What the Server IP field on a Remote Agent does

When you open the modify screen for a Remote agent in VICIdial, one of the first fields you see is Server IP. It is a short field, easy to overlook, but it controls something fundamental: which physical server this remote agent record belongs to. Understanding it saves you from a silent mismatch that will cause calls to go nowhere.

One remote agent record, one server

A VICIdial installation can run across multiple servers — a master SIP peer and one or more satellite boxes, each with its own IP address and its own copy of Asterisk handling calls. A remote agent entry is tied to exactly one of those servers. The Server IP field is how the system knows which one.

When the dialer is ready to send a call to a remote agent, it looks up the Server IP on that record and routes the call through the Asterisk instance running on that address. If the IP points to a server that is offline or unreachable, the call fails. If it points to the wrong server — one that does not have a trunk route to your external phone number — the call also fails, usually with no obvious error in the agent screen.

This is especially relevant on multi-server setups where outbound Campaign traffic originates from a specific box. Your remote agent record must point to the server that actually carries that Dialplan route.

How the Server IP fits into the call flow

sequenceDiagram
    participant D as Dialer (predictive engine)
    participant DB as Database
    participant S as Server (Server IP)
    participant P as External Phone
    D->>DB: Look up remote agent record
    DB-->>D: Return Server IP + External Extension
    D->>S: Route call via Asterisk on Server IP
    S->>P: Dial External Extension
    P-->>S: Answers
    S-->>D: Call connected

The dialer reads the Server IP from the database record before it dials anything. The Asterisk process on that specific server then places the outbound leg to the external phone number. If the Server IP is wrong, the call attempt hits the wrong Asterisk — or no Asterisk at all.

What to put in the field and how to verify it

Use the internal IP address of the VICIdial server you want this remote agent to use — the same IP you see in the Servers section of the admin panel. On a single-server setup this is straightforward: there is only one choice. On a multi-server setup, pick the server whose Asterisk has a working route to the external number you are about to configure in the External Extension field.

The remote agents list in the admin panel shows the client server IP for every entry so you can audit all records at once. If you see entries pointing to IPs that no longer exist, those records are dead weight — update or delete them.

For a broader look at how remote agents work, see our complete guide to VICIdial remote agents. And if you are just getting started, how to add a remote agent walks you through the full add screen step by step.

If you are running VICIdial on managed hosting and want a cleaner setup — one server, one IP, no surprises — take a look at VICIfast plans. Each plan provisions a dedicated single-tenant server, so the Server IP question has exactly one answer.