You’ve probably heard of the term “list of telephone numbers” at some point in your career. If so, you may have already started using it as a part of your job description. While this may be the case, there are some other uses for it. Lists of telephone numbers can be useful for many reasons. In some cases, they’re easier to use than others. If you find yourself calling dozens of numbers on any given day, list-based methods can help.
Format
If you’re formatting a list of telephone numbers in Excel, you’ll want to make sure to specify the first digits and country code. Whether you’re using a country-specific code or the country’s standard telephone format, the first part of the number is always represented by a digit. The rest of the number is just nonbreaking spaces. The ‘+’ sign represents the exit code, which allows you to dial out of that country. You can specify different formats for different teams or departments.
While the built-in phone number format in Excel is simple enough, you might want to make adjustments to suit your specific needs. Some numbers use inconsistent formatting, and formulas won’t take this into account. A simple way to remove non-digit values from cells is to use a nested SUBSTITUTE function. You can find this function in the Number tab of Excel, and select the Custom option. Then, just paste the resulting number into a new column and choose a new name.
Components
The components of a telephone number list consist of the name of the phone, area code, and sometimes, an international country code. These components can be expressed differently, using various conventions, including spaces, dashes, parentheses, and periods to separate the different parts of the number. Different countries use different formats, such as UK uses a different format for cell phone numbers and landlines. To get the right format, consider these tips.
Using line numbers for telephone numbers can be tricky. The reason is that thousands of devices share the same prefix and area code, but each has a unique line number. This means that only the phone that dials that particular number will be able to make that call. Vanity numbers are easier to memorize because they display the caller’s name. The advantages of both prefixes and line numbers are that they provide the most flexibility.
Probability
The probability of calling a particular telephone number is usually calculated from the amount of calls that arrive in a given time period. For instance, if the average rate of phone calls arriving in an office is 10 per hour, then the probability of receiving five calls in forty minutes is six points. The same holds true for the number of phone calls arriving in a two-hour period. For a thirty-minute period, the probability of receiving five calls is nine points.
To compute the probability of calling a telephone number, first calculate the average time required for a single phone call. For example, if a telephone number receives twenty-five incoming calls, then it is likely that about 25% of the calls will be voice calls and the remaining twenty-five are fax messages. Using MS Excel, the probability of receiving a call in three minutes is one-third.
Predictive model
Predictive dialing systems automatically call the list of numbers on your behalf. These systems use mathematical algorithms to predict which numbers to call. They then adjust the dialing rate to optimize the duration of the calls. When an agent answers the call, the system will display the call’s details on the screen. When an agent is unavailable, the predictive dialing system will automatically switch to another number in the list. The system also analyzes the number of unsuccessful attempts to make the connection.
One of the most important steps in developing a predictive model is selecting the right model. Linear regressions are the most basic types of predictive models. These models take two variables with a high correlation and plot them on a graph. Then, data scientists apply the best fit line to these data points to derive a prediction of future events. For example, if a person calls a phone number a hundred times, a predictive model with a simple linear model would give them a high chance of calling a caller every three days.