Moving your DNC list to VICIdial

A DNC mistake on the first day of running a new dialer can be expensive. Before you dial a single number on VICIdial, your DNC list from the old system needs to be loaded and your campaign DNC settings need to be verified. This post covers the export, the import, and the two layers of DNC VICIdial gives you.

Two levels of DNC in VICIdial

VICIdial has two separate DNC (do not call) mechanisms. The Internal DNC table is an account-wide suppression list: any phone number in it will not be dialed by any campaign, regardless of settings. This is where you load your own opt-out records - numbers that asked you not to call them.

The Campaign DNC is a per-campaign suppression list. A number on the campaign DNC will not be dialed by that specific campaign but can still be dialed by others. Use this when you have numbers that should be suppressed for one product or team but not another. During a migration, most organizations load everything into the internal DNC first, then refine to campaign-level suppression once they understand the new setup.

Exporting your old DNC list

From your current dialer, export the suppression list as a CSV with at minimum the phone number column. Strip the formatting the same way you would for a Lead list - 10 digits, no dashes or parens, no leading 1. If your current system stores DNC entries with a timestamp and reason, export those columns too and keep the file in your records even if VICIdial's DNC import does not use them. You may need them for a compliance audit later.

Loading into VICIdial

The internal DNC load tool is under Admin > DNC Lists. You upload a text file with one phone number per line (no header row, just digits) and click load. Large files (100k+ numbers) take a few minutes to process. Watch the record count before and after to confirm all rows imported cleanly.

flowchart TD
  A[Export DNC from old dialer] --> B[Strip formatting - 10 digits only]
  B --> C[Save archive copy with timestamps]
  C --> D[Load into VICIdial internal DNC]
  D --> E[Verify record count matches]
  E --> F{National DNC scrub needed?}
  F -->|Yes| G[Run national DNC scrub via registered scrubbing service]
  F -->|No| H[Enable campaign DNC check on each campaign]
  G --> H
  H --> I[Test-dial one suppressed number - confirm no dial]

National and state DNC compliance

Loading your internal DNC does not substitute for National DNC Registry compliance. The FTC national registry and individual state registries require a separate subscription and scrubbing process. VICIdial does not have a built-in national DNC feed - you need to either scrub your lead lists against the registry before importing them, or use a third-party scrubbing service that integrates with your lead flow. Do not assume that because a number is not in your internal DNC it is safe to call.

For the full migration picture including leads, scripts, and cutover timing, read the VICIdial migration guide. For lead import specifics, see how to import your existing leads into VICIdial.

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