When to use ---ALL--- in the RA Extensions User Start field

VICIdial's DID Remote Agent Extension Overrides page lets you redirect inbound calls arriving on a specific DID (direct inward dialing) to a different Extension depending on which Remote agent receives the call. The User Start field in that form accepts either a specific Remote Agent User Start value or the literal string ---ALL---. When you use ---ALL---, the override applies to every call on that DID, no matter which remote agent is handling it.

What the RA Extensions page does

The Inbound RA Extensions page is where you set up DID Remote Agent Extension Overrides. Each entry ties a DID to an extension override that activates when inbound calls route through an Ingroup to a remote agent. Without an override, the call lands on whatever External Extension the remote agent record already specifies. An override lets you send calls on a specific DID to a different number instead — useful when one DID needs to ring a dedicated line while your other DIDs follow the default routing.

Each override entry has three key pieces: the DID it applies to, the User Start it matches against, and the extension to forward the call to. The User Start is the decision point — it tells VICIdial which remote agent entries this override should fire for.

Specific User Start vs ---ALL---

When you enter a specific User Start — for example, 5001 — the override fires only when calls on that DID land on the remote agent whose User Start is 5001. All other remote agents on the same DID route continue using their default External Extension.

When you enter ---ALL--- in the User Start field, VICIdial treats the override as a catch-all. Any call arriving on that DID triggers the override extension, regardless of which remote agent entry receives it. This is the right choice when you want every inbound call on a DID to hit a specific phone number without having to create a separate override entry for each remote agent User Start.

How round-robin works across entries

You can create multiple active entries for the same DID and the same User Start value, including multiple entries that both use ---ALL---. When that happens, VICIdial cycles through the active entries in round-robin order, sending each successive call to the next override extension in the list. This gives you a simple way to distribute inbound calls across several destination numbers without building out a full extension group.

For example, if you have two ---ALL--- entries for the same DID pointing to different phone numbers, the first call goes to number A, the second to number B, the third back to number A, and so on. The round-robin resets based on the active entries — deactivating one entry removes it from the rotation immediately.

flowchart TD
  A["Inbound call arrives on DID"] --> B{"Any active override entries for this DID?"}
  B -->|No| C["Use default External Extension"]
  B -->|Yes| D{"Entry User Start matches this remote agent?"}
  D -->|Specific match found| E["Use matched override extension"]
  D -->|No specific match| F{"Any ---ALL--- entry exists?"}
  F -->|Yes| G["Apply ---ALL--- override extension"]
  F -->|No| C
  G --> H{"Multiple ---ALL--- entries active?"}
  H -->|Yes| I["Round-robin across entries"]
  H -->|No| J["Use single ---ALL--- entry"]

When to choose each option

• Use a specific User Start when different remote agents on the same DID need to forward calls to different numbers. Each agent gets its own override entry.
• Use ---ALL--- when you want a single override to apply across all remote agents on the DID without tracking individual User Start values.
• Use multiple ---ALL--- entries for the same DID when you want round-robin distribution to several destination numbers without setting up an extension group.

For the broader picture of how these overrides fit into inbound routing, what DID Remote Agent Extension Overrides are walks through the full feature, and the remote agents and mobile guide covers how remote agents connect to inbound call flows from end to end. If you would rather skip the server configuration entirely, our managed VICIdial plans give you a running dialer in under 40 seconds, ready to configure remote agent routing.