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Prepare your VICIdial

This takes about ten minutes. The connection wizard shows a shorter version of this list on its last step.

Do this

Section titled “Do this”
  1. Create an API user in VICIdial. Give it user level 8 or higher and allow “Modify leads”. Turn on the Non-Agent API for that user. The name can be up to 20 characters.
  2. Choose the list that will receive people from VoDialer. Create it if it does not exist. Let the API user add leads to it. Write down the list number. It is digits only, up to 14.
  3. Check that the statuses VoDialer will set already exist in VICIdial. See the status map.
  4. If calls should land in a VICIdial in-group, create the in-group. Decide the SIP address that reaches it.
  5. Make the VICIdial web address reachable from the internet, over https. Allow VoDialer’s servers if you filter by address. See below.
  6. Make sure the people you hand over have US or Canadian numbers. Only +1 numbers are sent to VICIdial.
  7. Give your VoDialer admin: the address, the API user, its password, the list number and, if you use one, the in-group.

What VoDialer asks VICIdial to do

Section titled “What VoDialer asks VICIdial to do”

VoDialer calls the Non-Agent API at /vicidial/non_agent_api.php with four functions and nothing else.

Function Used for
version The Test button. It only asks for the version.
lead_search Finds a lead by phone number.
add_lead Adds a new lead to your list.
update_lead Changes a lead’s comments or status.

It never deletes a lead and never reads a list.

What to open on the network

Section titled “What to open on the network”

The calls come from VoDialer’s servers, not from your users’ browsers.

  • The web address must be public. Private, loopback and link-local addresses are refused. A numeric address like that is refused when you save it. A name that points to one is refused when VoDialer tries to reach it. A VICIdial that has only a 10. or 192.168. address cannot be reached.
  • No redirects. If your server sends http to https with a redirect, the call fails. Enter the final https address.
  • Use https. The password travels in the body of each request, not in the address.
  • Allow our addresses. If you filter by address, ask your VoDialer contact which addresses the calls come from.
  • Be quick. A call that takes longer than 15 seconds is treated as failed and retried.

The call itself

Section titled “The call itself”

The phone call is a separate path from the API. VoDialer’s phone servers call the address you enter on the campaign step. Allow them on your SIP side the same way you would allow a carrier.

The call is shown to VICIdial with the person’s own number as the caller ID. VoDialer waits up to 30 seconds for your side to answer.