yeah, part of the problem is that with new privacy laws, it gets harder and harder for call centers to create scrubbed lead lists and program them into auto-dialers, which are then usually conntected to a PBX. Part of the problem is, too, that people using auto-dialers don't always pay attention to what is going on, and so the recipient of the call gets dead air or confused telemarketers who either don't realize they're not muted, don't realize they're muted, don't know who they're calling, etc, etc.
The (inbound) call center I'm at still uses a hardware PBX hooked up to an Oracle-based call management system. I'd love to get specs and other info, but they keep the systems room with the PBX, network modules, and server under lock and key; even our site manager isn't allowed in without the system admin being present.