A web dialer that calls from your browser on your own Twilio account

Web dialer: what it does for your team

Nothing to install

Reps sign in from a desktop browser and call. The browser asks for the microphone the first time a rep places or answers a call.

The lead beside the keypad

Name, company, the contact’s local time, last outcome, notes and recent calls are on screen before the phone rings.

Every call ends logged

Wrap-up asks for an outcome before the next dial, with room for notes, a lead temperature and an optional follow-up.

Your numbers, your bill

Calls go out from numbers in your Twilio account, and Twilio bills the minutes to you directly at its published rates.

Web dialer, step by step

1. Connect Twilio once

   An owner or admin enters the Account SID and Auth Token on the Telephony page and presses Save & provision. Rapidialer creates an API key and a TwiML app in that account, and Import from provider syncs your numbers.

2. Dial or load the next lead

   Type or paste a number, or load the next contact from a list. Pick a caller ID from your synced numbers, or Auto · local number when local presence is on.

3. Talk with the track on screen

   Mute, hold or transfer, send keypad tones to phone menus, move through the talk track’s stages with the arrow keys, and keep an eye on the call timer. Hang up when you’re done.

4. Wrap up and move on

   Pick one of your outcome buttons with a click or the keys 1 to 9, add notes, a callback time or a follow-up, and press Enter. In a list, Power Dial calls the next contact after a five-second countdown you can cancel, skip or cut short with Dial now.

What it does not do

Plain limits, so you can decide before you sign up.

• No native mobile apps: Rapidialer is a web app for desktop browsers, and Twilio warns that browser calls on phones and tablets can be a poor experience (Twilio Help Center).
• No in-app choice of microphone and speaker, and no call queues or IVR; hold, transfers and three-way calls cover one conversation at a time.
• One call at a time: no predictive, parallel or multi-line dialing, and no voicemail drop; optional answering-machine detection only lets the rep leave a live message or skip.
• Caller IDs come only from numbers bought in or ported to your Twilio account; Twilio Verified Caller IDs, such as a personal mobile, cannot be used.

What is a web dialer?

A web dialer, also called a browser dialer, is calling software that runs inside a web browser instead of a desk phone or an installed app. The browser captures the microphone and plays the audio, and a voice provider connects the call to the phone network. In Rapidialer that provider is Twilio, through its Voice JavaScript SDK, and the call runs on your own account.

Web dialers differ in what surrounds the keypad. Some are only a keypad. Rapidialer adds a lead record, a talk track, an outcome step and list dialing to the same screen. How the Twilio side works, from access tokens to the two billed legs of every call, is covered on the browser softphone page; this page is about what reps see and do.

Can I use a power dialer on a Chromebook or Mac with no download?

Yes. Rapidialer is a web app, so a Mac, a Windows PC, a Linux laptop or a Chromebook needs only a current desktop browser, a microphone and an internet connection. There is no installer, no desktop app and nothing for IT to push to each machine. Reps sign in, open the Dialer, and allow the microphone when the browser asks.

Rapidialer does not publish its own tested-browser list. It calls through Twilio’s Voice JavaScript SDK, and Twilio lists the browsers and operating systems it tests that SDK on, including Chrome on ChromeOS, and Chrome, Firefox and Safari on macOS (Twilio Voice JavaScript SDK). Keep the browser up to date. On a Chromebook, use Chrome.

The optional Chrome side-panel keypad is different: it is a Chrome extension, so it needs Google Chrome 116 or later. Phones and tablets are not a supported way to call, and there is no iPhone or Android app.

What does a rep see on the Dialer screen?

One screen holds everything a rep needs for a call, so nobody switches tabs mid-conversation:

• Keypad: paste a number, hold 0 for +, or press Call on an empty field to bring back the last number you dialed, then press Call again.
• Caller ID picker: your synced Twilio numbers, plus Auto · local number when local presence is on.
• Lead brief: name, company, the contact’s local time, last outcome, notes and recent calls.
• Talk track: pick one of your talk tracks, and its stages fill in the contact’s name, company and last notes.
• Session stats: Calls, Connects with the connect rate, Call time and Callbacks set, plus the contacts left in the list.
• Focus mode: one button hides the sidebar while you dial.

How does a day on the web dialer go?

A rep opens the Dialer at 9am, picks a list imported from a CSV file, loads the first contact and presses Start. Power Dial counts down five seconds and calls. The first call reaches voicemail; the rep leaves a short live message, presses 3 for the Voicemail outcome (the third of the default outcome buttons) and Enter. The countdown starts on the next contact.

With calling hours switched on for the list, contacts outside the window in their own time zone wait until it opens, and numbers on your internal Do Not Call list are not called. A prospect asks for a call on Thursday, so the rep picks Callback, sets the time, and Rapidialer puts a follow-up on the lead. At lunch the rep presses Cancel during the countdown, and nothing dials until they press Start again.

Leads who call back ring the rep whose number they called on any Rapidialer page, then the rest of the team; inbound calls explains the routing and the forwarding options.

What does each rep need?

A desktop browser, a microphone and a headset:

• Microphone access: the browser asks on the first call. If access is blocked, the Dialer shows “Microphone permission required. Allow mic access in the browser site settings.” until you allow it.
• A headset: Twilio recommends one to cut echo, and USB rather than a 3.5 mm jack on lower-end computers (Twilio deployment guide). The Dialer has no device picker, so make the headset the computer’s default microphone and speaker.
• A seat: $5 per seat a month or $49 per seat a year, with a 14-day free trial on one seat and no credit card.

Who should pick a different web dialer?

Rapidialer’s web dialer is built for one rep talking to one lead, with hold, warm or cold transfer and a Live calls page where owners and admins listen, whisper or barge. Teams that need inbound queues, an IVR, or several lines ringing per rep should look at a contact-center tool or a multi-line dialer instead; the trade-offs of extra lines are in single-line vs multi-line dialing. Reps who work mainly from a phone are better served by a native mobile dialer, which Rapidialer does not have.

Features that work alongside it

• Power DialSequential power dialing: the next contact is dialed after each wrap-up and a five-second countdown.
• Call scriptsStaged talk tracks on screen during every call, with merge fields for contact, company and last notes.
• Call outcomesCall dispositions in one click, with custom outcome buttons that can move a lead to a pipeline stage.
• Local presenceCaller ID that picks one of your own Twilio numbers with the lead’s area code.

Web dialer: questions and answers