Power Dialer vs Predictive Dialer: Here’s How to Choose

When it comes to power dialer vs predictive dialer, the choice depends on your campaign goals and audience size.

A power dialer dials numbers one after another as agents become available, making it ideal for smaller, more personalized campaigns like fundraising or relationship-based outreach.

A predictive dialer, on the other hand, uses algorithms to dial multiple numbers ahead of time and routes answered calls to available agents, making it best for high-volume calling campaigns such as telemarketing or voter outreach.

Choosing the right auto dialer is critical—pick a power dialer when quality and personalization matter, and a predictive dialer when speed and efficiency are your priority. Let’s quickly see the differences:

If you’re still undecided about whether to choose a power or Predictive Dialer for your calling campaigns, this post will help you resolve that dilemma. 

Power dialer vs predictive dialer: First, what is common in them?

Both kinds of dialers are commonly thought of as forms of an Automated Telephone Dialing System (ATDS). The TCPA regulates their use, and the FCC and state attorneys general enforce it.

However, these definitions have been updated after a series of court rulings.  

Are dialers an ATDS?

The TCPA defines an ATDS as – “equipment which has the capacity –

(A) To store or produce telephone numbers to be called, using a random or sequential number generator

(B) To dial such numbers.

As the US Supreme Court has declared, this limits an ATDS to only those devices that can either generate random telephone numbers and then dial them or systems that just dial every possible number . 

Therefore, both Power and Predictive dialers are not ATDS since they only dial numbers uploaded by clients after consumers have given their express consent to get calls from the organization (or calls generally for political calls). 

Why are Power and Predictive dialers not ATDS?

While both dialers call numbers automatically, this does not legally make them ATDS. The ‘human intervention’ standard has also been removed by the courts, so merely dialing automatically does not make a dialer an ATDS. Here’s why:

• These dialers do not generate random numbers or call numbers sequentially.
• They do not randomize the call order. The call order is decided by the campaign manager for each campaign.

Power dialer vs predictive dialer: Let’s see the similarities

What they do have in common is:  

• The ability to make a vast number of calls within a time frame.
• Reducing delays and wait times for agents.
• Ensures that there is always an active caller ready for any free agent 

Specifically, in CallHub, both dialers let you: 

• Use personalized, branching scripts
• ​​Send text follow-ups to contacts who didn’t pick up or need more information
• Receive incoming calls so you don’t miss out on prospects
• Establish local presence and improve your answer rate with a dynamic local caller ID
• Schedule automatic callbacks
• Drop voice messages for answering machines
• Use call dispositions to mark the outcome of each call for follow-ups

• The average call duration of a campaign should be greater than 30 seconds. The carrier can flag a large number of calls below 30 seconds as ‘spam.’ 

Types of automated dialers

What is a Power dialer?

A Power Dialer is an automated outbound dialer that dials the next number only when the agent initiates it. Smaller and mid-sized teams will see more benefit from Power Dialers, where every call takes a variable amount of time and is unique. 

This has several advantages: 

• The agent can have an unhurried conversation with the contact
• The agent can make notes, update surveys, or fill in ‘call disposition’ tags after each call 
• Contacts do not face any pauses when they get the call. The agent is already on the line when the contact is connected.

You can make an estimated 60-80 calls per hour with a Power Dialer. 

What is a Predictive dialer?

The Predictive Dialer is an automated outbound dialer that dials numbers ahead of time and only connects answered calls to free agents. This dialer is a good fit for larger teams who are working through enormous lists of contacts, and speaking to every single contact is not a priority. (Although obviously, it is preferable to reach every one, and hence the redial option). The Predictive Dialer is good for campaign events like Get Out The Vote (GOTV), voting day reminders, mass surveys, etc.  

How does CallHub’s Predictive Dialer work?

1. The dialer gathers recent metrics such as answered calls, dropped calls, and the number of active (busy vs. free) agents.

2. The system converts those metrics into a probability that a single outbound call will be answered. The dialing ratio is expressed as “calls dialed: free agent” (i.e., how many numbers to dial for every available agent)

3. If the dialer estimates it must connect one free agent in the next minute, it uses the probability above to choose whether to dial one, two, or three (or more) numbers at once so that at least one answered call will reach the agent when they’re free.

Example: if the estimated answer probability is 1 in 3, the dialer will dial 3 numbers for every 1 free agent → a 1:3 ratio.

4. The dialer runs calling “rounds” using ratios like 1:1, 1:2, or 1:3, dialing the computed number of lines for each free agent during each round to hit the target agent-connection rate.

5. If more than one contact answers at once— e.g., connect one answered call to the agent and either hang up on the other(s), play an answering-machine message for them, or route them to voicemail/backup handling as configured.

Abandon here means someone answered the call, but your campaign cut the call without a live agent speaking to them. The TCPA requires you to play a recorded message at that point, which includes an explanation about how the contact may get themselves removed from this calling list. And the TCPA demands that your campaign never exceed 3% in abandoned calls. 

To ensure compliance with this rule, ‘Enable Dropped Restrictions’ is checked by default if you use the Predictive Dialer. However, you may uncheck the box if the restrictions do not apply to your campaigns.

Call to conversation conversion rate

The call-to-conversation conversion rate is the average number of calls you make until someone speaks to your agent. Your calls may go unanswered for various reasons, including a bad number, network issues, or people being busy. 

The conversion rate helps you determine your calling ratio. Usually, you must calculate this metric. In the Predictive Dialer, however, it happens automatically.

Power dialer vs predictive dialer: Key differences

While Power dialers offer more manual control and are suitable when a more personalized approach is needed, Predictive Dialers are designed for high-volume campaigns and prioritize throughput. 

The choice between them depends on the specific needs and priorities of the call center or organization using the dialing system.

Calling ratio 

• The Power Dialer is welded to 1:1, so the number of calls made is lower in comparison. The Power Dialer is best for smaller or less intensive campaigns with a smaller, segmented, or more personalized contact list where reaching each contact matters. 

• The Predictive Dialer’s ratio can be increased upto 1:3 for every free agent, allowing a much faster rate of calls. Choose the Predictive Dialer if you have an enormous calling list, and covering the entire list is the priority, whatever the outcome – unanswered, answering machine, spoken to the agent, etc.

Critically, the Predictive Dialer scales up and down – depending on factors like dropped calls, the average call length, and the number of free agents.  

Calling control

• The Power Dialer gives the agent full control over the calling rate, the length of each call, and when the next call occurs. 

• The Predictive Dialer makes the calls itself, dramatically increasing the rate of calls and pushing agents to complete calls. This frees the agent from taking on this additional task and leaves them free to get through their script quickly. 

Agent set up

CallHub lets you add (or remove) as many agents as you wish, with billing occurring for calls made only. Therefore, you can set up your team to the size you need for each campaign. 

Especially regarding sub-accounts, you can empower smaller teams in varied locations and use the appropriate dialer for your team size.  Your agents can sign up for the role or be added by you to the calling campaign. 

They can also enter the calling campaign using a desktop login or even their own smartphones via the CallHub mobile app. The app allows them to take up calls assigned to them from anywhere in the world. 

Though, do keep in mind: 

• Higher call volumes need a high agent-to-dialer ratio to maximize call capacity. For example, if you want to make 1500 calls daily, you must have at least three agents answering one call every minute for nine hours. 

Realistically, it is recommended to use the Predictive Dialer only if you have six or more agents for a single campaign – to allow for their full utilization.

Drop rate

The ‘drop rate’ refers to the percentage of calls terminated before being connected to a contact or answering machine. The drop rate includes factors like: 

• If the dialer reaches a busy number
• If there’s no response after a certain number of rings
• If there is no free agent to speak when the call connects

Your campaign has to balance the drop rate with other metrics, such as the connect rate (the percentage of calls successfully connected to a live person) and agent utilization.

The drop rate may not be a major concern if your campaign reaches a sufficient number of people and your agents are fully occupied.

However, a Predictive Dialer must have a maximum 3% drop rate, which is a regulatory requirement in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. 

If you are facing many dropped calls, switching to the Power Dialer from the Predictive Dialer is best. The Power Dialer ensures an agent will attend to each connected call.  

Answering machine detection

CallHub’s dialers are programmed to detect answering machines automatically. And you can choose to drop the call or leave a message you recorded earlier. 

Leaving voicemails on answering machines is a best practice rather than just hanging up. This will ensure that no calls are suspicious to the recipient.

You need to enable Answering Machine Detection (AMD) from your Call Center campaign’s ‘Targeting’ section. You must select the ‘Automatically Detect answering machines’ checkbox to enable AMD on your campaign.

Don’t forget to select an Answering Machine Audio to play a pre-recorded audio file when using the Predictive Dialer. When using the Power Dialer, the agent can leave a message themselves.  

Use cases: Power dialer vs predictive dialer

Let’s examine some real instances of organizations using a Power or Predictive Dialer and how they benefitted.

Power dialer use case

About Democrats Abroad
Democrats Abroad is the official Democratic Party arm serving the millions of Americans living outside the United States. Its mission is to inform and mobilize overseas voters, giving expats the means to participate in American elections.

Challenges Identified
The organization realized that low voter turnout abroad was due to several factors:

• A complicated voting process
• Issues with shifting addresses
• Lack of awareness about voting rights

Solution Implemented
To address these issues, volunteers used a Power Dialer to reach voters directly. They:

1. Called individuals to understand the specific problems they were facing.
2. Noted down the issues for reference.
3. Followed up with voters, providing exact solutions tailored to their situation.

Results Achieved
By having personalized conversations with each voter, Democrats Abroad increased overseas voter turnout by 300% in the 2018 US midterm elections.

Takeaway
Power dialers are ideal for campaigns requiring highly personalized conversations:

• Agents need time to prepare for each call.
• There should be room to take notes for follow-ups.
• Call durations cannot always be predicted, making Power Dialers perfect for such outreach.

Predictive dialer use case

Now, let’s review the example of Organizing for Change using a Predictive Dialer for their calling campaign. 

About OFC:

Organizing for Change (OFC) is a nonpartisan strategic initiative of environmental groups based in British Columbia. The organization works to advance policies beneficial for both the environment and the locals. 

A while back, OFC and others got together to run a distributed phone banking campaign using CallHub. 

Campaign Objective

OFC and partner groups aimed to run a distributed phone banking campaign using CallHub. The goal was to conduct a survey to collect voter data, which would then inform their Get Out the Vote (GOTV) strategies.

Campaign Execution

OFC teamed up with 24 other organizations, including the Dogwood Initiative and STAND, to make calls. Using CallHub’s volunteer management system, the groups coordinated seamlessly on a single platform. Execution process was: 

• Each organization called its members to complete a survey.
  
• While survey questions were standardized, each group used a unique script tailored to its members.
  
• Volunteers didn’t need prior knowledge of the prospects’ backgrounds; they simply followed the script to get survey responses.

Results Achieved
By collating voter data and using it to guide GOTV efforts, OFC and its partner groups increased voter turnout by 7%.

Takeaway
Predictive Dialers are ideal for campaigns that prioritize volume over personalization:

• Perfect when you have limited background information on prospects.
• Effective for straightforward call center scripts.
• Supports large-scale outreach with multiple volunteers efficiently

Power dialer vs predictive dialer: Things to consider when choosing the right dialer

Everything we have discussed so far should convince you which dialer is right for you – with considerations ranging from TCPA regulations to your number of agents. However, beyond those, here are a few additional factors that should help you seal the deal: 

Call ring time

The call ring time is when a call starts ringing and when it is answered or dropped. 

For your campaigns, this means productive time lost for your agents. There is nothing that you can do about this when using Power Dialers. 

A Predictive Dialer stops agents from waiting during call ring time by setting the calling ratio to keep more active calls ready. 

Average call duration

When using the Predictive Dialer, there is a risk of multiple prospects picking up simultaneously and some being dropped. Also, hanging up may reduce the chances of the prospect picking up the call again. 

This is not helpful if you are trying to build a meaningful connection with your contacts, not just getting in touch with them for an anonymous survey. 

If your average call durations are high or unpredictable, it’s best to use Power Dialers with a 1:1 dialing ratio. 

Purpose of calling

The purpose of your calls dictates a lot of factors that affect your decision. 

For example, if your call is to conduct a small survey, you know your call duration will be short, and callers will not have to prepare (or plan) for the conversation. 

Hence, a Predictive Dialer would be perfect for short calls with little engagement.  

On the other hand, if your objective is sales or fundraising, conversations may be longer (due to improvisation). Also, dropping too many calls might result in losing good leads. 

Therefore, a Power Dialer would be ideal for building relationships and leads. 

Database quality

Typically, a good-quality database with a clean contact list comprises few to no invalid numbers, wrong contact details, or prospect information. It also usually has a higher call-to-conversation rate. But this is not usually the case. 

A Predictive Dialer is perfect for low-quality databases. Connecting agents with only live calls reduces time spent sitting through invalid numbers.

However, if your database is from a trusted source and you know invalid numbers won’t be an issue, you can use a Power Dialer.

Note: Database quality is often a problem for most campaigns. Using a tool like CallHub that has automated phone number verification is the perfect way to clean up your database before you start calling. 

When caught at the crossroads, you can start by asking yourself the following questions:

• How personalized are my conversations going to be?
• How massive is my database, and how many callers do you have?
• What kind of campaign will I be running?

The answers to these questions will give you a basic understanding of the dialer most suitable for your campaign.

FAQs: Power vs predictive dialer?

1. Power Dialer vs Predictive Dialer: Pros and Cons

Power Dialer Pros:

• Ideal for personalized conversations.
• Agents have time to take notes and prepare for the next call.
• Call durations are flexible, making it great for complex or sensitive discussions.
  

Power Dialer Cons:

• Slower than predictive dialers.
• Not suitable for high-volume campaigns.
  

Predictive Dialer Pros:

• Maximizes call volume and agent efficiency.
• Great for campaigns where speed matters over personalization.
• Useful when you have straightforward scripts and a limited prospect background.

Predictive Dialer Cons:

• Less personal interaction with prospects.
• Calls can feel rushed if multiple people answer at once.

2. What is the difference between a Power Dialer and an Auto Dialer

A Power Dialer is a type of auto dialer that dials numbers one by one as agents become available. It’s built for personalized conversations, giving agents time to handle each call thoughtfully.

An Auto Dialer, in general, is any system that automatically dials phone numbers. It can include both power dialers and predictive dialers. So, all power dialers are auto dialers, but not all auto dialers are power dialers.

3. Are auto dialers illegal?

Yes, auto dialers are legal as long as you follow rules like getting consent, respecting Do Not Call lists, and avoiding unwanted robocalls. The Supreme Court clarified that not all auto dialers fall under strict TCPA restrictions.

Choose the right dialer with CallHub

When caught at the crossroads, you can start by asking yourself the following questions:

• How personalized are my conversations going to be?
• How massive is my database, and how many callers do you have?
• What kind of campaign will I be running?

The answers to these questions will give you a basic understanding of the dialer most suitable for your campaign. 

Once you know what your campaign needs, picking the right dialer is easy. With CallHub, you can connect with more people, run smoother campaigns, and give your team the tools to make every call meaningful—turning outreach into real impact. 

Vinayak Hegde

Vinayak Hegde is a content marketer who has been covering non-profits, changemakers, and advocacies for over six years. His experience includes all forms of digital content creation, including text, audio, and video.