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Glossary · Dialing

What is Power dialing?

Reviewed by Sujan ThapaliyaLast updated

Definition

Power dialling places exactly one outbound call per agent at a time, automatically starting the next call when the previous one ends. Because a live answer always has an agent waiting, power dialling cannot produce abandoned calls.
The three STIR/SHAKEN attestation levels, which underpin how power dialing behaves in practice: A asserts both that the carrier knows the customer and that the customer may use the calling number, B asserts the customer only, and C asserts neither. A shared number pool can reach B at best, which is why number ownership keeps recurring in these definitions.
Attestation is the backdrop to most caller-ID and deliverability terms, power dialing included.

In practice

How power dialing actually works

It typically doubles or triples manual dialling throughput. The gain comes from eliminating lookup, typing, ring-out, and note-taking, not from placing more simultaneous calls.

It is the right default for regulated industries, for teams smaller than about eight agents, and for any list where each conversation is valuable enough that dropping one is unacceptable.

Because it never abandons calls, power dialing is also the mode that keeps a number's reputation intact. High dial volume with a low connect rate and very short durations is what analytics engines score, and dropping live answers adds complaints on top. One call per rep produces the cleanest pattern any dialer can.

Worked example

A rep dialling manually loses roughly 45 seconds per attempt to lookup, keying and note-taking. At 60 attempts a day that is 45 minutes producing no conversation; a power dialer converts it into another 60 or 70 attempts.

Power dialing: common questions

How much faster is power dialing than manual dialing?
Typically two to three times as many calls per hour. The gain comes from removing lookup, keying, ring-out and note-taking rather than from calling more people at once, which is why it does not change your answer rate.
Can a power dialer abandon calls?
No. It places exactly one call per agent, so there is always someone to take a live answer. That is why power dialing sits outside the abandonment-rate problem entirely and is the safe default for regulated sellers.
Is a power dialer an auto dialer?
Yes. Auto dialer is the umbrella term for any system that dials without a person keying digits. Power, preview, progressive and predictive are all modes within it, differing only in how many lines run per agent.

Sources

  1. Combating Spoofed Robocalls with Caller ID Authentication — Federal Communications CommissionThe STIR/SHAKEN framework, the attestation levels carriers sign calls with, and the mandate requiring providers to authenticate caller ID.
  2. 47 U.S.C. § 227 — Restrictions on the use of telephone equipment — Cornell Legal Information InstituteThe Telephone Consumer Protection Act itself — the consent requirements, calling-hours limits, and private right of action.
  3. ITU-T Recommendation E.164 — The international public telecommunication numbering plan — International Telecommunication UnionThe international number format, the 15-digit maximum, and how country codes and national numbers compose.

See power dialing in the product

A power dialer places one outbound call at a time from a loaded list, automatically dialling the next contact the moment the previous call ends. It removes manual dialling and hold time without the connection delay that makes predictive dialling feel robotic to the person who answers.

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