VICIdial phone required fields

VICIdial will not save a new phone until eight specific fields are filled in. Miss any one of them and the form is rejected with no record created. Knowing the eight up front turns a frustrating trial-and-error save into a single clean submit.

The eight required fields are: extension, dialplan number, server IP, login, password, full name, protocol, and local GMT. Everything else on the add screen is optional at creation time, and most of the extra options only appear after the first save anyway. Below is what each required field actually controls.

The eight fields, one by one

• Extension: the device name as Asterisk sees it, with no protocol or slash. For SIP, PJSIP, and IAX devices it must contain no dashes, spaces, or special punctuation, only letters and numbers.
• Dialplan number: the digits you dial internally to ring this device. Avoid the reserved numbers or you will get a warning and the device will not be dialable.
• Server IP: which server the phone is active on.
• Login (Agent Screen Login): the username the phone user types to reach the web client.
• Password (Login Password): the web-interface password, separate from the registration secret used by the device itself.
• Full name: the label shown in the GUI list of active phones.
• Protocol: the client protocol such as SIP, IAX2, or EXTERNAL, matched to the device type.
• Local GMT: the timezone offset for the phone so call times line up.

Why the extension and dialplan number get confused

These two are the most misunderstood of the eight, and they are not the same thing. The Extension is the device's identity to Asterisk. The Dialplan number is the digit string you dial to ring it. One identifies the device, the other rings it. Set them to different, sensible values and avoid the reserved dialplan numbers.

How protocol changes the save

The protocol you pick decides what VICIdial does after a valid save. The diagram below shows the branch.

flowchart TD
  A[All 8 fields set] --> B[Submit form]
  B --> C{Valid?}
  C -->|Missing a field| D[Form rejected]
  C -->|Yes| E[Record saved]
  E --> F{Protocol value}
  F -->|SIP or IAX| G[Auto config in about 1 min]
  F -->|EXTERNAL| H[Uses dialplan no config]
  G --> I[Ready]
  H --> I

A SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) or IAX2 device gets its Asterisk settings auto-created within about a minute. An EXTERNAL entry needs no config because it places calls through the dialplan. So the protocol field is not just a label; it determines whether the device waits a minute or is ready at once.

A quick save checklist

Before clicking save, run down the list: extension uses only letters and numbers, dialplan number is set and not reserved, server IP chosen, login and password filled, full name written, protocol matched to the device, and local GMT selected. With all eight in place the form saves on the first try. If you are setting up a Softphone for a remote agent, the same eight fields apply.

Where to go next

For how these fields fit into the bigger phone picture, read the VICIdial phones guide. For a focused look at the field people most often get wrong, see what the VICIdial dialplan number is.

If you would rather not fill in any of these by hand, VICIfast provisions a ready-to-use VICIdial server in under 40 seconds. See our pricing for what each plan includes.