Dialer
Encyclopedia
A dialer or dialler (British English
) is an electronic device that is connected to a telephone
line to monitor the dialed numbers and alter them to seamlessly provide services that otherwise require lengthy access code
s to be dialed. A dialer automatically inserts and modifies the numbers depending on the time of day, country or area code dialed, allowing the user to subscribe to the service providers who offer the best rates. For example, a dialer could be programmed to use one service provider for international calls and another for cellular calls. This process is known as prefix insertion or least cost routing
. A line powered dialer does not need any external power but instead takes the power it needs from the telephone line.
Another type of dialer is a computer program
which creates a connection to the Internet
or another computer network
over the analog telephone
or Integrated Services Digital Network
(ISDN) network. Many operating system
s already contain such a program for connections through the Point-to-Point Protocol
(PPP).
Many internet service provider
s offer installation CDs to simplify the process of setting up a proper Internet connection. They either create an entry in the OS's dialer or install a separate dialer (as the AOL
software does).
In recent years, the term "dialer" often refers specifically to dialers that connect without the user's full knowledge as to cost, with the creator of the dialer intending to commit fraud
.
There are 3 different dialing modes depending on how software dialers selects the contacts that are going to be called and starts making the calls. Automated dialers such as Altitude Software
Dialer, Avaya
or Aspect
can place calls using *preview*, *power*, or predictive dialing. The dialing modes are defined according to the campaign and type of business.
For example, preview dialing is useful in debt collection campaigns to allow agents to view information about the customer and define a strategy before starting to talk to the customer.
The system delivers preview calls to agents automatically, taking into account the priority of the call and the skills of the agent to handle the call. Preview dialing keeps agents from dialing calls manually.
Power dialing is suitable for all campaigns, from customer care follow-up calls to telemarketing. For example, power dialing is useful to call predictive dialing contacts that resulted in nuisance to ensure that an agent is available to talk to the customer.
Predictive dialing campaigns can achieve agent productivity of 50 minutes per hour and nuisance ratios of 3% or less. The system is continually updating predictive dialing probabilities and monitoring nuisance ratios for performance and compliance with legislation.
For example, predictive dialing is useful in sales campaigns to call a large number of contacts and maximizing the working time of agents.
The performance of predictive dialing takes into consideration the accuracy of the contact lists and the policies on nuisance calls. If the contact list is poor, the performance of the predictive dialing campaign is at risk as agents are not connected to live contacts and are not able to do business.
The contact center can run outbound campaigns in power dialing and change to predictive dialing at peak times. For example, run the campaign in power dialing in the morning with 4 agents and in predictive dialing in the evening with 15 agents.
The table below displays the advantages and disadvantages of each dialing mode and in what campaigns should each one be used.
), but some dialers are designed to connect to premium-rate numbers. The providers of such dialers often search for security holes in the operating system
installed on the user's computer and use them to set the computer up to dial up through their number, so as to make money from the calls. Alternatively, some dialers inform the user what it is that they are doing, with the promise of special content, accessible only via the special number. Examples of this content include software for download, (usually illegal
) trojans
posing as MP3
s, trojans posing as pornography
, or 'underground
' programs such as cracks and keygen
s.
The cost of setting up such a service is relatively low, amounting to a few thousand dollars for telecommunications equipment, whereupon the unscrupulous operator will typically take 90% of the cost of a premium rate call, with very few overheads of their own.
Users with DSL
s (or similar broadband connection
s) are usually not affected. A dialer can be downloaded and installed, but dialing in is not possible as there are no regular phone numbers in the DSL network and users will not typically have their dial-up modem, if any, connected to a phone line. However, if an ISDN
adapter or additional analog modem
is installed, the dialer might still be able to get a connection.
Malicious dialers can be identified by the following characteristics:
-scripts which install a trojan horse
which changes values in the Windows Registry
and sets Internet Explorer
security settings in a way that ActiveX
controls can be downloaded from the Internet without warning. After this change is made, when a user accesses a malicious page or email message, it can start installing the dialer. The script also disables the modem
speaker
and messages that normally come up while dialing into a network
. Users of Microsoft Office Outlook, Outlook Express
and Internet Explorer
are especially affected if running ActiveX
controls and JavaScript
is allowed and the latest security patches from Microsoft
have not been installed.
In March 2004, there were malicious dialers that could be installed through fake anti-virus software. E-mail spam
from a so-called "AntiVirus Team" for example, contained download links to programs named "downloadtool.exe" or "antivirus.exe", which are malicious dialers. Other ways of transmission include electronic greeting cards that link to pages that tricks the user to install ActiveX
controls, which in turn install dialers in the background.
Therefore links in spam emails should never be opened, automatically started downloads
should be canceled as soon as discovered, and one should check on each dial-up to the Internet to see whether the displayed phone number is unchanged. Another way to protect oneself is to disable premium numbers through one's phone
services, but of course this disables all such services.
One should never run foreign code in a privileged environment unless the source is trustworthy. It is also advisable to protect oneself with anti-malware programs.
called "Gesetz zur Bekämpfung des Missbrauchs von (0)190er/(0)900er Mehrwertdiensterufnummern" ("Law for the combat of misuse of (0)190/(0)900 value added service numbers").
The law contains the following regulations:
On 4 March 2004 the German
Federal Supreme Court in Karlsruhe
decided that fees for the usage of dialers do not have to be paid if it was used without the user's knowledge.
British English
British English, or English , is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the United Kingdom from forms used elsewhere...
) is an electronic device that is connected to a telephone
Telephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
line to monitor the dialed numbers and alter them to seamlessly provide services that otherwise require lengthy access code
Access Code
Access code may refer to:In authentication:* Password, a secret word.* Personal identification number , a secret numeric code.In telecommunications:* National access code, used to dial a domestic call....
s to be dialed. A dialer automatically inserts and modifies the numbers depending on the time of day, country or area code dialed, allowing the user to subscribe to the service providers who offer the best rates. For example, a dialer could be programmed to use one service provider for international calls and another for cellular calls. This process is known as prefix insertion or least cost routing
Least cost routing
In voice telecommunications, least-cost routing is the process of selecting the path of outbound communications traffic based on cost. Within a telecoms carrier, an LCR team might periodically choose between routes from several or even hundreds of carriers for destinations across the world...
. A line powered dialer does not need any external power but instead takes the power it needs from the telephone line.
Another type of dialer is a computer program
Computer program
A computer program is a sequence of instructions written to perform a specified task with a computer. A computer requires programs to function, typically executing the program's instructions in a central processor. The program has an executable form that the computer can use directly to execute...
which creates a connection to the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
or another computer network
Computer network
A computer network, often simply referred to as a network, is a collection of hardware components and computers interconnected by communication channels that allow sharing of resources and information....
over the analog telephone
Telephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
or Integrated Services Digital Network
Integrated Services Digital Network
Integrated Services Digital Network is a set of communications standards for simultaneous digital transmission of voice, video, data, and other network services over the traditional circuits of the public switched telephone network...
(ISDN) network. Many operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
s already contain such a program for connections through the Point-to-Point Protocol
Point-to-Point Protocol
In networking, the Point-to-Point Protocol is a data link protocol commonly used in establishing a direct connection between two networking nodes...
(PPP).
Many internet service provider
Internet service provider
An Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...
s offer installation CDs to simplify the process of setting up a proper Internet connection. They either create an entry in the OS's dialer or install a separate dialer (as the AOL
AOL
AOL Inc. is an American global Internet services and media company. AOL is headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York. Founded in 1983 as Control Video Corporation, it has franchised its services to companies in several nations around the world or set up international versions of its services...
software does).
In recent years, the term "dialer" often refers specifically to dialers that connect without the user's full knowledge as to cost, with the creator of the dialer intending to commit fraud
Fraud
In criminal law, a fraud is an intentional deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual; the related adjective is fraudulent. The specific legal definition varies by legal jurisdiction. Fraud is a crime, and also a civil law violation...
.
Dialing Modes
In Call centers there are several dialling modes depending on how the call is placed. We call *Manual Dialing* when the call is placed manualy by an agent.There are 3 different dialing modes depending on how software dialers selects the contacts that are going to be called and starts making the calls. Automated dialers such as Altitude Software
Altitude Software
Altitude Software is an independent software vendor for Contact Center solutions founded in 1993.Its corporate headquarters are located in Lisbon, Portugal....
Dialer, Avaya
Avaya
Avaya Inc. is a privately held computer networking, information technology and telecommunications company that is a global provider of business communications systems. The international head quarters is in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, United States...
or Aspect
Aspect
Aspect may be:*Aspect , a feature that is linked to many parts of a program, but which is not necessarily the primary function of the program...
can place calls using *preview*, *power*, or predictive dialing. The dialing modes are defined according to the campaign and type of business.
Preview
Preview dialing enables agents to first view the available information about the customer and decide when to place the call. In addition to the information about the customer, agents may also view all the history of the customer with the contact center. After viewing the information about the customer, the agent requests the system to make the call.For example, preview dialing is useful in debt collection campaigns to allow agents to view information about the customer and define a strategy before starting to talk to the customer.
The system delivers preview calls to agents automatically, taking into account the priority of the call and the skills of the agent to handle the call. Preview dialing keeps agents from dialing calls manually.
Power
Power dialing places calls only when an agent is available to handle the call. Automated dialers consider the priority and the skills of the agent to automatically place a call to the agent. In power dialing, an agent is always available to talk to the customer.Power dialing is suitable for all campaigns, from customer care follow-up calls to telemarketing. For example, power dialing is useful to call predictive dialing contacts that resulted in nuisance to ensure that an agent is available to talk to the customer.
Predictive
Predictive dialing is a state-of-the-art pacing mode used to call a large number of customers within a short period of time. Predictive dialing optimizes the time of agents by reducing the idle times between connected calls and freeing agents from dialing calls. Predictive dialing gathers statistics concerning the duration of calls, how long it takes for calls to be answered, and how often are calls answered. When an agent is about to become idle, The system places several calls.Predictive dialing campaigns can achieve agent productivity of 50 minutes per hour and nuisance ratios of 3% or less. The system is continually updating predictive dialing probabilities and monitoring nuisance ratios for performance and compliance with legislation.
For example, predictive dialing is useful in sales campaigns to call a large number of contacts and maximizing the working time of agents.
The performance of predictive dialing takes into consideration the accuracy of the contact lists and the policies on nuisance calls. If the contact list is poor, the performance of the predictive dialing campaign is at risk as agents are not connected to live contacts and are not able to do business.
Guidelines for choosing the dialing mode
The most suitable pacing mode for each campaign depends of a variety of factors, such as the business policies of the campaign, human resources, contact data, expected duration of calls, volume of calls, and so on. Altitude uCI allows contact center operations to change the pacing mode of the campaign as required.The contact center can run outbound campaigns in power dialing and change to predictive dialing at peak times. For example, run the campaign in power dialing in the morning with 4 agents and in predictive dialing in the evening with 15 agents.
The table below displays the advantages and disadvantages of each dialing mode and in what campaigns should each one be used.
| Dialing mode | Pros | Cons | Use in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Preview | •Improved results because agents know all the available information about customers and past history of the customer with the contact center. •Automatic distribution of contacts. |
•Toll on performance | •Campaigns that require agents to prepare the conversation before talking to customers, such as debt-collection campaigns. |
| Power | •Good performance •An agent is always available to talk to a customer. •More contacts per agent. |
•Agents have some idle time between contacts. | •In all types of campaigns from customer care follow-up calls to telemarketing. |
| Predictive | •Excellent performance. •The highest number of contacts per agent. • Shorter agent idle times. |
•Must observe compliance with legislation. *Optimum results require a higher number of agents. |
•Campaigns where performance is critical, such as first debt-collection attempts or telemarketing. • Campaigns that have short calls. •Campaigns that have small variations in talk time. •Campaigns with short and simple scripts, such as short surveys. |
Fraudulent dialer
Dialers are necessary to connect to the internet (at least for non-broadband connectionsBroadband Internet access
Broadband Internet access, often shortened to just "broadband", is a high data rate, low-latency connection to the Internet— typically contrasted with dial-up access using a 56 kbit/s modem or satellite Internet with inherently high latency....
), but some dialers are designed to connect to premium-rate numbers. The providers of such dialers often search for security holes in the operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
installed on the user's computer and use them to set the computer up to dial up through their number, so as to make money from the calls. Alternatively, some dialers inform the user what it is that they are doing, with the promise of special content, accessible only via the special number. Examples of this content include software for download, (usually illegal
Piracy
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea. The term can include acts committed on land, in the air, or in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the perpetrator...
) trojans
Trojan horse (computing)
A Trojan horse, or Trojan, is software that appears to perform a desirable function for the user prior to run or install, but steals information or harms the system. The term is derived from the Trojan Horse story in Greek mythology.-Malware:A destructive program that masquerades as a benign...
posing as MP3
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
s, trojans posing as pornography
Pornography
Pornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...
, or 'underground
Black hat
A black hat is the villain or bad guy, especially in a western movie in which such a character would stereotypically wear a black hat in contrast to the hero's white hat, especially in black and white movies....
' programs such as cracks and keygen
Keygen
A license or product key generator is a computer program that generates a product licensing key, serial number, or some other registration information necessary to activate for use a software application.-Software licensing:...
s.
The cost of setting up such a service is relatively low, amounting to a few thousand dollars for telecommunications equipment, whereupon the unscrupulous operator will typically take 90% of the cost of a premium rate call, with very few overheads of their own.
Users with DSL
Digital Subscriber Line
Digital subscriber line is a family of technologies that provides digital data transmission over the wires of a local telephone network. DSL originally stood for digital subscriber loop. In telecommunications marketing, the term DSL is widely understood to mean Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line ,...
s (or similar broadband connection
Broadband Internet access
Broadband Internet access, often shortened to just "broadband", is a high data rate, low-latency connection to the Internet— typically contrasted with dial-up access using a 56 kbit/s modem or satellite Internet with inherently high latency....
s) are usually not affected. A dialer can be downloaded and installed, but dialing in is not possible as there are no regular phone numbers in the DSL network and users will not typically have their dial-up modem, if any, connected to a phone line. However, if an ISDN
Integrated Services Digital Network
Integrated Services Digital Network is a set of communications standards for simultaneous digital transmission of voice, video, data, and other network services over the traditional circuits of the public switched telephone network...
adapter or additional analog modem
Modem
A modem is a device that modulates an analog carrier signal to encode digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information. The goal is to produce a signal that can be transmitted easily and decoded to reproduce the original digital data...
is installed, the dialer might still be able to get a connection.
Malicious dialers can be identified by the following characteristics:
- A downloadUploading and downloadingIn computer networks, to download means to receive data to a local system from a remote system, or to initiate such a data transfer. Examples of a remote system from which a download might be performed include a webserver, FTP server, email server, or other similar systems...
popupPop-up adPop-up ads or pop-ups are a form of online advertising on the World Wide Web intended to attract web traffic or capture email addresses. Pop-ups are generally new web browser windows to display advertisements...
opens when opening a website. - On the website there is only a small hint, if any, about the price.
- The download starts even if the cancel button has been clicked.
- The dialer installs as default connection without any notice.
- The dialer creates unwanted connections by itself and without user interaction.
- The dialer does not show any notice about the price (only few do) before dialing in.
- The high price of the connection is not being shown while connected
- The dialer cannot be uninstalled, or only with serious effort.
Installation routes
Computers running Microsoft Windows without anti-virus software or proper updates could be vulnerable to Visual BasicVisual Basic
Visual Basic is the third-generation event-driven programming language and integrated development environment from Microsoft for its COM programming model...
-scripts which install a trojan horse
Trojan horse (computing)
A Trojan horse, or Trojan, is software that appears to perform a desirable function for the user prior to run or install, but steals information or harms the system. The term is derived from the Trojan Horse story in Greek mythology.-Malware:A destructive program that masquerades as a benign...
which changes values in the Windows Registry
Windows registry
The Windows Registry is a hierarchical database that stores configuration settings and options on Microsoft Windows operating systems. It contains settings for low-level operating system components as well as the applications running on the platform: the kernel, device drivers, services, SAM, user...
and sets Internet Explorer
Internet Explorer
Windows Internet Explorer is a series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft and included as part of the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, starting in 1995. It was first released as part of the add-on package Plus! for Windows 95 that year...
security settings in a way that ActiveX
ActiveX
ActiveX is a framework for defining reusable software components in a programming language-independent way. Software applications can then be composed from one or more of these components in order to provide their functionality....
controls can be downloaded from the Internet without warning. After this change is made, when a user accesses a malicious page or email message, it can start installing the dialer. The script also disables the modem
Modem
A modem is a device that modulates an analog carrier signal to encode digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information. The goal is to produce a signal that can be transmitted easily and decoded to reproduce the original digital data...
speaker
Loudspeaker
A loudspeaker is an electroacoustic transducer that produces sound in response to an electrical audio signal input. Non-electrical loudspeakers were developed as accessories to telephone systems, but electronic amplification by vacuum tube made loudspeakers more generally useful...
and messages that normally come up while dialing into a network
Computer network
A computer network, often simply referred to as a network, is a collection of hardware components and computers interconnected by communication channels that allow sharing of resources and information....
. Users of Microsoft Office Outlook, Outlook Express
Outlook Express
Outlook Express is an email and news client that is included with Internet Explorer versions 4.0 through 6.0. As such, it is also bundled with several versions of Microsoft Windows, from Windows 98 to Windows Server 2003, and is available for Windows 3.x, Windows NT 3.51, Windows 95 and Mac OS 9...
and Internet Explorer
Internet Explorer
Windows Internet Explorer is a series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft and included as part of the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, starting in 1995. It was first released as part of the add-on package Plus! for Windows 95 that year...
are especially affected if running ActiveX
ActiveX
ActiveX is a framework for defining reusable software components in a programming language-independent way. Software applications can then be composed from one or more of these components in order to provide their functionality....
controls and JavaScript
JavaScript
JavaScript is a prototype-based scripting language that is dynamic, weakly typed and has first-class functions. It is a multi-paradigm language, supporting object-oriented, imperative, and functional programming styles....
is allowed and the latest security patches from Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
have not been installed.
In March 2004, there were malicious dialers that could be installed through fake anti-virus software. E-mail spam
E-mail spam
Email spam, also known as junk email or unsolicited bulk email , is a subset of spam that involves nearly identical messages sent to numerous recipients by email. Definitions of spam usually include the aspects that email is unsolicited and sent in bulk. One subset of UBE is UCE...
from a so-called "AntiVirus Team" for example, contained download links to programs named "downloadtool.exe" or "antivirus.exe", which are malicious dialers. Other ways of transmission include electronic greeting cards that link to pages that tricks the user to install ActiveX
ActiveX
ActiveX is a framework for defining reusable software components in a programming language-independent way. Software applications can then be composed from one or more of these components in order to provide their functionality....
controls, which in turn install dialers in the background.
Therefore links in spam emails should never be opened, automatically started downloads
Uploading and downloading
In computer networks, to download means to receive data to a local system from a remote system, or to initiate such a data transfer. Examples of a remote system from which a download might be performed include a webserver, FTP server, email server, or other similar systems...
should be canceled as soon as discovered, and one should check on each dial-up to the Internet to see whether the displayed phone number is unchanged. Another way to protect oneself is to disable premium numbers through one's phone
Telephone company
A telephone company is a service provider of telecommunications services such as telephony and data communications access. Many were at one time nationalized or state-regulated monopolies...
services, but of course this disables all such services.
One should never run foreign code in a privileged environment unless the source is trustworthy. It is also advisable to protect oneself with anti-malware programs.
German regulatory law
On 15 August 2003, a new law came into effect in GermanyGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
called "Gesetz zur Bekämpfung des Missbrauchs von (0)190er/(0)900er Mehrwertdiensterufnummern" ("Law for the combat of misuse of (0)190/(0)900 value added service numbers").
The law contains the following regulations:
- Forced price notices for service providers.
- Maximum price limits, legitimacy checks and automatic disconnects.
- Registration of dialers.
- Blocking of dialers.
- Right of information for consumers from the RegTP.
On 4 March 2004 the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Federal Supreme Court in Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe
The City of Karlsruhe is a city in the southwest of Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border.Karlsruhe was founded in 1715 as Karlsruhe Palace, when Germany was a series of principalities and city states...
decided that fees for the usage of dialers do not have to be paid if it was used without the user's knowledge.
See also
- Predictive dialerPredictive dialerA predictive dialer dials a list of telephone numbers and connects answered dials to people making calls, often referred to as agents. Predictive dialers use statistical algorithms to minimize the time that agents spend waiting between conversations, while minimizing the occurrence of someone...
System for dialing many numbers, typically used by call centers - War dialingWar dialingWar dialing or wardialing is a technique of using a modem to automatically scan a list of telephone numbers, usually dialing every number in a local area code to search for computers, Bulletin board systems and fax machines...
Automatically scanning a list of telephone numbers to detect computers, usually for nefarious purposes