attempted the call, some agent notes, the date, and the agent and system disposition of the call attempt.
To view a lead’s history, follow these steps:
1. Fetch your leads.
2. Select the lead whose history you’d like to view.
3. Under the Details tab, select the Show history text next to Lead history.
To make sure you get the latest information on a lead’s history, you may click on Refresh history next to Lead history.
Helpful hint!
If your lead has multiple phone numbers associated with it, keep in mind that the lead’s history will not display which specific phone number was dialed.
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