VICIdial for solar installers — TCPA-heavy lead-gen vertical

Solar is the most heavily-litigated TCPA vertical in the US. Plaintiff firms target solar lead-gen specifically — reassigned-number calls, paper-thin consent on purchased lists, pre-recorded to cell without consent. The 2024 FCC 1:1 consent rule killed the multi-checkbox consent farm; if you're loading lists from a broker today, you have to know how the consent was actually captured. The platform's per-trunk TCPA + audit log + recorded SSH sessions give you the discovery defense; the script + lead vetting is on you.

TCPA exposure — what gets you sued

Common plaintiff patterns in solar:

1. Reassigned numbers — number was consented by Alice, reassigned to Bob, you called Bob. Solar plaintiffs specifically watch for this.
2. No real prior consent — purchased list with "consent" that was a 7-checkbox-form on some unrelated lead-gen page. Post-2024 rules: dead.
3. Pre-recorded to cell without consent — strict TCPA violation. ATDS rules apply.
4. Calling a known litigator — the Blacklist Alliance list flags these; per-call scrub is mandatory.

The platform's pre-dial BLA scrub catches #4 cheaply. The other three are operational discipline.

Lead vetting before load

Before any list goes into VICIdial:

1. RND check (Reassigned Numbers Database) — FCC's official RND, costs ~$0.0002 per check. Cheaper than one settlement.
2. Litigator scrub — your Blacklist Alliance account or equivalent.
3. DNC scrub — federal + state for every state the list touches.
4. Cell vs landline segmentation — for pre-recorded campaigns, segment cell numbers off and use live-agent only.
5. Consent record verification — the lead source (broker / form / event) must have the 1:1 consent record per number. Get the records in writing before the campaign goes live; the lead broker's consent records are what the plaintiff firm subpoenas.

Per-trunk TCPA scrubbing

Solar shops typically dial multiple programs (rooftop residential, commercial, refi, financing leads) — each with different consent contracts:

trunk-residential-out  → CUSTOM, BLA key, fail-closed
trunk-financing-out    → CUSTOM, BLA key (separate account), fail-closed
trunk-commercial-out   → INHERIT (B2B; lower exposure)

Per-trunk override matters because the BLA fail-mode for residential should be BLOCK while commercial can fail-open. See /features/tcpa-compliance.

Appointment-setting workflow

Most solar shops run a 3-stage flow:

Fronter   → qualifies (homeowner; rooftop suitability; electric bill ≥ $X)
   ↓
Setter    → books in-home appointment via VICIdial callback
   ↓
In-home consultation → outside the dialer; CRM ownership

VICIdial setup:

• Fronter campaign: PREDICTIVE or RATIO (1.5–2.0 after stabilising)
• Setter in-group: handles transferred-from-fronter qualified leads
• Custom dispositions: APPT_SET, NOT_HOMEOWNER, FLAT_ROOF, LOW_BILL, NOT_INTERESTED, RAIN_CHECK, WRONG_NUMBER, DNC
• Webhook on APPT_SET → your dispatch tool (ServiceTitan, custom CRM)

Recording — typical 5–7 years

Solar deals need recording for:

• Chargeback defense — finance disputes are common; the recorded close is the evidence
• Litigation defense — TCPA suit asks "did you have consent"; the recorded disclosure is the answer
• Sales coaching — close rate optimisation requires hearing the call

Retention: 5–7 years (matches install warranty + financing terms). Push to your own S3 via /features/external-backups.

Plan sizing

| Operation | Plan suggestion | | ---------------------------- | ---------------------------------- | | Single local installer, 5–15 | Growth (4 vCPU, 8 GB) | | Regional installer, 15–50 | Pro (2 dedicated vCPU, 8 GB) | | Multi-state lead-gen, 50–150 | Business (4 dedicated vCPU, 16 GB) | | National operator, 150+ | Scale + custom regions |

Solar lead-gen agencies are typically Pro tier or above.

VICIdial settings that matter

| Setting | Value | | ---------------------- | -------------------------------------------- | | Recording Override | ALLFORCE | | Recording announce | Two-party-consent states | | Local Call Time | 9am-8pm called local (some states require) | | Drop SLA | ≤ 2.0s strict | | Pre-call DNC | Federal + state DNC = Y | | RND check | Pre-load + monthly refresh | | Calls per Day per Lead | 1 (strict; solar fatigue is real) | | CallerID | Installer's published, attestation A |

Carrier choice

• Bandwidth — A-attestation, direct US, best wholesale tier. Most large solar shops land here.
• Telnyx — moderate volume sweet spot, multi-region for cross-state campaigns.
• Skyetel — wholesale-focused, US-only, very competitive at scale. IP-auth only.
• Aggregator-routed carriers: avoid. Solar already has answer-rate decay; aggregator routing makes it worse.

Common mistakes

1. Loading a broker list without verifying consent records — broker's consent records are what the plaintiff subpoenas. Get them in writing FIRST.
2. One BLA key for residential + financing — different contracts, different fail-modes. Per-trunk override.
3. Pre-recorded message to cell phones — strict TCPA violation. Cell-phone campaigns must be live-agent only OR have explicit prior express written consent.
4. No RND check — reassigned-number calls are the most common solar TCPA suit. RND costs $0.0002/check; settlements cost $1500+ per number.
5. 5-year retention via daily snapshots — 7-day rolling snapshots aren't a 5-year strategy. External Backups with lifecycle policy, week one.

Why teams switch to managed hosting

• Per-trunk TCPA scrubbing ships out of the box — every other approach is roll-your-own
• Audit log — when the TCPA suit comes, the discovery prep is already done
• Recorded SSH sessions — when you need to prove "no one tampered with the recordings folder", replay the asciinema cast
• Resize-on-demand — solar sales spike with seasonality (sunny months) + state-incentive timing
• No per-agent licensing — at 80+ setters, the math compounds hard

What VICIfast handles

| Concern | Who | | --------------------- | -------------------------------------------- | | OS + Asterisk patches | Platform | | Daily snapshots | Platform | | Audit log | Platform | | BLA AGI hook | Platform (you BYO key per program) | | 5–7 year retention | Both (snapshot + your S3 lifecycle) | | RND check | You (pre-load script + monthly refresh) | | Consent records | You (broker contracts + paper trail) | | Litigation defense | We surface AuditLog + sessions; you assemble |

Get started

Start a 7-day trial → — no card. Solar lead-gen typically lands on Pro or Business; contact us if you're scaling past 50 setters or running multi-state programs.