Key takeaways
- A parallel dialer rings a batch of lines for each rep, commonly two to ten, and bridges only the first live answer.
- A second person who answers in the same batch is dropped, and US rules cap abandoned calls at 3% of live answers per campaign over each 30-day period (16 CFR 310.4).
- CloudTalk sells a parallel dialer add-on for up to 10 lines at $39 per user a month, billed annually; BatchDialer rings 3 lines per agent on Starter and 5 on Pro.
- On Twilio, a month in which 20% or more of North America calls are unanswered or last six seconds or less can draw a $0.015 surcharge on each of those calls.
- Rapidialer has no parallel mode: Power Dial places one call per rep, after wrap-up and a 5-second countdown.
What is parallel dialer?
A session on a parallel dialer runs in batches. The rep presses start, and the dialer places a set number of calls at once from the team’s caller IDs. Ringing, busy signals, disconnected numbers and voicemail greetings are handled by the software, not heard by the rep. The first call where a person says hello is bridged into the rep’s headset, the remaining lines are cut, and after the conversation the rep saves an outcome and the next batch fires.
Labels vary, so read the line count rather than the product name. Mojo Dialer sells a Triple Line plan at $139 per license a month (Mojo pricing), REDX sells a multi-line power dialer on three lines at $149 a month (REDX power dialer), and Kixie offers single-line and multi-line power dialing depending on plan (Kixie pricing). In each case the word “power” sits on a product that rings more than one number per rep.
Parallel dialing is a close cousin of predictive dialing. Both start more calls than there are free reps. A predictive dialer’s algorithm sets the ratio for a whole pool of agents from live answer rates and call lengths; a parallel dialer usually rings a fixed number of lines for each rep, chosen by the plan or an admin. That is why one rep can run a parallel dialer alone, while predictive pacing needs a team to absorb bursts of answers.
Common mistakes. Setting the line count to the plan maximum on the first day instead of starting low and watching dropped answers. Running a consumer list through a tool built for business numbers. Judging the setup by dials per hour while ignoring how fast the list is used up. And forgetting that every extra line is another call on your caller IDs, which carriers see.
How many calls does a parallel dialer drop?
It depends on the line count and the answer rate, and the drops rise fast as either goes up. Take the worst case, where every line in a batch keeps ringing after the first answer: on three lines with a 10% answer rate, about 27 batches in 1,000 get two live answers and about 1 gets three. That is around 29 dropped people for every 300 who answer, close to 10%, against an abandonment cap of 3% (16 CFR 310.4).
Dialers reduce this by cutting the other lines the moment one person answers, but that shortens ring time on calls that might have been picked up. The same safe harbor asks that an unanswered call ring for at least 15 seconds or four rings before it is disconnected, so ask a vendor how its batches handle both rules. The abandoned call rules explain how the rate is measured. This is general information, not legal advice.
- 2 lines at a 10% answer rate: about 1 drop per 20 live answers in the worst case.
- 3 lines at 10%: about 1 drop per 10 live answers.
- 5 lines at 10%: nearly 1 drop per 5 live answers, which is why higher line counts lean on detection and fast cut-offs.
When does a parallel dialer make sense?
A parallel dialer pays off when most dials reach no one and the list is big enough to spend. A team calling direct dials and switchboards at thousands of companies, with a connect rate in the single digits, saves the most ring time per rep.
It fits poorly when every answered call matters. Warm callbacks, small local lists, consumer numbers and any call where the rep should read the record first all suffer from the half-second gap between a person’s hello and the rep’s first word, and from the people who answer and hear nothing. For those lists a progressive dialer or a one-line power dialer keeps a rep on every answer.
What does a parallel dialer cost?
Prices are per user or per agent, often on top of a phone plan. CloudTalk’s parallel dialer is a $39 per user a month add-on, billed annually, on any plan (CloudTalk auto dialer pricing); with its Essential plan at $29 per user a month billed annually, three reps pay about $204 a month before taxes. BatchDialer’s Starter plan, with 3 lines per agent, is $95 per agent a month billed annually (BatchDialer pricing), or $285 for three agents. DialSheet runs power and parallel dialing on 2–4 lines on your own Twilio account (DialSheet on G2).
On your own Twilio account, unanswered calls are not billed per minute, but Twilio’s North America terms allow a $0.015 charge on each unanswered or six-seconds-or-shorter call once those reach 20% of a month’s calls (Twilio terms). A parallel dialer crosses that line easily, so price it in. For comparison, Rapidialer is $5 per seat a month, Twilio bills calls separately, and three reps at about 1,000 billed minutes each come to about $79.95 a month with one local number per rep; the call cost calculator runs your own figures.
Why does Rapidialer not dial in parallel?
Rapidialer is built around one call per rep, so a person who answers is always talking to the rep who called them. The rep sees the lead card during a 5-second countdown, the call rings from the rep’s browser, and the rep is joined the moment the person answers. There are no dropped answers to count, and the optional voicemail detection only tells a rep who is already on the line that a greeting answered.
The cost of that choice is pace on lists where few people answer. If your plan depends on three to ten lines per rep, a parallel dialer is the right tool and Rapidialer is not. The trade-offs between the two models are laid out in parallel vs power dialing.
Parallel dialer in Rapidialer
Rapidialer does not do parallel, multi-line or predictive dialing. Its Power Dial places one call per rep at a time; after the rep saves an outcome, a countdown shows “Dialing in 5…” with Cancel, Skip and Dial now buttons, and only then does the next call start. Teams that want more conversations per hour on one line get them from cleaner lists, calls inside each contact’s local business hours, and list retry rules that, once switched on, bring No answer contacts back after 4 hours by default.
Related terms
- Predictive dialerA dialer that calls several numbers per available agent, predicting when agents will be free.
- Abandoned callAn answered outbound call with no agent on the line within two seconds of the greeting.
- Progressive dialerA dialer that places the next call automatically when an agent becomes free, one line per agent.
- Connect rateThe share of outbound calls that reach a live person.
Parallel dialer: questions and answers
Is a parallel dialer the same as a multi-line dialer?
Yes. Parallel dialer, multi-line dialer and triple-line dialer all describe software that rings more than one number at once for a single rep and connects the first answer. The number of lines is what differs: some products fix it at three, while others let an admin choose up to five or ten lines per rep.
How many lines should a parallel dialer use?
A parallel dialer should use the fewest lines that keep the rep busy, because dropped answers rise faster than conversations as lines are added. Start at two or three lines, track live answers and calls with no rep on the line for a week, and add a line only while the dropped share stays well under the 3% abandonment cap.
Is parallel dialing legal for B2B calls?
Parallel dialing is not banned by name. The FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule exempts most business-to-business calls, but the FCC’s abandoned-call limit is written for telemarketing calls generally, and mobile numbers on a B2B list bring consent rules for autodialed calls. Treat dropped answers as abandoned calls and measure them. This is general information, not legal advice.
Can a parallel dialer run on my own Twilio account?
Some can. DialSheet, for example, runs power dialing and parallel dialing on 2–4 lines on a customer’s own Twilio account. Expect more short and unanswered calls on the Twilio bill, which can trigger Twilio’s $0.015 per-call surcharge in North America once those calls reach 20% of a month’s traffic.
What is the difference between a parallel dialer and a power dialer?
A parallel dialer rings several numbers per rep and connects the first answer, while a power dialer rings one number per rep and dials the next only after the last call ends. Parallel wins on conversations per hour on low-answer lists; power wins on control and has no dropped answers. Rapidialer is a one-line power dialer.
Does Rapidialer have a parallel dialer?
No. Rapidialer’s Power Dial places one call per rep and starts the next only after the rep saves an outcome and a 5-second countdown runs, with Cancel, Skip and Dial now buttons. There is no setting for several lines per rep. A team whose model depends on parallel dialing should choose a product built for it.