Agent session

An agent session is the stretch of time that runs from the moment an agent logs into VICIdial to the moment they log out. Everything the agent does in between — every call, every pause, every status change — is stamped against that session, which makes it the backbone of agent reporting.

During a session the agent moves through several states. They might be in Ready state waiting for the next call, on a live call building up Talk time, in Wrap-up finishing notes after a call, or paused with a Pause code for a break or meeting. The session quietly records the seconds spent in each one.

Those numbers feed the metrics managers care about. Occupancy compares talking-and-working time against total logged-in time, and Agent performance reports roll up calls handled, average handle time, and outcomes — all measured inside the session window. If an agent forgets to log out, the session keeps running, so the data can look off until the session is properly closed.

For a newcomer, the easiest way to picture it is a single shift, bounded by a punch-in and a punch-out. One agent can have several sessions in a day if they log in and out repeatedly, and each one is a separate record. When you read a report and see a row of stats for an agent, you are usually looking at the totals for one agent session, including any Three-way call legs they joined.

A few habits keep session data clean and trustworthy. Agents should always log out at the end of a shift rather than just closing the browser, because a session that never ends keeps padding the logged-in clock and quietly drags down the team's Occupancy numbers. If an agent's connection drops mid-shift, VICIdial can usually pick the session back up when they log in again, so a brief hiccup does not have to ruin the record. Managers lean on the session as the unit they schedule against, comparing the hours an agent was supposed to be available with the hours they actually were — the gap there feeds straight into Shrinkage. Understanding that almost every agent number you read is anchored to a session makes the reports far less mysterious.