What a Call Time definition is in VICIdial

The one-sentence definition

A Call Time definition is a named ruleset that tells VICIdial exactly which days and hours it may place outbound calls — or, for inbound Ingroup queues, the hours during which the system will accept calls. Everything outside those windows is off-limits.

Outbound vs inbound: a critical difference

For outbound Campaign dialing, Call Time rules are evaluated against the customer's local time — the time at the lead's location, not where your servers or agents sit. This matters enormously across time zones: a call placed at 8 a.m. server time could land at 6 a.m. on the West Coast.

For inbound In-Groups, the comparison is made against the local server time instead. Keep that distinction in mind when you configure windows for blended call centers handling both flows.

How a Call Time definition fits into the system

flowchart TD
  A[Lead dialed] --> B{Call Time assigned to campaign?}
  B -- Yes --> C{Is current local customer time within allowed window?}
  B -- No --> D[Use system default]
  C -- Yes --> E[Dial proceeds]
  C -- No --> F[Call blocked - lead skipped]
  E --> G{State override exists for lead state?}
  G -- Yes --> H[State Call Time rules apply]
  G -- No --> I[Default window used]

Each Campaign is assigned exactly one Call Time definition. When the Predictive dialing engine pulls a lead from the Hopper, it checks whether that lead's local time falls inside the active window before placing the call. If the window is closed, the lead is skipped until the window opens again.

Key fields at a glance

• Call Time ID — a 2–10 character identifier, letters and numbers only (dashes allowed, no spaces or other punctuation). Once created it cannot be changed; you must delete and recreate the record to rename it.
• Call Time Name — a human-readable label, up to 30 characters.
• Comments — free-text notes up to 255 characters describing the intent of the rule.
• Default Start and Stop Times — the fallback window used on any day that does not have a per-weekday override. Times use 24-hour notation: 0 means midnight, 2400 means the end of the day. Setting both to 2400 blocks all calling. Setting start to 0 and stop to 2400 allows 24-hour dialing.
• Weekday Start and Stop Times — per-day overrides that follow the same numeric rules as the defaults.
• State Call Time Definitions — a list of state-specific sub-rules that override the default window for leads whose state field matches. The lead's state field must be populated for this to work.
• Holiday Call Time Definitions — special one-day or partial-day rules that reroute inbound calls to After Hours handling during a holiday.

Why this matters for compliance

Federal and state telemarketing rules impose strict Permitted calling hours. Calling a consumer outside the allowed window exposes your organization to fines. Call Time definitions are VICIdial's built-in mechanism for enforcing those limits automatically, without relying on agents to self-police. For the broader picture, see the VICIdial compliance overview.

State-level rules add another layer. Many states restrict calling to narrower windows than federal law requires. VICIdial handles these automatically through State Call Time Definitions — see how to attach state-specific call times for step-by-step instructions.

One ID you cannot change

The Call Time ID is permanent once saved. If you realize you picked the wrong name — say you typed "EST" when you meant "EAST" — you have to delete the entire definition and recreate it. Plan your ID naming convention before you start building, and document it so future administrators know the scheme.

Ready to configure Call Times across your VICIdial instance? See pricing for managed hosting plans that include compliance configuration support.