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 → Admin → Campaigns → Add 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 Admin → New User. Each agent gets:
- User — login (numeric works, alphanumeric works)
- Pass — strong, ideally rotated
- Full Name
- User Group — controls what campaigns they see
- User Level —
1for agents,8+ for managers
Have agents log in at https://your-server/agc/vicidial.php.
Hot keys + dispositions
Configure your hot-key sets via Admin → Hotkeys. Common starter set:
1= SALE2= NOT INTERESTED3= CALLBACK4= DNC5= 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:
Admin → Campaigns → 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
- Set Active =
Yon the campaign. - Have your agent log in. They'll see "Available."
- Click Pause (counterintuitively — you start paused).
- Set Dial Level to
1.0and click Resume. - 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.
What's next
- DNC list management
- TCPA compliance — recording rules per state covered there
- Troubleshooting