How to add a cellphone Phones entry for monitoring

Before you can listen to agents through your cellphone in the Real-Time Report, VICIdial needs a Phones entry that tells it how to reach your mobile number. This entry uses Phone Type External and Client Protocol EXTERNAL, which means the system dials out to the number you specify rather than waiting for a SIP registration from a softphone or desk phone. The ADD A NEW PHONE form covers a broad range of phone types, but for a monitoring entry only a specific set of fields matter - and several can be left blank.

Open the Add Phone form

In the VICIdial admin panel go to Admin → PHONES → ADD A NEW PHONE. The form that opens covers both SIP phones and External phones. You will fill in just the fields that apply to an external Extension and leave the IP-related fields blank. The two fields that define this as an external monitoring entry are Phone Type and Client Protocol - both must be set to EXTERNAL.

Field values for a monitoring cellphone entry

• Phone Extension - a short label used as the lookup key, for example monitor_cell. You will type this exact string into the Real-Time Report Phone field, so keep it simple and avoid spaces.
• Dialplan Number - your cellphone number as it would be dialed from a phone on the system. If your system uses a leading 9 to reach an outside line, include it: 9 + 1 + area code + number, for example 917275551234. This is the number VICIdial actually calls when monitoring is triggered from the Real-Time Report.
• Voicemail Box - a valid mailbox number on the server. 8300 is a common default if you do not need a real voicemail mailbox for this entry.
• Outbound Caller ID - the Caller ID spoofing number shown to your cellphone when the monitor call comes in, for example 7275551234. Pick a number you will recognise so you know to answer when monitoring is active.
• Phone IP / Computer IP - leave both blank. External phones are not registered over SIP, so there is no IP address to record here.
• Server IP - the local IP address of your VICIdial server, for example 10.10.10.15. The Phones entry is bound to one specific server.
• Agent Screen Login / Login Password / Registration Password - fill these in even for an external entry. Simple values like monitor_cell and test are fine because this account is not used for actual Agent session logins by agents.
• Status - set to ACTIVE. Active Account - set to Y.
• Phone Type - EXTERNAL. Client Protocol - EXTERNAL. These two fields are what distinguish a monitoring entry from a softphone or hardphone registration. If either is set to something else, the system will not be able to place the outbound call correctly.
• Full Name - a human-readable label, for example manager cell.
• Local GMT - the GMT offset for this phone's timezone, such as -5 for Eastern Standard. VICIdial does not apply a DST adjustment automatically, so if you are in a DST-observing region you may need to update this twice a year.

How the entry fits into the monitoring flow

flowchart TD
  A["Admin → PHONES → ADD A NEW PHONE"] --> B["Set Phone Type = EXTERNAL"]
  B --> C["Set Client Protocol = EXTERNAL"]
  C --> D["Enter extension name such as monitor_cell"]
  D --> E["Enter Dialplan Number with leading 9"]
  E --> F["Leave Phone IP and Computer IP blank"]
  F --> G["Set Server IP to your server address"]
  G --> H["Set Status ACTIVE and Active Account Y"]
  H --> I["Save the entry"]
  I --> J["Type extension name into Real-Time Report Phone field"]

Once the entry is saved, the extension name you chose becomes the link between the Real-Time Report and your cellphone. When you click LISTEN next to an Agent, VICIdial looks up the Dialplan number stored in this Phones entry, places an outbound call to that number, and bridges your audio silently into the agent's live call. The entry does nothing else - it is not a login for dialing, just a lookup record for monitoring.

What to set up next

With the Phones entry in place, the next step is enabling the right user permissions and activating the API so the LISTEN column appears in the report. That full end-to-end flow is covered in how to live-monitor agents from your mobile phone. For the broader picture of external phones and remote access in VICIdial, see VICIdial remote agents explained. If you would rather start with a fully provisioned system, managed VICIdial plans get you running in under 40 seconds.