What an EXTERNAL protocol phone is for

Most VICIdial phone entries describe a real device that registers to the server. The EXTERNAL protocol is the odd one out. It does not create an account on the dialer at all. Instead it lets you list a remote number or a speed-dial target as if it were a phone, so it shows up in the right places and can be reached through the dialplan. Once you see what it is for, the empty registration fields make sense.

No account gets created

When you save a SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) or IAX2 phone, the system writes a matching account into Asterisk so a device can register. An EXTERNAL phone skips that step entirely. There is nothing to register, because the entry is really just a pointer to a number that lives somewhere else. The call is placed through the Dialplan rather than connecting to a registered device on the box.

What an EXTERNAL entry is good for

• A remote dial number you want agents or transfers to reach by a friendly name.
• A speed-dial target you want listed alongside real phones.
• A destination handled by dialplan logic rather than a device on the server.

Because the outbound call rides the dialplan, an EXTERNAL phone can point at a number reachable through your Trunk without needing its own login or password on the dialer.

Think of it as a contact card rather than a phone. A regular entry is a seat with a device that has to check in before it can be used. An EXTERNAL entry is just a saved destination, so the system never waits for it to come online and never worries about whether it is registered. That is what makes it convenient for things like an after-hours number, a manager's cell, or a fixed line you transfer callers to often. You give the destination a friendly name once, and from then on agents and routing rules can reach it without anyone memorising the digits. The trade-off is that it can only ever place a call out to that number. It cannot receive a registration or behave like a real seat in the dialer.

How an EXTERNAL call flows

sequenceDiagram
  participant U as Agent or transfer
  participant V as VICIdial entry
  participant D as Dialplan
  participant N as Remote number
  U->>V: Dial the EXTERNAL phone name
  V->>D: No account so use dialplan
  D->>N: Place the outbound call
  N-->>U: Call connects

Setting one up

You still give an EXTERNAL phone an Extension, a dialplan number, and a Server IP, because those tell the system which dialer's dialplan handles the call. What you can leave alone is the Registration Password, since no device will ever register with it. The dialplan number is what carries the real meaning, because dialing it is what triggers the outbound call to the remote target.

A frequent point of confusion is expecting an EXTERNAL phone to ring like a desk handset. It will not. It is a routing entry, not a registered endpoint, so there is no device to make ring. If you actually want a phone an agent picks up, use SIP, PJSIP, or IAX2 instead.

To compare the real registering protocols, the Client Protocol guide lays them side by side, and the phones pillar guide covers the whole phone entry.

On a hosted dialer the dialplan that makes EXTERNAL entries work is already in place and a server is live in under 40 seconds, so you can list remote numbers right away. See VICIfast pricing for the details.