How to turn on scheduled callbacks for a campaign

Scheduled callbacks are off by default on a fresh VICIdial campaign. Before any agent can save a CALLBK and pick a future time, you have to turn the feature on at the campaign level. It is a single setting, but it only works alongside a matching per-agent option, so it is worth understanding both gates before you flip the switch.

Where the campaign setting lives

The control is the Scheduled Callbacks option on the campaign modification screen. When it is on, an Agent working that Campaign can Disposition a call as CALLBK and choose the date and time at which the Lead will be re-activated. Turn it off and CALLBK never appears in the dispo list for that campaign, no matter what the agents have set on their own accounts.

This setting is what creates a Scheduled callback record at all. Think of it as the master switch for the whole feature on that campaign.

The two gates that must both be open

This is the part that trips people up. The campaign option is necessary but not sufficient. For callbacks to actually work, the agents in the campaign must also have their VICIdial user option for scheduled callbacks enabled. Both gates have to be open at the same time.

flowchart TD
  A[Agent dispositions as CALLBK] --> B{Campaign option ON}
  B -->|No| X[CALLBK not available]
  B -->|Yes| C{Agent user option ON}
  C -->|No| Y[Cannot save callback]
  C -->|Yes| D[Callback saved with date and time]

If you want some agents to be able to reserve callbacks just for themselves, there is a third option in play: the agent-only callbacks user option, which enables USERONLY callbacks. We cover that one in giving agents user-only callbacks.

Turn it on, step by step

1. Open Admin, then Campaigns, and click the campaign you want.
2. Find the Scheduled Callbacks option on the campaign modification screen.
3. Set it to enabled and submit the change.
4. Confirm each agent in that campaign has their own callbacks user option on.

Because every member of a User group can be configured separately, it is easy to enable the campaign and forget the agents. After you flip the campaign switch, do a quick pass over your agents so nobody picks a CALLBK date that silently fails to save.

What happens after it is on

Once both gates are open, an agent who ends a call as CALLBK gets a calendar and time picker. ANYONE callbacks drop back into the shared Hopper when their time arrives and pick up the CALLBK Status (lead status) so they get dialed quickly. USERONLY callbacks wait for the specific agent who set them. For the full lifecycle, see our scheduled callbacks guide.

Related campaign options worth knowing

Once the basic switch is on, the same campaign screen gives you a row of finer controls you can tune later. A couple are worth flagging early so you know they exist:

• A callbacks alert option that can turn the agent callback status line red, make it blink, or both when a user-only callback hits its trigger time, so agents notice it.
• A My Callbacks checkbox default that decides whether the reserve-for-me box starts checked or unchecked on the agent screen.
• An auto-reschedule option for ANYONE callbacks that can push an unanswered lead to the next allowed calling day automatically.

You do not need to touch any of these to get a working callback. They are there for when you want to shape how the feature behaves for a busy User group. Start with the master switch and the agent options, confirm a test callback fires, then refine from there.

Skip the setup grind

Configuring a campaign is the fun part. Standing up the server underneath it is not. VICIfast provisions a secured VICIdial box on your own branded subdomain in under 40 seconds, so campaign tweaks like this are the only thing on your plate. Check our pricing to see what fits.