Set up a Call Center so assigned agents see a Softphone and can take calls inside Salesforce. The high-level path is the same for a partner platform and for Service Cloud Voice, though Voice creates the record for you. You need the Manage Call Centers permission.
- Create or locate the Call Center record
From Setup, enter Call Centers in the Quick Find box. For a partner platform, choose Import and upload the vendor CTI definition file (XML), or clone an existing record. For Service Cloud Voice, the record already exists from provisioning.
- Fill in the connection parameters
Open the record and set the Display Name and any environment-specific values the vendor requires, such as the adapter URL endpoint and dial prefix. Save the record once the parameters match the target telephony environment.
- Add users to the Call Center
On the record, use Manage Call Center Users to add the agents who need the Softphone. Remember each user can belong to only one Call Center at a time, so plan divisional assignments before adding people.
- Build and assign a Softphone Layout
From Setup, enter Softphone Layouts. Create a layout that sets the fields, searchable objects, and screen pop behavior for inbound, outbound, and internal calls. Use Layout Assignment to map it to the right user profiles.
- Test the full call path
Place inbound, outbound, and transfer calls. Confirm caller ID capture, that the screen pop lands on the correct record, and that any transcript or activity links to the right parent before broad rollout.
The endpoint that serves the softphone code. Set by the definition file for partner platforms; points at the Salesforce-hosted softphone for Service Cloud Voice.
The human-readable name administrators see for the Call Center in Setup. Make it specific when an org runs more than one.
The membership list that decides who sees a Softphone. A user can belong to one Call Center at a time.
The per-profile definition of fields, searchable objects, and screen pop behavior across inbound, outbound, and internal calls.
- A user who is not a member of the Call Center sees no Softphone at all. This is the most common post-launch support ticket.
- Open CTI is in maintenance mode and retires in February 2028, and it is already unavailable for newly created Agentforce Service orgs. Plan new builds on Salesforce Voice.
- The Open CTI APIs for Salesforce Classic and Lightning Experience are not interchangeable in custom code; pick the one that matches your experience.
- Editing a Softphone Layout without testing the screen pop cases (no match, one match, many matches) leaves agents missing context on live calls.