What the 24-Hour Call Count Limit does

The 24-Hour Call Count Limit caps how many times a Lead or a phone number can be dialed within the trailing 24 hours — a rolling window measured against database server-time. Unlike the daily limit, which clears at a fixed clock time, this one is always looking back exactly one day from right now.

That rolling behavior is the whole point. It was built for stricter rules like Florida's three-calls-per-24-hours law, where the window has to follow each call rather than snap to midnight.

Turning it on

First enable Enable 24-Hour Called Count Limits in Admin -> System Settings. Then open Modify Campaign -> Detail on the Campaign you want to limit and configure the per-campaign fields. As with the other limits, this master switch must be on before the campaign fields do anything.

The key settings

There are four fields to set, and together they decide what is counted, how widely, how many, and which states get exceptions.

• 24-Hour Called Count Limit Method — count by PHONE_NUMBER or by LEAD. This is whether the window tracks the number or the record.
• 24-Hour Called Count Limit Scope — SYSTEM_WIDE counts across everything, while CAMPAIGN_LISTS counts only within the campaign's own lists.
• 24-Hour Called Count Limit — the number itself. 0 turns it off. With a value of 1, a lead called at 11:01 can next be called after 11:01 the following day.
• 24-Hour Called Count Limit Override — a Settings container holding per-state overrides, so one state can carry a different limit than the rest.

How a record moves through the rolling window

Each call records a timestamp. When the record is considered again, VICIdial counts how many calls landed inside the last 24 hours and compares that to the limit before deciding whether to dial.

stateDiagram-v2
  [*] --> Eligible
  Eligible --> Dialed: call placed, timestamp logged
  Dialed --> Eligible: still under limit
  Dialed --> Capped: calls in last 24h equal limit
  Capped --> Blocked: selected, dial refused
  Blocked --> Aging: oldest call nears 24h
  Aging --> Eligible: oldest call ages out
  Eligible --> [*]

This is the core difference from a fixed-reset daily cap, and it matters for compliance. A midnight-reset limit could let you call a record at 11:30 PM and again at 12:01 AM — two calls inside half an hour that technically land on different days. A rolling 24-hour window never allows that, because it only ever counts the calls from the last full day no matter where the clock sits. If a rule is written as "per 24 hours" rather than "per calendar day," the rolling window is the only one that honors it correctly.

When to use it

Use the 24-Hour limit when a rule is written as "no more than N calls in any 24 hours," which a fixed-reset daily cap cannot honor. The per-state Override container lets you keep a tighter rule for one state, such as a State DNC list-style restriction, while leaving the rest of the country on your normal limit. It complements, but does not replace, your TCPA and National DNC Registry checks.

If a fixed midnight reset is all you need, see how to set a Daily Call Count Limit. For the full set of per-number controls and how they interact, read the phone-based functions guide.

VICIfast provisions a dedicated VICIdial server in under 40 seconds, so you can configure rolling-window limits before your first list loads. See our pricing to get started.