The VICIdial AMD Inbound Group Setting and When Calls Use It

Some VICIdial teams do not want a detected answering machine simply hung up or sent straight to a recorded prompt. They want it handed to a queue where a person or an IVR branch can take over. The AMD Inbound Group setting is the field that names that queue. It is a small dropdown, but it only matters once another setting points calls its way.

What the field actually does

AMD Inbound Group identifies the inbound group (Ingroup) that calls will be routed to when your CPD AMD Action is set to INGROUP. On its own the field does nothing. It is the destination half of a two-part decision: one setting decides that a detected call should go to a queue, and AMD Inbound Group decides which queue.

This comes into play when you run call progress detection (CPD (call progress detection)) and you have chosen INGROUP as your CPD AMD Action. At that point a detected answering machine, instead of being dispositioned or hearing a message, is transferred into the inbound group you named here.

When calls actually use it

There are two settings that can send calls to this group. The first is CPD AMD Action with INGROUP selected, which moves detected machines into the queue. The second is CPD Unknown Action set to INGROUP, which sends calls the engine could not classify into an inbound group as well. If neither is set to INGROUP, the AMD Inbound Group field sits idle.

flowchart LR
  A[Call answered] --> B{CPD AMD Action}
  B -->|DISPO| C[Set AA and hang up]
  B -->|MESSAGE| D[Play AM message]
  B -->|CALLMENU| E[Send to call menu]
  B -->|INGROUP| F[Look up AMD Inbound Group]
  F --> G[Transfer to that inbound group]
  G --> H[Queue agent or IVR takes over]

Setting it up correctly

Pick a real, active inbound group that has agents logged in or an IVR ready to answer. A detected machine routed into an empty group just sits in the queue, which wastes a channel and can inflate your wait stats. Match the group's hours to your dialing hours so calls do not arrive after the queue closes.

• Confirm CPD AMD Action is set to INGROUP, otherwise this field is ignored.
• Choose a group sized for the extra volume, since detected calls land on top of normal inbound traffic.
• Decide whether the same group should also catch Unknown-result calls if you set CPD Unknown Action to INGROUP.

Why route a machine to a queue at all

Routing to a group is most useful when you want a human to decide what to do with a borderline call, or when your inbound group runs an IVR that can leave a tailored message and log the result. It gives you flexibility that a plain hang-up or a single recorded prompt does not. The tradeoff is occupancy: every routed call ties up an inbound slot, so keep an eye on your Abandonment rate and queue depth once you turn it on.

Keep your call Status (lead status) reporting honest too. Calls that pass through an inbound group will show different dispositions than ones hung up by DISPO, so build your reports around the path you chose.

For the broader detection workflow, see our AMD and CPD complete guide, and to understand the sister destination read about the AMD Call Menu setting.

If wiring up inbound groups and detection routing is more than you want to manage, VICIfast handles the configuration end to end. See VICIfast pricing for managed VICIdial hosting.