Cold Calling

Parallel Dialer vs. Power Dialer: What’s the best choice?

Nov 22, 2023
3
min read

If you're using a parallel dialer and power dialer software or just looking to explore options, learn about the differences between the two and other features to consider when choosing a platform.

Introduction: 

The emerging category of dialing softwares can be confusing if you’re seeing words like “predictive AI-powered dialer” for the first time. And if you’re reading this, that probably means you’ve noticed the buzz from folks using them. 

Teams are adapting AI-powered dialing platforms to boost productivity 5-10x with tools like parallel dialing, power dialing, auto dialing and all of the feature sets that come with it. For example, sales organizations like Airbase have reported a 3x increase in sourced pipeline

In this article, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know if you’re considering onboarding your own tool. 

What is parallel dialing? 

A parallel dialer is a tool that allows sellers to call multiple lines at once, allowing callers to get to a live prospect five times faster than single dialing. Higher quality platforms use predictive algorithms to minimize abandoned calls and skip over voicemails. 

This is the tool that heavy cold calling teams should use to maximize their call blocks and keep sales reps on the phone with potential customers.

What is power dialing?

A power dialer fully automates outbound calling by initiating one call after another. Unlike parallel dialing, it does not dial multiple prospects at once, but it is still significantly faster than manually dialing. A power dialer could also be called an auto dialer. 

This is the tool of choice for teams that call warm leads or call strategically but still want to improve overall talk time during call blocks. 

What is an AI-powered dialer?

An AI-powered dialer usually refers to a platform that offers both power and parallel dialing but comes with a host of other tools that help drive performance. These platforms integrate with your team’s CRM and SEP (Outreach, Salesloft, Apollo, etc) to import contacts and automatically execute on due call tasks. 

These platforms typically come with a variety of other tools that help outbound teams execute on each dial. 

What other tools come with a AI dialing platform? 

The first tool to look at when evaluating platforms is their predictive algorithms. For those just learning how to use one, connectivity is always a learning curve. This is because the AI has to decide if the person answering is a human or a voicemail.

Generally, the more established platforms have better technology that makes the right decisions, quicker. While some of the others are still under construction.

Other tools to look for:

AI Note Taker: Tools that transcribe call notes automatically to be reviewed later. 

Analytics: Real-time reporting on call time, talk time, connect rates and conversational data.

Voicemail sequencing: Automatically drop pre-recorded messages when you hit a voicemail so you can move to the next call. 

Battle Cards: Custom talk tracks that can be scaled to all users based on persona, sequence and more. 

Virtual Salesfloor: A collaborative digital call room that allows teams to call together by muting other callers audio when they get a pick up.

Want to learn more about sales outreach? Check out our recommended reading below:

How to Increase Connect Rates When Parallel Dialing

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