Prepare for Open CTI Retirement
Learning Objectives
After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:
- Describe what Open CTI does and when it is slated to retire.
- Identify what components in your org depend on Open CTI.
- Explain why Voice is the recommended replacement.
What Is Open CTI?
Open CTI is a JavaScript API that lets third-party telephony providers embed a softphone inside the Salesforce console. When a call comes in, customer data appears alongside the record on a screen pop. There’s no CTI adapter software required on individual machines.
When you set up Open CTI, there are three pieces working together.
- A CTI adapter package from AgentExchange (formerly AppExchange), built by your telephony partner.
- A call center definition file, which is an XML file included in the package, that tells Salesforce what the softphone can do.
- A softphone layout that controls which Salesforce records and fields appear during calls.
This setup gave call centers a way to put phone calls on the same screen as customer records. But Open CTI has been in maintenance mode since 2020, with no new features or enhancements. On February 28, 2028, it will retire entirely.
What Is Being Retired
When Open CTI reaches end of life, the following stop working for all orgs.
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The Open CTI JavaScript API: The integration layer that lets third-party softphones communicate with Salesforce.
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Call center adapters: The AgentExchange packages your telephony partner built to connect its system to the console.
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Softphone layouts and call center definition files: The configuration that controlled what reps use during calls.
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Custom CTI logic: Screen pops, call routing rules, and any custom code built using the API.
Current Retirement Status
Effective February 16, 2026, Open CTI is already unavailable for newly created Agentforce Service orgs. Existing orgs continue to work until the retirement date, February 28, 2028, but no new features are being added.
The end date is urgent, but the deeper issue is architectural. Open CTI was never a native Salesforce product. Salesforce controlled the CRM, your telephony partner controlled the phone experience, and the two systems never communicated natively. That gap has real consequences for an Open CTI implementation.
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Omni-Channel routing has no awareness of Voice: Supervisors lack a unified view of voice and digital channels. This separates routing decisions on one channel while a rep’s live load exists on the other.
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Call data lives outside Salesforce: Transcripts and call records don't land on core Salesforce objects, so AI tools like Agentforce can't use them.
Why Voice from Salesforce Is the Recommended Path
Migrating to one of the Salesforce Voice offerings, such as Partner Contact Center or Agentforce Contact Center, isn’t just about avoiding a deadline. It’s about unlocking capabilities your contact center can’t access while it runs on Open CTI.
A Unified Phone Experience in the Console
With Voice, calling moves into the same Omni-Channel widget your reps already use for digital channels. There’s no separate softphone widget to manage. Instead, there’s just one interface for every interaction, with call recordings and real-time transcription built in.
Supervisor Visibility Across Every Channel
Open CTI keeps calls in a silo. Voice offerings from Salesforce break that open. Supervisors gain real-time, cross-channel context. With calls alongside chats, email, and messaging, supervisors can monitor multiple calls simultaneously, configure queues, and manage capacity all in one place.
AI Support for Your Calls
With Open CTI, the most your reps get is a basic screen pop to a record. There’s no conversation context shared between an AI agent and the customer, and no way for Agentforce to act on what’s happening in the call. With Voice, that changes completely. Real-time next best actions surface during live calls. Conversation Catch-Up gives reps full context when they join. Case wrap-up happens automatically after. Voice makes your phone a native part of your CRM.
Agentforce Voice Integration
Open CTI omits native connection to Agentforce Voice. With Partner Contact Center or Agentforce Contact Center, your AI agent and your reps share complete conversation context. When an AI agent hands off to a rep, the full transcript comes with it—no repeated questions, no lost context.
All Voice migration paths enable these capabilities which aren’t available on Open CTI.
Assess Your Open CTI Footprint
Before you can plan your migration, you need to know what you’re working with. As you complete this badge, you build out a full inventory. At a high level, there are four areas to account for.
- Users assigned to your call center and how many need access to the new system.
- Phone numbers currently in use, including direct lines, queues, and toll-free numbers.
- Reports and dashboards that depend on call data, so nothing gets missed when you rebuild them against Voice.
- Custom logic such as screen pops, call routing rules, and any custom code your adapter runs today.
In Unit 2, you choose your specific migration path. In Unit 3, you work through a detailed premigration checklist that covers each of these areas. For now, start noting what your org depends on.