How to point a DID at an in-group

The most common thing you do with a DID (direct inward dialing) is send its calls to a team. In VICIdial a team is an Ingroup, a shared queue that agents log into. Pointing a DID at an in-group is how a call to your main number reaches whoever is free. Here is the whole process.

Build the in-group first

You cannot point a DID at an in-group that does not exist yet. In the inbound section, click Add A New In-Group and give it a Group ID such as SALESLINE, a name, a color so agents can spot the line, and set Active to Y. Save it, leave the rest at defaults for now, and the queue is ready.

After you save the in-group the screen expands with the deeper options, where you can set a call time, decide what happens after hours, and choose the music and periodic message a waiting caller hears. None of that is required to get calls flowing, so you can leave the defaults and come back to tune them once the basic route works.

Create the DID and set the route

1. Click Add A New DID and enter the DID Extension that matches the digits your Carrier sends, plus a description. Submit.
2. Set DID Route to IN_GROUP. The page reveals the in-group fields.
3. Set In-Group ID to the group you built, for example SALESLINE.
4. Pick a Call Handle Method. CID adds a new lead record for each call using the caller ID as the phone number, which is the simplest choice to start with.
5. Set the Agent Search Method. LB load balances across all servers and is the default; SO keeps calls on the home server; LO favours the local server first and overflows to others.
6. Set the In-Group Phone Code if a new lead needs one, then submit. The route is now saved.

sequenceDiagram
  participant C as Caller
  participant R as Carrier
  participant D as DID
  participant G as In Group
  participant A as Agent
  C->>R: Dials your number
  R->>D: Sends matching digits
  D->>G: Route is IN_GROUP
  G->>A: Hands call to free agent
  A->>C: Agent answers

That campaign also has to be inbound-capable. In practice that means it has Allow Inbound and Blended set to Y and a dial method that supports taking calls. One such campaign can serve many in-groups, so you do not need a separate campaign per number. You just keep ticking each new in-group into the allowed list.

Test it

Have an agent log into an inbound-capable campaign, select the in-group on the green screen, and go to a ready Status (lead status). Dial the number. The agent screen should fill with the caller ID and the status bar should turn the in-group color. For the full setup including the campaign side, follow our guide on how to create an inbound group and take calls, and the wider flow in our inbound call handling guide.

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