What DEFAULTINGROUP does when an agent transfers a call

When an Agent sends a live call to another VICIdial agent, the transfer normally needs an in-group picked from a list. DEFAULTINGROUP is a shortcut that fills that choice in for you, based on where the call came from. It removes one decision from a busy moment.

The reserved in-group value

Transfers run through the transfer_conference function, and a local-closer transfer requires an ingroup_choices value. That value is normally a single active in-group name. DEFAULTINGROUP is a reserved option you can use instead, and it selects the default in-group for the Ingroup or Campaign that the call originated from.

In plain terms: the system already knows where this call started, so it picks the matching default queue rather than making the agent scroll a menu. The transfer still lands in a real in-group; you just did not have to name it.

Where you set the default

The default that DEFAULTINGROUP resolves to comes from the Default Transfer Group field on the campaign. That field is the in-group automatically selected when the agent opens the transfer-conference frame. So DEFAULTINGROUP and the Default Transfer Group setting are two sides of the same idea: one configures the fallback, the other invokes it.

How the shortcut resolves

flowchart LR
  A[Agent triggers LOCAL_CLOSER] --> B{ingroup_choices value}
  B -->|Named in-group| C[Use that exact in-group]
  B -->|DEFAULTINGROUP| D[Look up call origin]
  D --> E[Find default for that campaign]
  E --> F[Transfer into default in-group]
  C --> G[Closer answers]
  F --> G

When the shortcut helps

This is handy in a Fronter and Closer setup where almost every transfer goes to the same closing queue. Hard-coding DEFAULTINGROUP in an API-driven button or script means agents never fat-finger the wrong group, and your Disposition reports stay clean because calls always land where you expect.

It is also forgiving across campaigns. If the same transfer button is reused on several campaigns that each have their own default group, DEFAULTINGROUP routes each call to its own campaign's default instead of forcing one shared name.

Using it through the API

If you drive transfers programmatically, you pass DEFAULTINGROUP as the ingroup_choices value on a LOCAL_CLOSER call. The function still requires that ingroup_choices be present for a local-closer transfer, but instead of a literal group name like SALESLINE you hand it the reserved word and let VICIdial resolve the right queue. The transfer then behaves exactly as if the agent had picked the campaign's default from the menu.

One thing to watch: the value still has to resolve to a single active in-group. If the origin campaign has no default transfer group set, there is nothing for DEFAULTINGROUP to point at, and you will get an error that the in-group is not valid. Set the default first, then rely on the shortcut.

Other transfer values to know

DEFAULTINGROUP is only one of the options the transfer-conference function accepts. The same function also handles a Three-way call with the customer, leaving a 3-way call, and blind transfers to a number. For the full set and where it sits in a handoff plan, read our transfers and closers guide, and to see how the default group is configured campaign-side, see setting a default transfer group.

Small shortcuts like this add up to faster, less error-prone transfers across a whole floor. If you want a dialer build that ships with sane transfer defaults already wired in, take a look at our pricing page.