How to Create Inbound Campaign in VICIdial — Complete Technical Guide

Setting up an outbound campaign in VICIdial involves more than adding a campaign row — you must configure dial methods, trunks, hopper behavior, lead lists, and agent settings so the dialer delivers calls efficiently and legally. This guide walks through each step from zero to live, plus testing and optimization. 

Planning and prerequisites (before you create the campaign)

Before you create any outbound campaign, confirm the following:

• Admin access: You need an admin or equivalent user (level 9) to create/modify campaigns. 
• SIP trunks configured and tested: At least one working outbound trunk registered to your Asterisk/VICIdial server. Test calls from the server using a softphone or CLI. 
• Users and phones created: Agent users and phone entries must exist (phone login/password).
• Lead data prepared: Clean CSV with required columns (phone_number, first_name, last_name, list_id, owner, etc.).
• Compliance & Caller ID rules: Know your regional calling laws (DNC lists, calling windows, caller ID requirements). Add policy checks to your process.

Why this matters: A campaign is only as good as its infrastructure. Trunk failures, wrong caller IDs, or missing phones will stop dialing or create compliance risk.

Quick overview: campaign components you’ll configure

• Campaign record (campaign_id, name, dial prefix, default settings).
• Dial method and ratio (eg. RATIO, PREDICTIVE, MANUAL).
• Hopper behavior (how leads move from list → hopper → queue).
• Lists and list uploads (vicidial_lists data).
• Trunk selection and dial suffix/prefix.
• Agent groups and user permissions.
• Call dispositions, wrapup codes, callbacks, and reporting.

Step 1: Create the campaign record (manager UI)

1. Login to VICIdial Manager as admin.
2. Navigate to CAMPAIGNS → Add a New Campaign (or Campaigns → Add).
3. Fill the basic fields:
   • Campaign ID: short alphanumeric (eg. OUT_JAN_PROMO).
   • Campaign Name / Active: set to Active when ready.
   • Dial Prefix / Campaign Dial Prefix: if your trunks need a prefix (eg. 9, 00), set here.
   • Campaign CID: default outbound caller ID for the campaign (or leave blank to use trunk/user CID). 
4. Save the campaign.

Notes: Many installations keep campaign IDs concise (<=15 chars). Use predictable naming that maps to product/offering and country code.

Step 2: Choose and configure the Dial Method (and ratios)

Dial method selection determines agent experience and contact rate. Typical methods:

• MANUAL — agent dials numbers manually from agent GUI. Use for high-touch sales or verification tasks.
• RATIO — predictive-style dialing where you set dial_level or dial_timeout and a ratio (calls per free agent). Good for blended/outbound when you want controlled pacing.
• PREDICTIVE / AUTO DIAL — attempts to maximize agent talk time by dialing multiple calls per available agent; requires careful tuning to avoid high abandonment.
• BLENDED — campaign handles inbound and outbound together (requires multi-campaign agent config).

How to set in VICIdial:

1. On campaign Detail page, locate Dial Method field and choose RATIO, MANUAL, or PREDICTIVE.
2. If using RATIO, configure the Dial Level (or dial ratio) and Dial Timeout. RATIO values control how aggressively the dialer places calls per available agent.
3. Set Auto Dial Next Call and Lead Recycling options as required.

Best practice: Start conservative. For new campaigns, set RATIO low (eg. 1.0–2.0) and monitor abandoned call rate before increasing.

Step 3: Configure the Hopper and list behavior

The hopper is how VICIdial moves leads from lists into the call queue.

1. Create/assign lists: In LISTS → Add a New List, set list options (campaign_id, list_name, list_id).
2. Upload leads: Use the Upload Leads (CSV) interface. Map columns carefully (phone_number must be numeric no spaces; country_code optional). Test with a small sample first. 
3. Hopper filling: Choose hopper settings on the campaign Detail tab:
   • Leads per Agent / Max Leads / Priority: controls how many leads get loaded into hopper.
   • Hopper refill threshold: how often the hopper is refilled.
4. Queue behavior: Set no_hopper_dialing if you want direct list dialing (not recommended for high-volume outbound).

Tip: Always validate counts — after upload, check vicidial_list and vicidial_hopper counts in DB or via manager UI.

Step 4: Trunks and dial prefixes (call routing)

Trunks route calls to PSTN/SIP providers.

1. Create a trunk in VICIdial/Asterisk (Admin → Carriers/Trunks). Add SIP credentials or peer settings. Test registration. 
2. Dial Prefix/Suffix: On the campaign detail set Campaign Dial Prefix and Dial Plan modifications if required by the provider.
3. Outbound caller ID: Set Campaign CallerID to comply with provider policies. Some providers require verified numbers per account

Troubleshoot: If calls fail, check Asterisk CLI (asterisk -rvv) for SIP invite failures, auth errors, or trunk rejections.

Step 5: Users, agents, phones and permissions

1. Create user accounts (Users → Add). Set user permissions, user_level, and associate user_group.
2. Create phones entries for agent softphones or hardware phones (Phones → Add). Note the phone login and password.
3. Assign agents to campaigns by editing the user and adding the campaign to their allowed campaigns list. Also set user’s server_ip or agent server mapping if you run multi-server environment.
4. Phone login flow: Agents log in to the agent interface (AGC) with phone login > agent user credentials. Ensure the phone is registered before agent login. 

Best practice: Use separate user groups for supervisors and agents. Enforce strong passwords for SIP endpoints.

Step 6: Dispositions, wrapup codes, and call outcome handling

Set your campaign’s dispositions and wrapup codes so agents can tag results:

• Pause codes (PAUSE codes for breaks, lunch).
• Wrapup codes (Sale, No Answer, Busy, etc.).
• Disposition handling: Configure whether certain dispositions recycle the lead or mark it dead.

Additionally configure AMD (Answering Machine Detection) or Call Progress Analysis if you rely on automated handling (requires tuning — AMD can misclassify).

Step 7: Test campaign end-to-end (controlled pilot)

1. Set campaign to ACTIVE = N while testing or use a test campaign id.
2. Upload 10–50 test leads (use numbers you control).
3. Start an agent session; set dial method to MANUAL or conservative RATIO=1 for first run.
4. Confirm:
   • Agent receives ringing call and can speak.
   • Calls show in Asterisk CLI and via vicidial_agent_log.
   • Dispositions record correctly.
5. Test other scenarios: answering machine, busy, voicemail, and DNC hits.

Logs to check: vicidial_dial_log, vicidial_agent_log, Asterisk console. If using external SIP provider, check provider logs for rejected CIDs or blocked calls. 

Step 8: Tune dialer performance & dial ratios

Dialer tuning is iterative.

• Metrics to monitor:
  • Answered calls / hour per agent.
  • Abandonment rate (calls where no agent was available).
  • Average talk time, wrapup time.
  • Connection rate and lead conversion.
• Adjustments:
  • Lower ratio if abandonment is high.
  • Increase agents per campaign or reduce dial level if answer delays occur.
  • Configure next_agent_call options to route to longest-idle or skill-based agents.
• Predictive dialing caution: Predictive/semi-predictive methods require excellent trunk quality and low latency. Start conservative and slowly increase.

Reference: Community guides and VICIdial manuals emphasize small incremental changes and heavy monitoring when using predictive dialing. 

Hoppers, priority leads and lead recycling strategies