Sending a Test Call With a Custom Caller ID in VICIdial

Sometimes you just need to confirm that one specific caller ID number leaves your dialer the way you expect. The Send a Call With Custom CID page does exactly that: it places a single outbound call from a server you choose, using a caller ID number you define. It is a quick test bench, not a campaign tool.

The caller ID, often shortened to CID (caller ID), is the number the person you call sees on their phone. On this page you type the number to dial and the caller ID you want to present, pick the server to send from, and place the call. That is the whole job.

Why this is a test tool, not a feature

The single most important thing to understand is that this only works if your Carrier allows it. VICIdial will happily hand your chosen caller ID to the carrier, but the carrier decides whether that number actually travels with the call. Many carriers only pass a caller ID you have registered and verified with them, and they overwrite or block anything else.

That guardrail exists on purpose. Presenting a number you are not authorized to use is Caller ID spoofing, and in most regions it is regulated or outright illegal for commercial calling. The point of this page is legitimate testing, confirming that a number you own and have registered shows up correctly, not disguising your traffic.

So if your test call goes out but the receiving phone shows a different number, or no number at all, the problem is almost never VICIdial. It is the carrier on the path applying its own rules to what crosses your SIP trunk.

How the call actually moves

It helps to picture the hops a single test call makes. You submit the form, the dialer server builds the call with your chosen caller ID, and it hands that off to the carrier. The carrier validates the caller ID against what you are permitted to send, then routes the call to the destination. Only after all of that does the called party's phone light up.

sequenceDiagram
  participant Admin
  participant Dialer as Dialer Server
  participant Carrier
  participant Called as Called Party
  Admin->>Dialer: Submit number and custom caller ID
  Dialer->>Carrier: Place call with custom caller ID
  Carrier->>Carrier: Validate caller ID is permitted
  Carrier->>Called: Route call and present caller ID
  Called-->>Admin: Phone rings showing the caller ID

Getting useful results from a test

A few practices make this page worth your time.

• Call a phone you can physically check, like your own cell, so you can read exactly what the caller ID shows.
• Test from the same server your live campaigns dial from, since caller ID handling can differ between trunks.
• Only test numbers you have registered with your carrier. A clean test of a number you own tells you something useful; a blocked test of one you do not just confirms the rule.

If the displayed name is wrong rather than the number, that is a separate layer. The caller name comes from CNAM (caller ID name) databases your carrier draws on, and from the DID (direct inward dialing) records tied to your numbers, so a wrong name usually means a registration or carrier record needs updating rather than anything in VICIdial.

This page is one small utility among VICIdial's many admin tools. For the wider picture of the bulk and admin utilities it sits beside, read our guide to VICIdial admin bulk tools. If you are picking the carrier these calls ride on, our notes on choosing a SIP carrier are worth a read first.

Running these tests assumes you already have a dialer up and a trunk connected. If you would rather have a working VICIdial server in under 40 seconds and skip the setup, see VICIfast pricing.