What the Scheduled Callbacks Alert setting does

When an agent sets a personal callback in VICIdial, it is easy to forget about it once the screen fills up with new calls. The Scheduled Callbacks Alert setting exists to fix that. It changes how the callback status line looks the moment a reserved callback becomes due, so the agent gets a visual nudge instead of having to keep checking the list themselves.

What the setting controls

Scheduled Callbacks Alert is a per-campaign option. It controls the appearance of the callbacks status line in the agent interface when there are AGENTONLY (user-only) scheduled callbacks that have hit their trigger time and date. AGENTONLY means a callback the agent reserved for themselves, rather than one any agent can pick up. The setting does nothing for ANYONE callbacks, which go back into the dialing pool on their own.

The default value is NONE, which means the line shows in its standard color and never changes. The other values escalate from there: a steady red line, a blinking line, or a line that both blinks and turns red. You pick whichever level of attention fits how your floor works.

The alert states

flowchart TD
  A[Callback triggers] --> B{Alert setting}
  B -->|NONE| C[Standard status line]
  B -->|RED| D[Line shows red]
  B -->|BLINK| E[Line blinks]
  B -->|BLINK RED| F[Line blinks and red]
  D --> G{DEFER on?}
  E --> G
  F --> G
  G -->|Yes, agent checked| H[Alert stops until count changes]
  G -->|No| I[Alert stays on]

Each non-NONE option is paired with an optional DEFER behavior. Without DEFER, the alert keeps shouting as long as there is a triggered callback waiting, which can get distracting. With DEFER, the blinking or red coloring stops once the agent actually opens and checks the callbacks list, and it stays calm until the number of due callbacks changes. That balance keeps the line useful without it becoming background noise the agent learns to ignore.

What has to be in place first

The alert only fires for callbacks the agent owns, so two things have to be true before it does anything. First, scheduled callbacks have to be enabled for the campaign, so an agent can disposition a call as CALLBK in the first place. Second, the agent's VICIdial user options must allow agent-only callbacks, since a Scheduled callback reserved for one person is what this alert watches.

• Scheduled callbacks enabled on the campaign
• Agent-only callbacks enabled in the user's options
• An alert level chosen other than NONE

With those in place, an Agent who dispositions a Lead with the CALLBK Disposition and reserves it for themselves will see the status line change as soon as that callback comes due.

Picking the right level

For a quiet outbound floor where missed callbacks are costly, BLINK RED with DEFER is a sensible default: loud enough to catch the eye, calm once the agent acknowledges it. For a busy blended room, a steady red line is often plenty. The point is that the agent should never have to manually poll their own list to know a customer is waiting.

For the full picture of how callbacks are reserved, triggered, and dialed, read our scheduled callbacks guide. If you want the step-by-step on choosing a value, our walkthrough on making the callback line blink red covers it.

Every VICIfast plan ships these callback controls out of the box, with a dedicated server provisioned in under 40 seconds. See our pricing to get started.