What "Agent Selectable" does on a VICIdial status

When you build a system status in VICIdial, the first checkbox most people misread is Agent Selectable. It is the switch that decides whether that status shows up on the agent screen as a pickable Disposition when a rep wraps a call. If it is off, the status still exists in the system and reports, but no agent will ever see it as a button to click.

What the flag actually controls

A system Status (lead status) is a short code (1 to 6 characters) paired with a description (2 to 30 characters) that records the outcome of a call. Agent Selectable defines whether that status is offered to the agent as a disposition choice on their screen. Set it to Y and the status joins the list of buttons the rep picks from after talking to a Lead. Set it to N and the status becomes system-only, reserved for codes the dialer or the platform sets automatically, like dropped calls, answering-machine results, or transfers.

This is purely about visibility on the agent screen. Agent Selectable does not change how a status counts in reporting, whether it lands on a DNC list, or whether it is treated as a sale. Those are separate flags that live right next to it on the same status form. If you want the full picture of how every agent-facing field is wired, the agent screen configuration guide walks through the whole layout.

It helps to picture the two kinds of statuses side by side. Codes like SALE, NI for not interested, and CALLBK are the human-driven outcomes a rep chooses, and those are the ones you typically make selectable. Codes like DROP for a call dropped while the customer waited, NA for no answer on autodial, or A for an agent-marked answering machine are a mix: some are set automatically by the dialer and never need to be selectable, while others you may still want a human to be able to pick. Agent Selectable is the line you draw between the buttons a person clicks and the codes the platform writes on its own.

How the choice flows to the screen

flowchart TD
  A[Admin edits system status] --> B{Agent Selectable}
  B -->|Y| C[Status shows as a button on agent screen]
  B -->|N| D[Status hidden from agent]
  C --> E[Agent picks it to disposition the call]
  D --> F[Only dialer or system sets this status]

Read the diagram top to bottom: the admin sets the flag, and that one value decides whether a rep ever sees the status as a clickable option or whether it stays an internal code the machine assigns on its own.

When to turn it on, and the common gotcha

Turn Agent Selectable on for any outcome you want reps to choose by hand: a sale, a not-interested, a callback, a do-not-call request. Leave it off for outcomes the system owns, so agents do not accidentally mislabel calls. The classic gotcha is wanting a status everywhere at once. A system-wide status is available across campaigns and in-groups, but it still has to be made selectable to appear, and you may also need to add it to a campaign or in-group status list before reps can use it. If a brand-new disposition does not show up, this flag, not the status itself, is almost always the reason. For a refresher on editing the codes around it, see how to modify a VICIdial script, since scripts and dispositions share the same agent screen real estate.

A clean, tightly scoped list of selectable statuses keeps your Real-time report readable and your Agent productive, because reps are not hunting through dozens of irrelevant buttons. Decide which outcomes a human should own, mark only those Agent Selectable, and let the dialer keep the rest. If you want a hosted VICIdial setup where these screens come pre-tuned, check VICIfast pricing.