Glossary

Abandoned (call abandonment)

Lead picked up, no agent connected within drop SLA, dialer hung up.

DNC (Do Not Call)

VICIdial's three-layer DNC system + how to configure it for compliance.

Drop SLA

How quickly an agent must connect after a lead answers — TCPA caps abandonment at 3%.

Reassigned Numbers Database (RND)

FCC's mandatory pre-dial check for numbers reassigned away from prior consent-givers.

TCPA

The federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act — the foundational US dialing law.

ACD (Automatic Call Distribution)

How calls are routed to agents — VICIdial's queueing + skill-based logic.

In-Group

Inbound queue + transfer destination for warm transfers from outbound campaigns.

IVR (Interactive Voice Response)

Press-1-for-X menus. VICIdial supports IVR via Asterisk dial-plan.

Queue

A waiting line for inbound calls — VICIdial's in-group implements this.

Skill (skill-based routing)

Tagging agents and calls with skills so the right agent gets the right call.

Agent

A user who places or receives calls in VICIdial. Distinct from "user" (admin/manager).

Closer

An agent specialized in the second half of warm-transfer flows.

Fronter

An agent who qualifies leads then warm-transfers to a closer.

User Group

VICIdial's permission scoping — controls which campaigns a user can see and join.

AGI (Asterisk Gateway Interface)

Asterisk's plugin protocol — VICIdial uses AGI scripts heavily for dial-plan logic.

Carrier

VICIdial's term for a SIP trunk — the upstream provider that carries your calls.

DID

Direct Inward Dial number — your inbound phone number.

AHT (Average Handle Time)

Talk time + hold time + wrap-up. The standard call-center efficiency metric.

Connect

A call where the lead picked up — distinct from "answered" (which can include voicemail).

Occupancy

Percentage of an agent's logged-in time spent on calls or wrap-up (i.e. not idle).

RPC (Right Party Contact)

A call where the agent reaches the actual intended person — the foundational outcome for outbound campaigns.

Wrap-up time

Time agent takes after a call to disposition + take notes before the next.

AMD (Answering Machine Detection)

Asterisk feature that detects when a call hits voicemail vs a live human.

Callback

Scheduling a future call attempt with a specific lead.

Campaign

VICIdial's top-level container for a dialing program — list, agents, dial method, dispositions.

Dial level

VICIdial's predictive multiplier — how many calls placed per available agent.

Dial timeout

How long VICIdial rings a number before giving up and moving on.

Disposition

The outcome an agent records for a call.

Hopper

VICIdial's pre-loaded queue of leads ready to dial.

Lead

A single phone number + associated metadata that VICIdial dials.

Lead recycling

Re-marking already-called leads as NEW so the dialer calls them again.

List

A collection of leads tied to a campaign.

Predictive dialing

VICIdial dials more numbers than agents available, predicting how many will pick up.

Preview dialing

Agent sees lead info before the call is placed; agent triggers the dial.

Progressive dialing

Less aggressive than predictive — dialer waits for an agent to be free before dialing next.

Status (lead status)

A lead's current state — drives whether the dialer will call it again.

VMX (voicemail message)

VICIdial's auto-leave-voicemail feature for AMD-detected machines.

Barge

Supervisor enters a live call as an audible third party.

Conference

Three-way calling in VICIdial — agent + lead + supervisor or third party.

Monitor

Supervisor listens to a live agent call without participating.

Recording

VICIdial recording config — what gets recorded, where it lives, retention.

Transfer

Warm vs cold transfer in VICIdial.

Whisper

Supervisor talks to the agent without the lead hearing.