VICIdial software solutions, outbound sales, and lead gen aren’t getting any simpler. Between altering rules and increases in blocked and flagged calls, it’s getting progressively difficult for connecting with customers.
Because the industry evolves though, one factor remains obvious: Your outbound call center is just like its dialer.
Cutting costs by utilizing “free” VICIdial software solutions like VICIdial might appear as an economical decision. However, it’s only prone to COST your contact center in additional ways than a single. In the end, there isn’t any such factor as a free lunch.
To reduce some light on the true costs of VICIdial software solutions, we went right to the origin – we spoke to current and past VICIdial customers regarding their experience (begin to see the results below).
- What is VICIdial?
- Is VICIdial really free?
- Where VICIdial falls short, according to its users
- What to look for in a VICIdial alternative
VICIdial support
VICIdial is definitely an open-source contact center solution with dialer software abilities. Initially coded in 2003, today VICIdial can be used by inbound and outbound calling teams in over 100 countries.
A large cause of VICIdial’s prevalent usage? It’s “free” to make use of. Plus, since it’s built on open-source code, savvy users may use this foundation to construct their very own solution with no licensing costs.
Actually, in 2006, CallCenterTech (known then as SafeSoft Solutions) did just that. Within the next 11 years, we acquired firsthand knowledge about the VICIdial code-including its various flaws and also the user discomfort points it makes. Eventually, we figured that a few of these underlying issues within the code simply couldn’t be addressed. So, we scrapped our product and built our very own proprietary solution on your own using individuals 11 many years of training from customers who switched from the VICIdial software solutions.
Is VICIdial really free?
Being an open-source solution, something hear frequently about VICIdial software solutions is the fact that it’s free of charge. As it pertains lower to it though, it is not truly the situation. If you are using VICIdial as the dialing software you’ll have to take into account these primary costs:
Installation
Unless of course, you’ve got a versatile developer within the company, you will have to generate an outdoors company or freelancer to set up VICIdial at the answering services company. Installation requires an understanding of Linux, Apache, MySQL, and Asterisk.
Maintenance and Development
You will not only need a developer for that initial install, though. To create modifications, you must also employ a qualified webmaster with experience architecting and developing enterprise-class applications. Experienced professionals in this region frequently cost between $100-200 each hour. Initial deployment isn’t quick: it frequently takes several weeks.
Your requirement for an outdoors expert doesn’t finish there either. Each time a problem arises or a bug needs resolving, you will have to ask them. (As you will see below, downtime and outages really are frequent problems for many teams.) And when they’re not really a dedicated person to your employees, the price of the work they do may also include pricey wait occasions that keep the team from making calls.
Where VICIdial Falls Short, According to Its Users
So that you can foot the expense of putting in and looking after VICIdial. It’s touring after that, right? Less than. CallCenterTech spoke to numerous sales departments of different sizes who’ve used or are utilizing VICIdial as their primary outbound dialing solution to discover their top difficulties with the working platform. Here’s what we should find.
Outdated UI and Poor Reporting – 69% of Respondents
The most typical issue facing VICIdial users is an interface that’s outdated and hard to navigate. Nearly 7 in 10 sales departments noted the VICIdial interface and manual reporting process as a significant discomfort point.
And also the teams we spoke to aren’t the only real ones who experience this problem. Here’s exactly what a reviewer needed to say at Capterra: “Being free and open-source, I guess I can’t complain an excessive amount of. However, the front-finish/Graphical user interface can use a change pretty badly. The interface appears like a mid-90s website.”
To keep agent productivity and efficiency, a simple-to-use interface is important. You have managers who require monitoring performance through real-time reporting.
In the end, payroll may be the greatest cost for outbound sales departments. Every second spent fumbling having a clunky UI represents payroll heading out your window. This inefficiency is just compounded when it’s reported in your agents’ efficiency that you’re battling to drag!
Low Contact and Connection Rates – 63% of Respondents
Call centers not connecting with leads will increase their second greatest cost: data. That’s, if you are not reaching your prospects, you risk burning through pricey leads and lists. The questions and frustrations only grow after that: How can you justify the cost of quality leads if you are not able to achieve them?
A sizable most of the teams we spoke to reported this among their greatest challenges. But what’s behind VICIdial’s low contact rates? The solution really is based on our respondents’ other discomfort points.
Poor Caller ID (DID) Reputation – 50% of Respondents
Another of the very most common issues as reported by VICIdial users: is poor caller identification status. 1 / 2 of the teams we spoke to reported that maintaining clean caller IDs and staying away from call flagging and blocking were major issues.
Without the opportunity to monitor DID usage and also to easily replace inefficient DIDs according to volume and geography, calls are going to be marked as “Spam Likely” or blocked entirely. This may have a domino effect, causing lower contact rates, lower conversion, along with a greater cost per acquisition.
Limited Features and Integrations – 38% of Respondents
About 4 in 10 sales departments named too few features and integrations among their greatest VICIdial challenges. The most typical missing feature is another key component in low contact rates: too few omnichannel solutions.
Because it gets to be harder to achieve leads by telephone, having the ability to employ automated omnichannel outreach through SMS and email becomes increasingly important.
Inaccurate Answering Machine Detection (AMD) – 25% of Respondents
Based on your call strategy, reaching leads’ voicemails could be a real momentum-killer for the agents. That is why getting quick, highly accurate answering machine recognition is crucial to center efficiency.
VICIdial software solutions feature answering machine recognition settings; however, many customers report a minimal amount of precision. Jesse Daniels, VP of Sales at One Health Direct, a phone call center transporting more than a million calls each day, is among individual customers. Daniels estimates that at some point, his agents were spending around 70% of their time coding for voicemails, which is time that might be far better spent speaking to customers.
All over again, that’s in history that might be far better spent speaking to customers. For Daniels and something Health Direct, the outcomes of the switch from VICIdial to CallCenterTech speak on their own: Not just did they see 70% fewer voicemails, but, they elevated sales by greater than 30%.
System Downtime and Outages – 25% of Respondents
Last but certainly not least, a quarter of the call centers we talked to reported issues with downtime and service outages.
To make matters worse, it’s not always easy to get a hold of someone at VICIdial support. NextGen Leads and other call centers also report difficulties with long wait times for tech support. And if you think dealing with low contact rates will cost your call center, wait until you do the math on not calling at all for extended periods.
How to Upgrade to a VICIdial Alternative
Between your costs of installation, development, and maintenance, along with the chance costs resulting from common VICIdial solutions points, it’s obvious that VICIdial is certainly not truly free.
Still, not only any VICIdial alternative is going to do. While you conduct searching for your alternative, there are a variety of other critical things to consider.
Beware Third-Party Solutions According to VICIdial
Don’t accept an imitation: Numerous third-party contact solutions, including Ytel and GOautodial, are really according to the underlying VICIdial code.
Though they’ve already made some enhancements towards the VICIdial foundation, they’re still vulnerable to most of the same issues, together with a couple of individuals outlined below.
Tier-1 Carriers
When deciding which software to buy, the kind of carriers used is among the most significant factors to know. Locate a provider that utilizes name-brand, Tier-1 carriers for example AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile. Utilizing a dialer that just connects through top-tier carriers will make sure maximum call quality and connectivity.
Robust Reporting
It’s important to get a solution that provides managers with everything they need to improve call center performance. Ask the following questions about reporting capabilities as you search for the right solution:
- Depth of Analysis. Does the solution offer robust reporting capabilities with the granularity that you need to make smart decisions? E.g, Does it tell you what your true CPA is at the list level? Or lead source level? Can you access real-time data to decide if you should pull your agents off non-performing lists? Does it give you insights into agent productivity throughout the day? Make sure you get reporting that can track these essential call center KPIs.
- Speed. Are you able to quickly run reports? Can you automate and schedule the delivery of reports?
- Customizability. Can you easily create, run, and save new custom reports?
Choosing Productivity and Profitability Over Price
You’ve heard it before: you receive that which you purchase.
With regards to VICIdial software solutions, there’s lots of truth for the reason that. While “free” and occasional-cost contact center solutions might appear like cost-effective solutions, these savings mean nothing once they come at the expense of performance and profitability.
CallCenterTech contact center software supplies an effective predictive dialer along with a full suite of tools and methods to boost contact rates by as much as 300% and deliver more conversions while increasing Return on investment. Plus, we’ll exist when you really need us most: Our experts are continually moving out product updates and upgrades to adjust to a quick-altering compliance landscape. As well as your dedicated Customer Success Manager is waiting for responsive support.
