How to transfer a call to an external number in VICIdial

Sometimes the next stop for a call is not another agent but an outside number: a partner office, a supervisor's cell, or a specialist line. VICIdial lets you transfer to any external number, and you get to choose whether the handoff is blind or warm.

Blind handoff to an outside number

For a hands-off transfer, type the external number into the Number to Dial field and click BLIND TRANSFER. The customer is sent to that number and you drop off. This is a true Cold transfer, so use it when whoever answers does not need a briefing.

Warm handoff to an outside number

If the person on the other end needs context, enter the number and click DIAL WITH CUSTOMER instead. That opens a Three-way call with the customer on the line so you can make the introduction. When you are done, LEAVE 3-WAY CALL drops you out and sends you to the Disposition screen while the customer and the outside party keep talking.

Dialing exactly the number you typed

By default the campaign adds its own phone code or dial prefix to the number. If you need the system to dial exactly what you typed, the dial_override option dials the precise number with no campaign-defined phone code or prefix. That is handy for fully formatted numbers like a country-coded mobile, where an extra Dial prefix would break the call.

Picking the right path

flowchart TD
  A[Need to reach an external number] --> B[Enter number to dial]
  B --> C{Does the other party need context}
  C -->|No| D[Blind Transfer]
  D --> E[Customer routed out]
  C -->|Yes| F[Dial With Customer]
  F --> G[Three way introduction]
  G --> H[Leave 3 Way Call]
  H --> I[Agent goes to disposition]

Caller ID on the outbound leg

When you dial a third party, you can control what caller ID the outbound leg shows. The 3-Way Call Outbound CallerID setting lets you send the campaign caller ID, the customer's number, or the caller ID of the phone the Agent is logged into, and AGENT_CHOOSE lets the agent pick from a list. CUSTOM_CID uses a custom caller ID defined per lead. Choosing a sensible value keeps the call from looking like Caller ID spoofing to the party you are reaching.

A few practical cautions

External transfers carry some risks that internal ones do not. If you want the outbound leg to ring through so you can hear it connect, a passthru dial prefix lets you hear ringback rather than silence. And if your campaign stops recording when a call goes to park or dial, decide whether an outside leg should be recorded before you build it into a routine; the 3-Way Recording Stop setting governs that behavior.

There is also a guard worth enabling. The tw_check option checks for still-active previous three-way calls and shows an error if it finds any, so an agent does not start a fresh external conference while an old one is hanging open. On a busy floor that single check prevents a lot of stuck lines.

For the blind path in detail, see how to blind-transfer a call to a phone number, and for the whole handoff toolkit, the transfers and closers guide ties it together.

If transferring to outside numbers with the right caller ID is a regular part of your workflow, see our pricing to get a dialer set up for it.