How to Use the VICIdial NON-AGENT API for Real-Time Call Monitoring

Real-time call monitoring is essential for maintaining high-quality customer interactions, optimizing agent performance, and ensuring seamless call center operations. With VICIdial’s NON-AGENT API, you can programmatically access live call data, track agent activity, and respond to issues as they happen—no manual oversight required. This guide will walk you through leveraging the API for real-time monitoring, complete with code examples, use cases, and best practices.

Table of Contents

1. Why Real-Time Call Monitoring Matters
2. Key NON-AGENT API Endpoints for Monitoring
3. Prerequisites for Implementation
4. Step-by-Step Guide to Real-Time Monitoring
   • Monitoring Agent Status
   • Tracking Live Call Details
   • Analyzing Campaign Performance
   • Setting Up Alerts for Critical Events
5. Advanced Techniques
   • Building a Real-Time Dashboard
   • Integrating with Notification Systems
6. Best Practices for Efficient Monitoring
7. Common Challenges and Solutions
8. Real-World Use Cases
9. Conclusion

1. Why Real-Time Call Monitoring Matters

Manual monitoring is slow and unscalable. Real-time API-driven monitoring enables:

• Immediate Intervention: Detect and resolve issues like long hold times or dropped calls instantly.
• Performance Optimization: Identify top-performing agents or struggling teams in real-time.
• Data-Driven Decisions: Adjust call routing or staffing based on live metrics.
• Compliance Assurance: Ensure adherence to scripts and regulatory requirements.

For example, a financial services call center uses real-time monitoring to flag calls where sensitive data is mishandled, enabling instant coaching.

2. Key NON-AGENT API Endpoints for Monitoring

3. Prerequisites for Implementation

• VICIdial Server: With NON-AGENT API enabled.
• API Credentials: A user with permissions to access monitoring endpoints.
• Tools:
  • HTTP client (Postman, curl).
  • Scripting language (Python, PHP) for automation.
  • Dashboarding tools (Grafana, Tableau) for visualization (optional).

4. Step-by-Step Guide to Real-Time Monitoring

4.1 Monitoring Agent Status

Use get_agent_status to track agent availability and activity.

Example Request:

https://your-vicidial-server.com/non_agent_api.php?
source=monitor&
user=api_user&
pass=api_pass&
function=get_agent_status&
agent_user=Agent_101

Response:

{
  "status": "SUCCESS",
  "agent_user": "Agent_101",
  "status": "ONCALL",
  "call_id": "167890",
  "campaign_id": "202",
  "last_update": "2023-10-30 14:05:22"
}

Python Script to Poll Agent Status:

import requests
import time

API_URL = "https://your-vicidial-server.com/non_agent_api.php"
AUTH_PARAMS = {
    "source": "monitor",
    "user": "api_user",
    "pass": "api_pass"
}

def monitor_agent(agent_user, interval=30):
    while True:
        params = {**AUTH_PARAMS, "function": "get_agent_status", "agent_user": agent_user}
        response = requests.get(API_URL, params=params).json()
        print(f"Agent {agent_user} status: {response.get('status')}")
        time.sleep(interval)

# Usage: monitor_agent("Agent_101")

4.2 Tracking Live Call Details

Retrieve active call metrics with get_call_details.

Example Request:

https://your-vicidial-server.com/non_agent_api.php?
source=monitor&
user=api_user&
pass=api_pass&
function=get_call_details&
call_id=167890

Response:

{
  "status": "SUCCESS",
  "call_id": "167890",
  "duration": "00:05:23",
  "disposition": "IN_PROGRESS",
  "caller_id": "5551234567",
  "agent": "Agent_101"
}

4.3 Analyzing Campaign Performance

Use get_campaign_stats to monitor live campaign health.

Example Request:

https://your-vicidial-server.com/non_agent_api.php?
source=monitor&
user=api_user&
pass=api_pass&
function=get_campaign_stats&
campaign_id=202

Response:

{
  "status": "SUCCESS",
  "calls_today": "342",
  "average_wait_time": "00:00:45",
  "active_agents": "12",
  "calls_in_queue": "5"
}

4.4 Setting Up Alerts for Critical Events

Trigger alerts for issues like high queue volume or agent downtime.

Python Script for Queue Alerts:

def check_queue_threshold(campaign_id, max_queue=10):
    params = {**AUTH_PARAMS, "function": "get_campaign_stats", "campaign_id": campaign_id}
    stats = requests.get(API_URL, params=params).json()
    queue = int(stats.get("calls_in_queue", 0))
    
    if queue > max_queue:
        send_slack_alert(f"Campaign {campaign_id}: {queue} calls in queue!")

def send_slack_alert(message):
    webhook_url = "https://hooks.slack.com/services/XXXXX"
    requests.post(webhook_url, json={"text": message})

5. Advanced Techniques

5.1 Building a Real-Time Dashboard

Use Python’s Dash or Streamlit to visualize live data.

Sample Streamlit Dashboard:

import streamlit as st
import requests

def fetch_campaign_stats(campaign_id):
    params = {**AUTH_PARAMS, "function": "get_campaign_stats", "campaign_id": campaign_id}
    return requests.get(API_URL, params=params).json()

st.title("Real-Time Call Monitoring Dashboard")
campaign_id = st.text_input("Enter Campaign ID:")
if campaign_id:
    stats = fetch_campaign_stats(campaign_id)
    st.metric("Active Calls", stats.get("active_calls"))
    st.metric("Average Wait Time", stats.get("average_wait_time"))

5.2 Integrating with Notification Systems

Use webhooks to push alerts to platforms like Slack, Microsoft Teams, or PagerDuty.

Example Webhook Integration:

def trigger_pagerduty_alert(incident):
    payload = {
        "routing_key": "your_pagerduty_key",
        "event_action": "trigger",
        "payload": {
            "summary": f"High Priority Alert: {incident}",
            "severity": "critical"
        }
    }
    requests.post("https://events.pagerduty.com/v2/enqueue", json=payload)

6. Best Practices for Efficient Monitoring

• Rate Limiting: Avoid exceeding API limits (e.g., 10 requests/second). Use time.sleep() in loops.
• Data Caching: Cache static data (e.g., agent names) to reduce redundant API calls.
• Error Handling: Retry failed requests and log errors for debugging.
• Security: Use HTTPS and store credentials in environment variables.
• Asynchronous Polling: Use background threads or workers to fetch data without blocking workflows.

7. Common Challenges and Solutions

8. Real-World Use Cases

1. Healthcare Helpline: Monitors call queues in real-time to prioritize emergencies, reducing wait times by 30%.
2. E-Commerce Support: Triggers alerts when call duration exceeds 10 minutes, enabling managers to assist agents.
3. Telemarketing Firm: Uses live campaign stats to reallocate agents during peak hours, boosting conversions by 15%.

9. Conclusion

Real-time call monitoring with VICIdial’s NON-AGENT API transforms call centers into agile, data-driven operations. By tracking agent activity, call details, and campaign performance programmatically, you can resolve issues faster, optimize resources, and deliver superior customer experiences. Start with simple agent status checks, then scale to advanced dashboards and alerts to unlock the full potential of your call center.

Next Steps:

• Experiment with the get_campaign_stats endpoint to monitor a single campaign.
• Build a basic dashboard using Streamlit or Power BI.
• Join the VICIdial community to share insights and learn from peers.

For detailed API specifications, refer to the VICIdial NON-AGENT API Documentation. Have questions? Drop them in the comments below! 🚀