Johannesburg, 14 May 2014
When it comes to call centres, there's often some confusion about the difference between a dialler and a softphone, says David Wise, Chief Executive Officer, Founder at AVOXI. They both serve a specific purpose within a call centre but with international customers, the terms are sometimes used interchangeably. In this article we'll clear up any confusion you might have about diallers and softphones by defining their specific roles in a call centre and by explaining the difference the two pieces of technology.
What is a dialler?
A dialler is an application that automates the action behind dialling phone numbers. In a call centre environment, a dialler is used so an agent doesn't spend time dialling numbers and, as a result, they have more time to talk on the phone. Diallers are popular in outbound call centres that rely on a large number of outbound calls.
What is a softphone?
A softphone is an application that works like a regular phone but instead of being a physical hard phone, a softphone runs on a computer using the Internet. Softphones are popular in call centres because they don't require you to buy physical telephony equipment and the work in conjunction with most call centre software.
The differencs
Now that we've defined diallers and softphones, the distinction is easy to see. A dialler is a program that automatically dials a list of phone numbers and a softphone is a computerised version of a regular phone. The difference is important to remember when working with your call centre software provider. The confusion is usually brought to light when a company is asked whether or not it uses a dialler. This question is often asked because some call centre software isn't equipped for the use of a dialler.
So remember, a dialler isn't a softphone and a softphone isn't a dialler. But they each play a key role in a call centre. Now that we've defined and explained the difference between the two terms, you'll have a better understanding of the equipment used within your call centre.
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