system
Webhook
An automatic HTTP message VICIdial sends to a URL you choose when something happens, so an outside system learns about an event without polling for it.
A webhook is a message your system sends out the moment something happens, instead of waiting for someone to ask. Picture it as a reverse API (Application Programming Interface) call: rather than your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) repeatedly polling the dialer for news, the dialer pushes an HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) request to a URL (in VICIdial) you set up the instant the event fires.
In a contact-center setting you might want a webhook to fire when an agent saves a Disposition, when a sale closes, or when a Lead gets a callback. The receiving end is just a small script at your URL that reads the posted fields and does something useful — write a row, kick off a follow-up email, or update your CRM.
Webhooks versus polling
Polling means asking again and again — every few seconds, did anything change? It wastes calls and adds delay. A webhook flips that: the news arrives the moment it is real. The trade-off is that you must run a reliable endpoint and accept that the same event might arrive twice, so design your receiver to shrug off duplicates.
Where the Non-agent API is something you call into VICIdial, a webhook is VICIdial (or a script you bolt onto it) calling out to you. The two cover opposite directions of the same conversation and are often used together — your tool calls the API (application programming interface) to make changes, and a webhook tells your tool when changes happen on the dialer side. Always verify that the sender is who it claims to be, since a public URL can be hit by anyone who guesses it.
Related terms
API (application programming interface)
An API is a set of web addresses you can call from another program to make VICIdial do things or hand back data, without using the screen.
CRM
A CRM (customer relationship management system) stores your contact and deal records; VICIdial can hand calls to it or pull data from it through links and the API.
Disposition
A disposition is the short code an agent sets at the end of a call to record what happened — sale, no answer, callback, not interested, and so on.
Lead
A single contact record in VICIdial holding a phone number plus fields like name and address, the basic unit your campaigns dial.
Non-agent API
The non-agent API is a VICIdial web interface that lets outside systems read data and trigger actions, like adding leads or pulling stats, without an agent logged in.
URL (in VICIdial)
A web address VICIdial can open automatically during a call, usually to pop a customer record or pass data to an outside system.