How to run a VICIdial agent on a home phone

You can put a VICIdial Agent on a home phone without any SIP software, VPN, or special hardware. VICIdial supports an EXTERNAL phone type that works the opposite way from a normal softphone: instead of waiting for a device to register on your server, the dialer calls the agent's home number the moment they log in. The agent answers, and they are live on the system just like any desk-phone agent in an office.

Create the phone record

Go to Admin, then Phones, and click ADD A NEW PHONE. The form has many fields but only a handful matter for an external setup. Fill them in as follows and leave any unlisted field at its default.

• Phone extension: give it an identifier that signals it is external, such as E7777. This is the label the Agent types at login. It does not need to match any SIP registration because there is none.
• Dialplan number: the agent's home phone number as it must be dialed from your phone system. If your system needs a 9 to get an outside line, include it here. For a US number 727-555-1212 with an outside-line prefix, enter 917275551212.
• Voicemail box: 0.
• Outbound callerid: the number shown on the agent's caller ID when the dialer rings their home phone. Use a number they will recognize so they do not reject the call.
• Phone IP and Computer IP: leave both blank. External phones do not register, so there is no IP to record.
• Server IP: the IP address of the VICIdial server that will manage this agent's calls.
• Agent screen login: set this to the same value as the phone extension, for example E7777.
• Login password and registration password: set these to the agent's login credentials.
• Phone type: external.
• Client protocol: EXTERNAL. This tells VICIdial the device will not register via SIP, so the outbound-dial path is used instead.
• Local GMT: the agent's current GMT offset, for example -5 for US Eastern Standard Time. This value does not auto-adjust for Daylight Saving Time.
• Status: ACTIVE. Active account: Y.

Save the record and log out of admin. The phone entry is ready for the agent to use.

How the agent logs in and gets connected

The agent opens the VICIdial agent interface in a browser — any standard browser on a laptop or desktop works. They enter the phone login (E7777 in this example) and the password you set. Within a few seconds the dialer calls the Dialplan number — their home phone rings. They answer it, and from that point they are live in VICIdial. Inbound or outbound calls come to them through the same audio path as any in-office agent.

The browser is the control surface: the agent dispositions calls, toggles ready and not-ready, and manages their Agent session entirely in the interface. The home phone carries only the audio stream. If the agent hangs up the home phone before ending the session, VICIdial detects the dropped audio and the session closes.

Call flow overview

sequenceDiagram
  participant A as Agent browser
  participant D as VICIdial dialer
  participant H as Home phone
  participant C as Customer
  A->>D: Login with E7777 credentials
  D->>H: Dials dialplan number outbound
  H-->>D: Agent answers home phone
  Note over D,H: Audio path established
  C->>D: Inbound or predictive call arrives
  D->>H: Bridges customer call to home phone
  H-->>C: Agent and customer are connected

Before you save the record

Pick up a phone on your system and dial the dialplan number you intend to enter. Confirm it rings and connects cleanly. This test takes thirty seconds and prevents the most common setup mistake: entering a number that looks right but routes incorrectly once Asterisk attempts to dial it.

For more detail on how external entries fit into the broader picture, see what the external phone type does in VICIdial and the full VICIdial remote agents guide. If you would rather skip the server setup entirely, managed VICIdial plans give you a running dialer in under 40 seconds.