Categories: AI Agent, AI Coaching, AI Copilot, AI Notes Generator, AI Sales, AI Sales Assistant
Orum Review: AI Dialer to Boost Sales Conversations?
Let’s be honest for a second. The daily grind of an SDR or a BDR can be… soul-crushing. I remember my early days in sales, armed with a lukewarm lead list, a phone, and a pot of coffee that was never strong enough. The endless dialing. The ringing that just goes on and on. The receptionist gatekeepers who were better trained than most secret service agents. You'd make a hundred dials just to have three, maybe four, real conversations. It's a brutal numbers game.
So, when a platform like Orum comes along, waving around claims of 4x, even 5x, increases in connect rates, my inner cynic and my inner sales-hustler both sit up and pay attention. They call themselves an “AI-powered Live Conversation Platform.” That’s a lot of buzzwords. But after digging in, I think there might be some real fire behind all that smoke. This isn't just another autodialer; it feels like they’re trying to fundamentally change the workflow of a sales rep. And as someone who lives and breathes traffic and conversions, changing the workflow is where you find the real gold.
What Exactly is Orum, Anyway? Beyond the Jargon
So what is Orum? At its core, it’s a platform designed to get your sales reps into more live conversations with actual humans. Simple as that. It uses AI to do all the grunt work that reps hate and that eats up 80% of their day. Think of it less as a tool and more as a hyper-efficient robotic assistant who handles all the dialing, navigates annoying phone trees, identifies a real person on the other end, and then—BAM—instantly passes the live call to the sales rep. The rep just sits there, ready to talk, moving from one live conversation to the next.
The company calls it a “Conversation Engine.” I'd call it a sanity-saver. It’s about eliminating the dead space, the wasted time between the good stuff. Because at the end of the day, you don’t pay your reps to dial; you pay them to talk and to sell.
Visit Orum
The Features That Actually Matter for Your Sales Team
A shiny platform is nothing without features that actually solve problems. Orum seems to have focused on the biggest pain points in outbound calling. It’s not a cluttered mess of a million features you’ll never use. Instead, it’s a focused toolkit.
The AI Conversation Dialer: Your Secret Weapon
This is the heart of Orum. The AI-powered dialer is the workhorse. It can parallel dial up to five lines at once, but it's smarter than a traditional power dialer. The AI listens for dial tones, busy signals, and those dreaded “the number you have dialed is not in service” messages. More importantly, it can navigate phone directories (“For sales, press 1…”) and even leave a pre-recorded (but genuine-sounding!) voicemail if it hits an answering machine. This frees up the rep to take a breath, review their notes on the next prospect, and be fully present for the moment a live call is connected. The impact on morale alone is huge. Less robotic work means more human interaction, which is what good salespeople thrive on.
AI Coaching and Enablement: A Manager in Your Headset
This is where things get interesting, especially for sales managers. The ‘Ascend’ plan includes features like AI Objection Detection. Imagine your new reps getting real-time cues or post-call analysis on how they handled a price objection. It’s like having a coach sitting next to them on every single call, not just the one or two a week you have time to listen in on. This kind of AI-driven coaching scales your management capabilities and can get new hires up to speed way faster. It’s a powerful way to ensure quality and consistent messaging across the entire team, something that's notoriously difficult.
The Virtual Salesfloor: Recreating the Bullpen Buzz
I have to admit, I love this concept. One of the biggest casualties of the remote work era has been the sales bullpen. That high-energy environment where you could hear a teammate close a deal and get pumped up, or overhear a great way to handle an objection and immediately use it yourself. Orum’s “Salesfloor” is a virtual space that tries to replicate this. Reps can see a live leaderboard, hear celebratory sounds when meetings are booked, and listen in on live calls (with permission, of course) for training. It’s a smart way to foster a sense of team and friendly competition, even if your team is spread across three different time zones. It's a culture feature as much as a sales feature.
Let's Talk Numbers: Orum Pricing and Plans
Alright, the big question. What’s this going to cost? Orum isn’t hiding its entry-level pricing, which I appreciate. They have two main tiers:
The Launch Plan is listed at $250 per user, per month, and it’s billed annually with a three-seat minimum. This isn't exactly chump change, so you've got to be committed to outbound calling to justify the investment. This plan gives you the core AI Parallel Dialing (up to 5 lines), voicemail drops, call history, analytics, and integrations with the big players like Salesforce, HubSpot, Outreach, and Salesloft.
The Ascend Plan is their “most popular” tier for larger teams. For this, you have to “Contact Sales,” which is industry-speak for “it’s going to be a custom, higher price based on your needs.” This plan includes everything in Launch plus the advanced goodies: AI Objection Detection, more advanced reporting and analytics, centralized onboarding tools, a team call library, and other enterprise-level features.
The takeaway here is that Orum is a serious tool for teams that are serious about sales. If your team makes a handful of calls a day, this is overkill. If your team’s success lives or dies by the phone, this is an investment that could pay for itself very quickly.
The Good, The Bad, and The AI-Powered
No tool is perfect. Let's break it down. The upside is obvious: a massive increase in efficiency and, theoretically, in connect rates. Automating the dialing, note-taking, and CRM logging is a huge time-saver. That 4x claim? If you're coming from a world of pure manual dialing, I can actually see that being realistic. You’re just cutting out so much wasted time.
On the flip side, the price is a consideration. A minimum of $750/month ($250 x 3 seats) is a commitment. It also requires tight integration with your existing sales stack. It’s not a standalone solution. And there's a human element to consider. There's a risk of reps becoming too reliant on the tech. There is a small pause when the AI hands off the call, and seasoned prospects might pick up on it. It’s a minor thing, but something to train your team on. Your reps still need to have the skills to convert the conversation once Orum gets them there, this is not a magic wand that closes deals for you.
Who is Orum Actually For?
So, who should be requesting a demo? In my opinion, Orum is tailor-made for high-volume outbound sales organizations. We’re talking about teams of SDRs and BDRs whose primary job is to book meetings. It's also a fantastic fit for fully remote or hybrid sales teams who want to recapture that collaborative, competitive energy of an in-person sales floor. If you've already invested heavily in a CRM like Salesforce and a sales engagement platform like Outreach, Orum is the accelerator you put on top of that engine to really make it fly.
"Orum is a force multiplier and gives our reps the ability to nail the areas where they are the most impactful and automate what mattered most."
Frequently Asked Questions about Orum
How does Orum's AI dialing actually work?
The AI dials multiple numbers in the background from your list. It uses voice recognition to detect when a real human answers, filtering out voicemails, bad numbers, and automated systems. Once a person is detected, it instantly routes the call to an available sales rep.
Does Orum integrate with my CRM?
Yes, Orum has native integrations with major platforms, including Salesforce, HubSpot, Salesloft, and Outreach. This allows for seamless activity logging and workflow management, so reps don't have to manually update their CRM after calls.
Is Orum just another autodialer?
Not really. While it does automate dialing, its focus is broader. Features like the virtual Salesfloor for team collaboration and AI-driven coaching for rep development position it as a more comprehensive “Conversation Platform” rather than just a simple dialer.
What kind of results can I realistically expect?
Orum claims up to a 4x or 5x increase in live conversations. While individual results will vary based on list quality and team skill, the core benefit is a dramatic reduction in time spent on manual tasks. This should directly translate to more conversations per hour for every rep.
Is the virtual Salesfloor feature actually useful?
For remote or hybrid teams, it can be a significant culture and performance booster. It helps replicate the energy, learning, and friendly competition of a physical sales floor, which can be critical for morale and skill-sharing.
How does the pricing work for larger teams?
For larger teams needing advanced features, you'll need the Ascend plan. Pricing is customized, so you'll have to contact their sales team for a quote based on your specific team size and feature requirements.
Final Thoughts: Is Opportunity Really Calling?
Look, the world of sales is flooded with tech that promises the moon. Most of it just adds another layer of complexity. Orum feels different. It feels like its aimed at removing complexity, at stripping away the most tedious parts of a salesperson's job to let them focus on what they do best: connect with people.
It’s not a magic bullet, and it requires a real investment. But for the right team—one that is built on high-volume, high-quality phone conversations—it could be a genuine game-changer. In an age dominated by endless email chains and soulless LinkedIn automation, a real conversation is more valuable then ever. Orum just helps you find more of them, faster. And in this business, that’s everything.
