VICIdial Remote Agent Bots: AI on Your Own Dialer

VICIdial Remote Agent Bots: A Guide to connect AI Agent with your dialer

A VICIdial remote agent bot is an AI voice bot that VICIdial treats as one more agent seat, so you can add AI fronting to the dialer you already run instead of migrating to a new platform. This guide explains what a remote agent is, how VoiceOI bots use it, the steps to set it up, and what stays in VICIdial.

If VICIdial is working, the lists are in it and your owners read its reports, moving to a new dialer just to try AI calling is a heavy ask. Remote agents let you add bots to the dialer you already run.

What a VICIdial remote agent is

A remote agent is an agent record in VICIdial whose calls are delivered to an external extension or number instead of to a person logged in at a desk. VICIdial was built for outsourced or off-site agents, and the mechanism works the same way when the thing on the other end is a bot.

In VICIdial's remote-agent form you set, in general terms:

A user ID start and a number of lines. VICIdial creates that many agent IDs in sequence, one per line.
An external extension. This is where answered calls are sent.
A campaign. The campaign whose calls those agents will take.
A status. Active or inactive.

From VICIdial's point of view, a bot is then just another agent taking calls. VICIdial keeps running campaigns, hoppers, pacing and lists, and it keeps recording the outcome of each call against the lead.

How VoiceOI uses remote agents

VoiceOI bots connect to VICIdial as remote agents. VoiceOI does the part a fronter does: it talks to whoever answers, qualifies them against your script, and decides what happens next. Because a floor may want dozens of bots, VoiceOI supports bulk provisioning, so you do not create each remote agent by hand.

On a typical call:

VICIdial dials a lead and the call is answered.
The call is delivered to a VoiceOI bot, one of your remote agents.
The bot runs your script. That is either a recorded-voice bot playing lines you designed or an AI agent working inside rules you set.
The bot ends the call with a logged disposition, such as a transfer, a do-not-call request or an answering machine.
The outcome is written back to VICIdial as a disposition on the lead, so your reports and recycling rules keep working.

If the lead qualifies, the live call is handed to a human closer over SIP. On the Good Fronter tiers the closer also receives notes written by the AI about what was established; the Simple Fronter tiers transfer without closer comments. The bot does not stay on the line to introduce the caller; it passes the call (and the notes, where included). See AI live transfer for how that handoff works.

Setup steps

The order below is the shape of a rollout. Your VICIdial version and server layout will change small details, so treat this as a checklist, not a replacement for your VICIdial admin's judgment.

Choose one campaign. Pick one where fronters spend most of their shift on machines and quick "no" answers.
Build and test the script. Use the no-code builder or a template, then test it in the simulator before any real lead is dialed.
Provision remote agents in bulk. Create a small batch of bots, assigned to your chosen campaign.
Settle the carrier. VoiceOI works with any SIP carrier, including Twilio and Telnyx trunks, added by pasting the carrier's sip.conf or pjsip.conf block into the Carrier Manager. Ask the VoiceOI team whether your VICIdial setup keeps dialing through its existing carrier or needs a block added there.
Run a short pilot. Put the bots next to your human fronters on the same list and compare results.
Read the dispositions in VICIdial. Confirm that outcomes land as the statuses your recycling rules expect.
Tune and scale. Use recordings and transcripts to change the opening or question order, then add bots.

What stays in VICIdial

Stays in VICIdial	Done by the VoiceOI bot
Campaigns, lists and the hopper	Talking to the person who answers
Dialing pace and recycling rules	Following your script or AI agent rules
Dispositions and reporting	Detecting answering machines and ending the call
Your human closers' queues	Qualifying the lead, and writing call notes on the Good Fronter tiers
Your lead vendors and data	Recordings and transcripts of the calls

Any SIP carrier can be added to VoiceOI, and how that fits your VICIdial setup is worth confirming with the team. VoiceOI bills per bot, not per minute, and your carrier bills the minutes.

Machines, do-not-call requests and compliance controls

A fronter's day is mostly machines, wrong numbers and refusals. VoiceOI handles the common cases before a closer is involved:

Answering-machine detection. When a machine is detected the call ends and is logged as a machine outcome (AM). The bot does not leave a voicemail.
Do-not-call phrase handling. When someone asks not to be called, the bot ends the call and the outcome is recorded. The phrase lists are editable per organization.
An optional AI-voice disclosure at the start of the call, in wording you choose.
Timezone calling windows, so a badly sorted list does not produce a 6 a.m. call.

The FCC's February 2024 ruling treats AI voices as "artificial" voices under the TCPA, which generally means prior express written consent for telemarketing. These controls do not make a campaign compliant; you remain responsible for consent, list hygiene and your own legal review. More detail: TCPA controls and do-not-call handling.

Recorded-voice bot or AI agent

Many VICIdial floors end up running both, on different campaigns.

Recorded-voice bots suit campaigns where the first 30 seconds of every call are the same. Every call follows the path you designed.
AI agents suit campaigns where people talk back. You set the persona, openings, qualification questions and the things it must never say, and it answers inside those limits. In testing, turns take about a second.

Both are built in the same script builder.

What VoiceOI does not do here

Be clear about the scope before you plan a rollout:

It places outbound calls only; it is not an inbound receptionist.
CRM sync is coming soon, not available today. Google Sheets export is included on the Pro LG tiers only.
It does not book calendar appointments or send texts.
Conversations are English-first.
It is not a predictive or power dialer for pacing human reps; keep VICIdial for that.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to replace VICIdial? No. VICIdial keeps your campaigns, lists and reports; the bots are agents inside it.

Can I add many bots at once? Yes. Bulk provisioning creates them as a batch.

What happens on an answering machine? The call ends and is logged as a machine outcome. No message is left.

What does it cost? Pricing is per bot per month. VICIdial fronter bots start at $25 list for the Simple Fronter (up to 3 questions, no closer comments) and $35 for the Good Fronter (up to 5 questions, closer comments), before volume discounts of up to 60%. See pricing.

Do I need the VICIdial API? The setup in this guide uses VICIdial's remote agents and VoiceOI's bulk provisioning. Whether your server layout needs anything beyond that depends on your configuration, so ask the VoiceOI team.

Can I keep my carrier? VoiceOI works with any SIP carrier, including Twilio and Telnyx. How the carrier is attached on a VICIdial setup is worth confirming with the team.

Does it sync to my CRM? No. CRM sync is coming soon. Outcomes are written back to VICIdial as dispositions, and Google Sheets export is on the Pro LG tiers only.

Related VICIdial AI pages

The full walkthrough of the connection: VICIdial AI integration
The product page for bots on VICIdial: VICIdial AI voice bot
What closers receive on a transfer: AI live transfer

If you run VICIdial and want to see a bot on one of your campaigns, talk to the VoiceOI team.