DID custom fields (Custom 1-5)

At the bottom of the Modify DID screen sit five plain fields named Custom 1 through Custom 5. They have no fixed meaning, and that is the point. VICIdial leaves them open so you can tag each DID (direct inward dialing) (Direct Inward Dialing number) with whatever your business needs to track.

What the custom fields are for

These fields are mostly used for two things: custom programming and custom reports. Because they live on the DID record, anything you write here travels with the number. Common uses include:

• Tagging a number by ad source, region, or partner so your reports can group calls by where the number was published.
• Storing a code that a custom script or Webhook (an outbound HTTP call your system makes on an event) reads when a call comes in on that number.
• Holding an owner value used by owner-based Lead matching, described next.

The owner-matching connection

There is one place the custom fields plug directly into routing. When a DID or Call menu (a recorded press-key menu) uses the OWNERCUSTOM handle method, the system only matches a caller to a lead whose owner field equals the Custom 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 value set on the DID, in addition to matching the phone number. In a call menu, the value the caller enters is used to match the owner instead. That lets you keep separate pools of leads tied to specific numbers without overlap.

A concrete case: imagine two partners each send you leads, and each partner has its own inbound number. Tag partner A's DID with one owner value in Custom 1 and partner B's DID with another. Now a caller who exists in both partners' lists only matches the record that belongs to the number they actually dialed. The phone number alone would have been ambiguous; the owner value resolves it.

Outside of owner matching, the value of these fields comes from being consistent. Decide a convention early, say Custom 1 always holds the lead source and Custom 2 always holds the region, and stick to it across every DID. A report or script that reads Custom 1 then works the same for every number, with no special cases.

How a custom value flows through a call

flowchart TD
  A[Set Custom 1 to 5 on DID] --> B[Call arrives on DID]
  B --> C{Handle method}
  C -->|OWNERCUSTOM| D[Match lead owner to custom value]
  C -->|Standard| E[Route normally]
  D --> F[Owner-scoped lead match]
  A --> G[Custom report groups by tag]
  E --> H[Agent answers]

Think of Custom 1 through 5 as sticky notes on the number. They cost nothing to fill in, and when you later build a report or a script, the tags are already there waiting. For how numbers route in the first place, see our VICIdial inbound call handling guide. To see the tagged calls grouped together, our note on DIDs using an in-group shows how numbers tie back to a queue.

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