Alternate phone number

An alternate phone number, often shortened to alt phone, is a backup number you store on a lead alongside the main one. When the primary number does not connect, you can try the alternate to reach the same person. This is common when a contact gives both a cell and a landline, or when you buy data that ships with more than one number per record.

In VICIdial these extra numbers live in a separate table tied to each lead, not in the main phone column. You add them at import time by mapping the right file column with the lead loader, or an agent can add one during a call when the contact offers a better number to reach them on. Either way, the alternate travels with the lead for the life of the record.

It helps to know what an alt phone is not. It is not a custom field, even though both hold extra data, because alt phones get their own dialing treatment rather than being plain text you only read. It also sits outside the standard duplicate check, which only looks at the main number, so the same person under two different numbers can slip past that check and show up twice.

Alternate numbers earn their keep on hard-to-reach lists. If a lead list is full of records where the main line goes nowhere, dialing the alternates can lift your contact rate without buying more data. Just remember each number you dial carries the same legal weight as the first, so honor opt-outs across both numbers and keep the called status accurate for the lead as a whole rather than per number.

Whether VICIdial actually dials the alternate depends on how the campaign is set up; it will not chase backup numbers unless you tell it to. Decide your policy first, since calling every alternate can quickly multiply your dial volume and your costs. A common approach is to dial alternates only after the main number has failed a set number of times, which keeps the extra effort focused on records that have earned a second look.