While I rarely use the dialer (I only ever call one person regularly) this is one of the Android things I did like a LOT. it puts a list of favorites at the top with the dialer at the bottom.
There's this amazing application called contacts that many business professionals use to store phone numbers of important contacts and clients for easier access than having to write down a bunch of numbers and constantly dial them.
There's also such a thing as conference calls with dozens of digits and the seven levels of hell known as phone tree menus for support centers.