Dial Prefix Override per list in VICIdial

A Dial prefix is a few digits VICIdial sticks in front of a number before placing the call. It does not get dialed to the customer; it tells the dialplan which route or carrier to send the call down. The Dial Prefix Override field on a list lets one list use a different route than the campaign without disturbing anything else.

You set it on the Modify List page. Leave it blank and the list follows the campaign. Fill it in and calls to leads in that list ride the prefix you chose.

It overrides all three campaign prefixes

A campaign actually carries three dial prefixes: one for auto-dialed calls, one for calls an agent dials by hand, and one for calls fired through the API. The list override is broad: it replaces all three for leads in that list. So whether the call is placed by the dialer, dialed by hand, or sent through the API, it uses your list prefix. That makes routing predictable, but it also means there is no hand-dial-only version at the list level.

That breadth is a feature, not a quirk. It means you do not have to reason about which way a given lead happened to be dialed; all paths converge on the same route for that list. An agent dialing a number by hand and the predictive engine firing it automatically both land on the prefix you chose, so the carrier and the routing rules are consistent for the whole list. When you are trying to keep one batch's traffic on one pipe for billing or quality reasons, that consistency is exactly what you want.

flowchart TD
  A[Call to list lead] --> B{List dial prefix override set?}
  B -->|Yes| C[Use list prefix for auto, hand-dial and API]
  B -->|No| D[Use campaign auto, hand-dial or API prefix]
  C --> E[Dialplan routes the call]
  D --> E

When you would actually use it

The usual case is sending one list down a different Carrier or route than the rest of the campaign. Maybe one list dials international numbers and needs a route that allows them. Maybe a problem batch needs a backup carrier while your main route's reputation recovers. Maybe you are A/B testing two Trunk providers and want one list on each so you can compare answer rates cleanly.

The A/B case is worth dwelling on, because dial prefix overrides make it almost free. Split a batch of similar leads into two lists, give each list a different prefix pointing at a different provider, and run them at the same time on the same campaign. Same call hours, same dial pacing, same script, only the route differs. After a day or two you have an honest comparison of which provider connects more calls, with none of the noise you would get from running them on separate days or separate campaigns. When you have a winner, point both lists at it and move on.

List override versus a separate campaign

If only the route differs, override the list. Spinning up a second campaign just to point at a different carrier means you maintain two of everything and have to keep them in sync. The list override changes routing and nothing else, which is exactly what you want when the leads are the same kind, just heading down a different pipe. The VICIdial lists and leads guide explains how lists hang off a campaign if that mapping is still fuzzy.

For the full set of per-list fields and how they stack, list overrides explained walks through each one.

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