How to Set Up Live Audio Monitoring in VICIdial

Quality work needs ears on live calls, not just dispositions after the fact. VICIdial builds live Call monitoring right into the Real-time report, so a supervisor can listen to any agent on the floor by clicking one link. Here is how to turn it on.

Open the display options

Live monitoring is configured from the Choose Report Display Options section of the Real-Time report. That is the same options screen you use to tweak how the report looks; monitoring is one of the controls there. You do not need a separate tool or a second login, and once you submit your settings the listen links appear right on the report you were already watching.

Pick a monitor mode

Find the Monitor pulldown and choose one of three modes:

• MONITOR listens to the call without either party hearing you.
• BARGE joins you into the call so both the agent and the customer can hear you.
• WHISPER talks to the agent only, with the customer hearing nothing. WHISPER appears only if it is enabled on your system.

If you are just doing quality checks, MONITOR is what you want. The differences between all three are worth understanding before you barge into a live customer call by accident, so read the difference between MONITOR, BARGE, and WHISPER if you are unsure.

Set your listening phone

Below the Monitor pulldown is a phone field. Enter the phone extension you will be listening from. This is the device VICIdial calls when you start a monitoring session, so put in whatever phone is actually in front of you. Then click submit.

Listen to an agent

After you submit, you are back at the Real-Time report. Now each Agent has a LISTEN link to the right of their name. Click LISTEN for the agent you want, and VICIdial rings the phone you entered with a blind monitored session on that agent's call.

It is a blind session, meaning the agent is not told you are there. To move to a different agent, click that agent's LISTEN link instead. Because the session is keyed to the phone you submitted, you do not have to re-enter your extension each time you switch agents; you just click the next LISTEN link and your phone rings again.

MONITOR is the mode for plain listening. The Monitor pulldown also offers BARGE, which joins you into the call so both sides hear you, and WHISPER, which lets you coach the agent without the customer hearing. WHISPER only appears if it is enabled on your system. If you are unsure which to pick, leave it on MONITOR until you have a reason to do otherwise.

How the session connects

sequenceDiagram
  participant S as Supervisor phone
  participant D as VICIdial dialer
  participant A as Agent call
  S->>D: Set mode and listen extension, submit
  S->>D: Click LISTEN on an agent
  D->>S: Ring supervisor phone
  D->>A: Bridge in blind monitored session
  A-->>S: Live agent and customer audio

The session works with a cellphone just as well as a desk phone, so you can supervise the floor without sitting at a console. Put your mobile number in the phone field and VICIdial rings it when you click LISTEN.

For the rest of the Real-Time report and what each number on it means, see VICIdial reports explained.

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