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Your first campaign

From "list uploaded" to "agent on a call" — the minimal config that works.

VICIdial campaigns have a hundred knobs. Here's the dozen that matter for your first one.

Create the campaign

VICIdial admin → AdminCampaignsAdd a New Campaign.

| Field | Set to | Why | | ----------------------------- | ----------------------------------- | ---------------------------------- | | Campaign ID | MYCAMPAIGN (uppercase, no spaces) | Used in URLs + reports | | Campaign Name | Anything human-readable | UI only | | Active | Y | Required to dial | | Dial Method | RATIO | Predictive; start here | | Auto Dial Level | 1.0 | Start at 1; ramp later | | Dial Statuses | NEW NA | Which lead statuses to call | | List Order | DOWN | Top-of-list first | | Allowed Answering Machine Lag | 2000 | Smaller = faster transfer to agent |

Attach a list

Lists are tied to campaigns one-to-one in the simplest setup. Lists → Edit → set campaign_id = MYCAMPAIGN.

Set dial filters

You almost certainly want:

  • Local Call Time: 9am-9pm. Per-lead, based on lead's area code → state mapping.
  • Drop SLA: 2.0. Drops calls if no agent within 2 seconds (FCC limit is 3% drop rate).
  • Dial Timeout: 25 — seconds to ring before giving up.

Configure agents

VICIdial admin → User AdminNew User. Each agent gets:

  • User — login (numeric works, alphanumeric works)
  • Pass — strong, ideally rotated
  • Full Name
  • User Group — controls what campaigns they see
  • User Level1 for agents, 8+ for managers

Have agents log in at https://your-server/agc/vicidial.php.

Hot keys + dispositions

Configure your hot-key sets via AdminHotkeys. Common starter set:

  • 1 = SALE
  • 2 = NOT INTERESTED
  • 3 = CALLBACK
  • 4 = DNC
  • 5 = WRONG NUMBER

Each hot key fires a disposition without the agent having to click. Speeds up high-volume campaigns by 5–10%.

Recordings

For sales / quality assurance:

AdminCampaigns → your campaign → Detail View → set Allow Closer Recordings = Y and Recording Override = ALLFORCE.

Recordings land on disk at /var/spool/asterisk/monitorDONE. Storage adds up fast — plan retention.

For a stricter compliance regime, also set Recording Filename to include {lead_id} so you can correlate later.

Going live

  1. Set Active = Y on the campaign.
  2. Have your agent log in. They'll see "Available."
  3. Click Pause (counterintuitively — you start paused).
  4. Set Dial Level to 1.0 and click Resume.
  5. First call hits in seconds.

What "ramp slowly" means in practice

  • Hour 1: 1 agent, dial level 1.0
  • Hour 2: 1 agent, dial level 1.5
  • Hour 3+: scale agents, hold dial level at 1.5 unless drop rate climbs
  • Once stable, push dial level to 2.0 / 3.0 / 4.0

If drop rate exceeds 3%, drop the dial level. The FCC takes that limit seriously.

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