How to set up the AGENT_CALLBACK_EMAIL container

When the campaign option Send Callbacks Email is turned on, VICIdial tries to email the owner of a USERONLY Scheduled callback the moment that callback's time arrives. A USERONLY callback is one an Agent reserved for themselves, so the email reminder goes to that specific person. None of that works, though, until you build a Settings Container named AGENT_CALLBACK_EMAIL that tells the dialer what the email should look like.

What the container has to contain

A Settings Container is just a named text block you create in the admin portal's Settings Container section. For callback emails the container must define three variables, one per line:

• email_from — the address the notification appears to come from.
• email_subject — the subject line the agent sees.
• email_body_begin — everything between this line and an email_body_end line is treated as the body of the email.

Inside the body you can pull values straight from the Lead record (the vicidial_list row) using the same --A-- --B-- placeholder style the scripts feature uses. So --A-- might be the first name, --B-- the phone number, and so on, letting each reminder name the contact the agent is supposed to ring back.

How a callback email actually gets sent

flowchart TD
  A[USERONLY callback time arrives] --> B{Send Callbacks Email on?}
  B -- No --> Z[No email]
  B -- Yes --> C{Owner has valid email?}
  C -- No --> Z
  C -- Yes --> D{AGENT_CALLBACK_EMAIL container exists?}
  D -- No --> Z
  D -- Yes --> E{Agent logged into agent screen?}
  E -- No --> Z
  E -- Yes --> F[Build email from container vars]
  F --> G[Send reminder to agent]

Three other conditions have to line up. The agent who owns the callback needs a valid email address on their user profile, the Send Callbacks Email campaign option has to be enabled, and the agent must be logged into the agent screen at the moment the callback triggers. If they are clocked out, no email goes out. Because of that last rule, treat the email as a nudge for agents who are already working, not as a fail-safe that reaches people who have gone home.

A worked example

A simple container body might look like this. The email_from line sets the sender, email_subject sets the subject, and everything between email_body_begin and email_body_end becomes the message. Each variable goes on its own line:

• email_from = callbacks@yourcompany.com
• email_subject = Your scheduled callback is ready
• email_body_begin = Time to call back --A-- at --B-- now.
• email_body_end

Here --A-- and --B-- are placeholders that VICIdial swaps for real lead fields when it builds the message, the same way the scripts feature substitutes values. Pick whichever columns from the vicidial_list row make the reminder useful — first name, phone number, account ID, or anything else stored on the lead. Because the body is read line by line until it sees email_body_end, you can write a multi-line message and it will all be included.

Setting it up cleanly

Create one container named exactly AGENT_CALLBACK_EMAIL — the dialer looks for that exact name and nothing else. Fill in the three variables, and avoid trailing blank lines or stray carriage returns at the bottom, since extra newlines can break Settings Containers. Then flip Send Callbacks Email to on in the campaign and confirm each agent's profile carries a real, deliverable address; an agent with no email simply gets no reminder. Test it by setting yourself a USERONLY callback a couple of minutes out, staying logged into the agent screen, and watching for the message to land. If nothing arrives, walk back through the checklist: container name, three variables, valid owner email, campaign toggle on, agent logged in. To see how this email feature fits into the wider feature set, start with our pillar guide, VICIdial scheduled callbacks explained. For the campaign toggle itself and what it does, read the scheduled callbacks email setting.

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