What the Agent Call Manual option lets an agent dial

The Agent Call Manual option decides whether an agent is allowed to dial a phone number by hand from inside their own session. It sounds small, but it changes how an agent works day to day, so it is worth understanding before you turn it on for a whole floor.

What it actually allows

With this option active, an agent can place a call to any phone number from their agent screen while they are in Pause status. This is Manual dialing (click to dial) driven by a person, the opposite of Predictive dialing where the system places calls automatically. The call still lands inside the agent's session, so dispositions and recording work exactly as they would on a normal dialed call.

How VICIdial handles the number depends on whether it already knows it:

• If the number already exists in the records, VICIdial pulls up that Lead and shows the agent the existing customer information as the call goes out.
• If the number is not in the records, VICIdial creates a brand-new lead for it on the spot, so the call is still tracked and dispositioned like any other.

flowchart TD
  A[Agent paused enters number] --> B{Number in records}
  B -->|yes| C[Load existing lead and customer info]
  B -->|no| D[Create new lead]
  C --> E[Place call into agent session]
  D --> E
  E --> F[Agent dispositions call]

The value of 2 and FAST DIAL

The option is not just on or off. Setting it to 2 still allows manual dialing, but it disables the FAST DIAL function on the agent screen. FAST DIAL is the shortcut that lets an agent fire off numbers in quick succession. Removing it slows the agent down to one deliberate call at a time, which is exactly what you want when you need every manual call to be intentional and on-script.

A word of caution that the setting itself flags: this is a powerful option. An agent with manual dial can call literally any number, which has TCPA and DNC (do not call) implications you do not want to ignore. Give it only to roles that genuinely need it, such as callbacks and account management, and keep it off for high-volume outbound seats that should be dialing from a Hopper instead.

Because a manual dial can create a brand-new lead, it can also quietly bypass the safeguards that protect your dialed-down lists. A number a person types by hand is not screened the same way a campaign-loaded list is, so it will not automatically respect a Campaign DNC entry unless you have manual-dial filtering in place. If compliance matters on your floor, pair manual dial with the appropriate filters rather than handing agents an open dial pad. The lead that gets created should still flow through the same Disposition and recording rules as any other call, so reporting stays clean.

Where it fits in your setup

Manual dial is one of the per-user permissions you set when building out roles. As with the other toggles, if a whole team needs it on, plan that through your users and groups layout rather than editing every user by hand.

Manual dialing and transfers often travel together for the same roles. If you are equipping an agent to both dial out and escalate calls, pair this with our explainer on the Agent Transfers option so you grant the right combination. To see how this permission sits beside the rest, the user permission matrix gives the bird's-eye view.

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