How to let agents start and stop their own recordings

Sometimes you do not want every second of every call on disk; you want the agent to capture just the part that matters, like a verbal agreement at the end of a sale. VICIdial supports this by handing recording control to the agent so they decide when to start and when to stop. The setting that does this is ONDEMAND, and it is actually the default, so in many cases you are turning it back on rather than enabling it for the first time.

Set the campaign to ONDEMAND

Open the Campaign and set the Campaign Recording menu to ONDEMAND. This mode allows the agent to start and stop Call recording as needed using the record button on the agent screen. Nothing is captured automatically, so the agent is fully in charge. This is On-demand recording, and it is the right mode whenever you want selective capture rather than a complete archive. Save the campaign and the record button is live for agents on that campaign.

What the agent sees and does

On an ONDEMAND campaign the agent gets a record button on their screen. They press it to begin capturing audio and press it again to stop. They can record one segment, several segments, or none at all on a single call, and each captured segment becomes its own file named from the same pattern the automatic modes use. Because nothing happens automatically, the workflow depends entirely on the agent remembering to act at the right moment, so this mode pairs well with a clear script that tells them exactly when to hit record. New agents in particular benefit from a line in the script that prompts the recording, because it is easy to talk through the verification and only realize afterward that nothing was captured.

That reliance on the human is the one real weakness. If a recording is legally required, do not use ONDEMAND, because a forgotten button means no file at all. For mandatory capture you want an automatic mode instead, which our piece on recording every call walks through.

How agent-controlled recording flows

flowchart TD
  A[Call reaches agent] --> B[Mode is ONDEMAND]
  B --> C{Agent presses record}
  C -->|No| D[Nothing is captured]
  C -->|Yes| E[Recording starts]
  E --> F{Agent presses stop}
  F -->|No| G[Records until call ends]
  F -->|Yes| H[Segment saved]
  G --> I[File saved]
  H --> I

The branch that does not exist in automatic modes is the very first one: with ONDEMAND, if the agent never presses record, there is simply no file. That is the whole point of the mode, and also its main risk. Everything else, including how the file is named and where it lands, works the same as it does in the automatic modes.

When agent control is the right call

Use ONDEMAND when you only need snippets, when storage is tight, or when you want to keep general conversation out of your archive and capture only the moments that matter for a Disposition or a verification. To compare it head to head with automatic capture, see ONDEMAND versus ALLCALLS, and for where every mode fits in the bigger picture read our call recording guide.

Whether you hand recording to agents or automate it, a properly tuned dialer makes the choice trivial to switch later. See our pricing to get a setup where flipping recording modes is a one-field change.