Hidden custom fields explained

A Custom field is an extra piece of information you attach to a Lead in VICIdial, and most of them show up on the agent's Form tab so the agent can read or type into them. A hidden field is the opposite idea: it holds data on the lead, but the agent never sees it on screen. That sounds odd at first, so let's walk through why you would ever want a field you can't look at.

What the HIDDEN field type does

When you set a custom field's Field Type to HIDDEN, the value lives on the lead record but never appears in the agent interface. Even though nobody sees it, the data is still fully usable. You can import into it when you load leads, export it back out, pull it into your Script tab variables, and pass it into a web form address. So it behaves like a normal field everywhere except the one place a person is looking. The only required extra setting is Field Max, which caps how many characters the field can hold.

Typical uses are values you want to track but don't want a busy agent to fiddle with: a partner reference code, a campaign source tag, a hashed token for your CRM, or a flag your dispositions key off of. The information rides along with the lead and is available to your automation without cluttering the screen.

HIDEBLOB, the binary cousin

HIDEBLOB works just like HIDDEN, with one difference: the database stores it as a BLOB column instead of a plain text column. A BLOB is meant for binary data or values you want to keep tightly secured rather than human-readable. If you're stashing something that isn't a simple short string, HIDEBLOB is the type to reach for. Like HIDDEN, it only needs Field Max set.

Where a hidden value flows

flowchart TD
  A[Lead loaded with hidden value] --> B{Agent screen}
  B -->|Not shown| C[Agent never sees it]
  A --> D[Script tab variable]
  A --> E[Web form address]
  A --> F[Export file]
  D --> G[Used in automation]
  E --> G
  F --> G

The big-picture view of how lists and leads fit together lives in the VICIdial lists and leads guide, and if you want a refresher on what a list actually is, start with what is a VICIdial list.

Hidden fields are created the same way as any other custom field: open a list, add a field, and set the type to HIDDEN or HIDEBLOB. Because the data still moves through your Lead loader on the way in, plan your import columns to include it. One nice side effect on a managed host is that a fresh server is ready in under 40 seconds, so you can test a hidden-field setup on a clean box without waiting on infrastructure.

If you want a hosted VICIdial setup where custom fields, lists, and dialing all just work out of the box, take a look at our pricing and pick a plan that fits your team.