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Outbound Dialing Modes

Topic Detail
Navigation Admin → Outbound → Campaign Management
Purpose Select the dialing strategy that determines how the system places calls and connects agents
Default Mode Preview
Number of Modes 6 — Preview, Progressive, Power, Predictive, Agentless, External

✅ Verified against Genesys Cloud Resource Center — March 2026

Dialing Mode Comparison

Mode Who Dials Agent Required Best For Min Agents
Preview Agent manually Yes High-value sales, debt collections, B2B 1+
Progressive System — 1 call per agent Yes Compliance-sensitive, moderate volume Any
Power System — multiple per agent Yes High volume with controlled abandonment 15+ recommended
Predictive System — AI-paced Yes Maximum efficiency, large call centers 15+ required
Agentless System — no agent No Notifications, surveys, IVR delivery, reminders None
External System — routes to external Yes Routing to external agents or systems Any

Preview Mode

In Preview mode, the agent receives a contact record and manually decides when to dial.

Feature Detail
Agent control Agent reviews contact info before calling
Timer Optional countdown — system auto-dials when timer expires
Agent-owned records Agents can own specific contacts and handle all retries
Efficiency Lowest efficiency — highest quality per contact
Compliance Safest mode — no risk of abandoned calls from over-dialing
Best use Collections, high-value B2B sales, sensitive outreach requiring personalization

⚠️ Preview campaigns ignore pacing options — the agent controls the pace entirely.

Progressive Mode

In Progressive mode, the system automatically dials exactly one call per available agent.

Feature Detail
Dialing ratio 1 call : 1 available agent — always
Abandoned calls Near-zero risk — there is always an agent ready when a contact answers
Call analysis Detects live person vs. answering machine before connecting to agent
Efficiency Moderate — no wasted agent time waiting for answers, but no over-dialing
Compliance Excellent — guarantees agent availability; no abandoned call risk
Best use Compliance-sensitive environments, smaller agent pools, regulated industries

💡 Progressive is the recommended mode when you have fewer than 15 agents and cannot use Predictive.

Power Mode

Power mode dials multiple calls per available agent using a pacing algorithm.

Feature Detail
Dialing ratio More than 1 call per agent — determined by pacing algorithm
Pacing Algorithm predicts when an agent becomes available and pre-dials accordingly
Call analysis Required — system drops or routes unanswered/machine calls
Abandoned calls Risk exists — compliance abandon monitoring required
Efficiency High — maximizes agent talk time
Compliance Monitor abandon rate carefully — FTC/OFCOM limits apply
Best use High-volume campaigns where efficiency is more important than zero abandons
Min agents recommended 15+

Predictive Mode

Predictive mode uses a patented stage-based AI algorithm to forecast agent availability and pre-dial contacts accordingly.

Feature Detail
Dialing System automatically places calls based on predicted agent availability
Algorithm Patented pacing — adjusts dynamically based on real-time agent stats
Call analysis Full detection — live person, answering machine, busy, no answer
Efficiency Highest — maximizes talk time, minimizes idle time
Abandoned calls Risk exists — pacing must be tuned to stay within compliance thresholds
Min agents required 15 agents minimum — smaller pools make predictions inaccurate
Best use Large-volume outbound operations (sales, collections, surveys) with 15+ agents

⚠️ With fewer than 15 agents, Predictive's algorithm lacks sufficient data — use Progressive instead.

Agentless Mode

Agentless mode dials contacts and delivers pre-recorded messages, surveys, or IVR flows without connecting to a live agent.

Feature Detail
Agent required No
Content Recorded voice messages, IVR flows, opt-out prompts
Opt-out Include "Press 9 to opt out" in the IVR flow to manage DNC compliance
Answering machine System can detect and play a different message for machines vs. live answers
Live party Call is transferred to an Architect Inbound Call Flow for IVR handling
Requires Inbound Agentless campaigns require Inbound call routing to be implemented
Best use Appointment reminders, payment notifications, fraud alerts, surveys, outage notifications

External Calling Mode

External calling routes answered calls to an external phone number or SIP destination instead of an internal Genesys Cloud queue.

Feature Detail
Routing Calls are bridged to an external system or phone number
Use case Third-party agent environments, outsourced contact centers

Call Analysis

Call Analysis (also called AMD — Answering Machine Detection) is the process of detecting what answered the call before connecting it to an agent or playing a message.

Detection Result Default Action
Live Person Connect to agent or play IVR
Answering Machine Disconnect, play message, or leave voicemail
Busy Signal Record result, retry based on attempt control
No Answer Record result, retry based on attempt control
Invalid Number Mark uncallable

Call analysis is configured in a Call Analysis Response Table, which is then assigned to a campaign.

Campaign Priority

When multiple campaigns share the same ACD queue, priority determines how lines are distributed:

Priority Effect
1 Lowest — fewest calls per agent relative to other campaigns
5 Highest — proportionally more calls per agent

Agents participate in multiple campaigns automatically via the queues they are active in. No manual assignment per campaign is needed.

Choosing the Right Dialing Mode

Interview Cheat Sheet

Question Answer
What is the default campaign dialing mode? Preview
Which mode dials 1 call per available agent? Progressive
Which mode requires minimum 15 agents? Predictive (and recommended for Power)
Which mode has no agents involved? Agentless
What is Call Analysis? Detection of live person, answering machine, busy, or no answer before connecting to agent
What is the abandoned call risk in Progressive mode? Near-zero — one call per agent guarantees availability
What happens with fewer than 15 agents in Predictive mode? Pacing predictions become inaccurate — use Progressive instead
What must Agentless campaigns implement? Inbound call routing (Architect flow)
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