system
Session ID
A short number VICIdial assigns to an agent's live screen session so its background commands and softphone line stay matched to the right person.
A session ID is a short number VICIdial hands to an agent's live screen the moment they log in. It is the label that keeps everything about that one Agent session tied together — the browser tab, the background commands the screen sends, and the conference line the agent's softphone sits in.
Why does it matter? An agent screen is busy. Every few seconds it quietly asks the server what is new, and the server quietly answers. The session ID is how each of those tiny exchanges finds its way back to the right agent instead of getting crossed with someone else's. Without it, two agents who happened to act at the same time could step on each other.
The session ID also lines up with the conference room number the agent joins. When VICIdial puts a caller in front of an agent, it bridges the caller into the same conference the agent's Extension is already in, and the session ID is part of how those pieces are matched. The room layout itself lives in the Conf file that Asterisk reads at startup.
Do not confuse it with the Asterisk uniqueid, which labels one specific call inside Asterisk. The session ID is about the agent's seat for the whole login; the uniqueid is about a single call passing through. If you drive an agent from outside with the Agent API, you often need to know the live session ID so your commands land on the right screen, and so any Status (lead status) you set sticks to the correct agent.
Related terms
Agent API
A set of VICIdial URL commands that control an agent's session from outside the screen, letting you pause, dial, hang up, or set a disposition programmatically.
Agent session
The stretch of time from when an agent logs in to when they log out, during which VICIdial tracks every call, pause, and status change they make.
Conf file
A conf file is an Asterisk configuration text file that defines settings like trunks, extensions, and dialplans, telling the phone system how to behave.
Extension
An extension is a short internal number that identifies a single phone, agent, or destination inside a PBX so calls can be routed to it.
Status (lead status)
A short code attached to a lead that records what happened on the call — like sale, no answer, or callback — driving how the lead is handled next.
Asterisk uniqueid
A unique label Asterisk stamps on every channel it creates, so each leg of every call can be tracked, matched to records, and found in logs.