Method and apparatus for predictive dialing

The present invention describes a method and apparatus for predictive dialing in a multi-operator telephone system which improves the productivity of operators while simultaneously reduces customer "unattended" calls. These objectives are achieved by generating a prediction of the number of operators expected to be available at the end of a predetermined time interval in the future, as well as a prediction of the number of calls expected to be successfully completed during that time interval. The predicted number of calls is then weighted by an "weighting" factor which is controlled by variations in the percentage of unattended calls and variations in the average operator idle-time between calls. The system dynamically adjusts the number of calls dialed based on short term comparisons of the weighted predicted number of calls versus the predicted number of operators, and based on periodic adjustment of the weighting factor.