Moving sales teams make a lot of calls: web leads that need a callback in minutes, quotes from last week that didn’t book, and in the off-season, lists of people who might move. Dialing by hand caps how many of those calls a rep can make. An auto dialer removes the cap.
There are five kinds of auto dialer, and vendors don’t always use the names the same way. Kixie, for example, calls multi-line dialing “power dialing” in one article and uses “power” to mean one line at a time on its feature page. Here’s what each term usually means.
The five types of auto dialer
| Type | How it dials | Lines per rep | Can an answered call reach nobody? | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Preview | Shows the rep the contact first. The rep decides whether to call | 1 | No | High-value calls where the rep needs to read the lead first |
| Power | Dials the next number as soon as the last call ends | 1 | No | Small teams calling back leads and quotes |
| Progressive | Dials the next number only when a rep is ready. Often the same thing as power | 1 | No | Same as power |
| Parallel | Dials a fixed number of lines at once and connects the first person who answers | 2-10 | Rarely: if two people answer at once, one is dropped | Teams working large lists who want more conversations an hour |
| Predictive | Dials several numbers per rep and adjusts the pace from connect rates and call lengths | Varies | Yes, by design. The FCC caps it | Call centers with many agents |
Sources for the definitions: Vonage (preview and progressive), PhoneBurner (power), Nooks (parallel) and RingCentral (predictive vs progressive), all read November 2, 2026.
How a power dialer works
A power dialer takes your call list, dials the first number and waits. If someone answers, the rep talks. If it rings out or hits voicemail, the rep can drop a pre-recorded voicemail with one click and the dialer moves on. When the call ends, the rep logs the outcome and the next call starts.
The time saved is in everything around the call: no typing numbers, no looking up the lead, no recording the same voicemail fifty times. PhoneBurner says its single-line power dialer makes “up to 80 calls per hour”, and Aircall says reps can call “up to 100 numbers per hour” (both vendor claims, read November 2, 2026).
For movers: a power dialer is the right tool for calling back the day’s web leads, following up on quotes and calling customers about upcoming moves. Every answered call gets a person immediately, which matters when the customer is comparing four movers.
How a parallel dialer works
A parallel dialer calls two, three or four numbers at the same time for each rep. Most calls go to voicemail or ring out, so dialing several at once means the rep spends more of the hour talking. When someone answers, the dialer connects them to the rep and hangs up the other lines.
The trade-off is small: if two people answer at the same moment, one of them gets disconnected. Good parallel dialers use answering-machine detection so a rep isn’t connected to voicemail greetings.
For movers: parallel dialing makes sense when you’re working a long list rather than a few hot leads, such as last season’s unbooked quotes, past customers due for another move, or prospect leads in your service area. Vendors claim 150 to 300 dials an hour for parallel dialing, though no independent study backs this up (see below).
How a predictive dialer works
A predictive dialer runs on statistics. It looks at how often calls connect, how long conversations last and how many agents are free, then dials ahead so that someone answers just as an agent finishes a call. When it guesses wrong, a person answers and nobody is there. That’s an abandoned call.
For movers: predictive dialers are built for call centers. Five9 sells seats with a minimum of 50, and Convoso mainly offers annual plans. A moving office with three or four salespeople doesn’t have the volume for the statistics to work, and the dropped calls would land on customers you want to book.
How many calls an hour each type makes
| Dialing method | Dials per hour (vendor claims) |
|---|---|
| By hand | 15-25 |
| Preview | 40-60 |
| Power / progressive | 40-100 |
| Predictive | 80-120 |
| Parallel | 150-300 |
These ranges are compiled from vendor figures by JustCall, which says plainly that “no independent study measures dials per hour by mode”. We found no moving-industry figure either. Use the table to see the scale of the difference, not to forecast your results.
Dials aren’t conversations. Gong’s analysis of more than 300 million calls, as cited by JustCall, put the average rep’s connect rate at 5.4% of dials. Inbound web leads who asked for a quote usually answer far more often than cold lists do, which is one reason calling them back fast matters so much.
The rules that apply to auto dialers
These are the US federal rules in the FCC’s telemarketing regulation, 47 CFR 64.1200, read November 2, 2026. This is a summary, not legal advice.
- Abandoned calls. A call is abandoned if the person isn’t connected to a live rep within two seconds of their greeting. A campaign can’t abandon more than 3% of live-answered calls over 30 days, and an abandoned call has to play a message with your business name and a number to opt out. In October 2025 the FCC asked for comment on removing this rule (FCC 25-76), but it’s still in force. This matters for predictive and, to a lesser degree, parallel dialing.
- Calling hours. No telemarketing calls to homes before 8am or after 9pm, local time where the person is.
- Do Not Call. Don’t make sales calls to numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry, and use a copy of the registry no more than 31 days old. Keep your own internal do-not-call list and honor requests.
- Autodialers and AI voices to cell phones. Telemarketing calls to cell phones that use an automatic telephone dialing system, or an artificial or prerecorded voice, need the person’s prior express written consent. The FCC confirmed in February 2024 that AI-generated voices count as artificial voices (FCC 24-17).
- State laws are stricter. Oklahoma’s telemarketing law limits calls to 8am-8pm and three calls in 24 hours on the same subject, and bars caller ID that shows a different number from the one the call is made from (15 O.S. 775C.4). Florida also limits calls to 8am-8pm for many sellers, and requires written consent for automated sales calls. Check the rules in every state you call into.
A customer who filled in your quote form and asked you to call is in a different position from a cold prospect. Your quote form should say that they agree to be contacted by phone and text. Ask your lawyer to review the wording.
Which dialer should a moving company use?
| Your situation | Use |
|---|---|
| One or two people calling back the day’s web leads | Power dialer |
| You buy shared leads from lead vendors | Power dialer, connected to your lead inbox so new leads are called within minutes |
| A sales team working old quotes or prospect lists | Parallel dialer, 2-4 lines |
| A call center with 10+ agents and large lists | Predictive dialer, run by someone who manages the abandonment rate |
| Mostly inbound calls, few outbound | An AI receptionist first, then a power dialer |
Two things matter more than the dialer type. First, the dialer has to connect to your moving CRM, so reps see the move details before they talk and the outcome lands back on the opportunity. Second, it has to get new leads called within minutes, because the first mover to reach a customer usually books the survey.
MoverPhone has a power dialer, plus parallel dialing up to 2 lines on Scale ($299 per user a month) and up to 4 on Pro ($499 per user a month), with answering-machine detection, voicemail drop, local presence, DNC scrubbing and calling-hour limits. It syncs with SmartMoving, Supermove, MoveBoard, Elromco, Movegistics and HubSpot. See the auto dialer for moving companies, or compare it with the alternatives in best auto dialer for moving companies.
Frequently asked questions
What is a power dialer?
A power dialer works through a call list for you, one number at a time. When a call ends, it dials the next number, and it skips the manual work around each call: typing the number, logging the outcome, leaving a voicemail. Every answered call goes to a live rep, so nobody picks up to silence.
What is the difference between a parallel dialer and a predictive dialer?
A parallel dialer calls a fixed number of lines per rep, for example two or four, and connects the first person who answers to that rep. A predictive dialer adjusts how many numbers it calls based on connect rates, call lengths and how many reps are free. Predictive dialing suits large call centers; parallel dialing suits small sales teams that want more conversations an hour.
Are predictive dialers legal?
Yes, with limits. Under the FCC's telemarketing rules, a call counts as abandoned if a live rep isn't connected within two seconds of the person's greeting, and a campaign can abandon no more than 3% of live-answered calls over 30 days. An abandoned call must play a message with the business name and a do-not-call number. The FCC proposed dropping the 3% rule in October 2025, but as of November 2026 it's still in force.
How many calls an hour does a power dialer make?
Vendors say a single-line power dialer makes about 60 to 100 dials an hour, against roughly 15 to 25 dialing by hand. PhoneBurner says up to 80 calls an hour and Aircall up to 100. Parallel dialers claim 150 or more. No independent study has measured this by dialer type, so treat all of these as vendor claims.
Which dialer should a moving company use?
If one or two people call back web leads and old quotes, a single-line power dialer is enough. If you have a sales team working large lists, such as old quotes from last season or prospect leads, a parallel dialer with two to four lines gets more conversations without the dropped calls of predictive dialing. Predictive dialers are built for call centers with ten or more agents.