A
software program that can be used to automatically call thousands of numbers from a phone list or
database. An auto dialer can usually be configured to leave messages for people on answering machines, receive touchtone or recorded responses, or simply dial the telephone numbers for an operator or agent. Some systems that perform a call transfer to an operator when a call is answered by a person is called a
predictive dialer. Auto dialers are widely used for
customer support in call centers and telemarketing.