Interaction Log
An Interaction Log is a Salesforce Classic console feature that gives an agent a note-taking panel in the footer of a primary tab.
Definition
An Interaction Log is a Salesforce Classic console feature that gives an agent a note-taking panel in the footer of a primary tab. Whatever the agent types is saved as a Task on that record's Activity History related list. The panel always carries a fixed notes field. An admin can add other editable Task fields such as Subject, Status, or a custom disposition picklist.
It exists only in the Salesforce Console in Salesforce Classic. Lightning Experience has no equivalent footer, and Salesforce never built one. In a Lightning console the same job falls to the Activity Timeline and the Log a Call composer, which write the same underlying Task records.
Treat it as the older option rather than a live design choice. Salesforce still documents it for Classic orgs, so it keeps working where it is already switched on.
In plain English
“Picture a notepad stuck to the bottom of your screen while you are on a phone call. You type what the customer said, hit save, and the note gets filed onto their record where anyone can read it later. That notepad only exists in the older version of Salesforce.”
Worked example
A support rep at a regional insurance carrier opens Case 00041288 in a Salesforce Classic Service Console tab. The interaction log sits in the footer with three fields the admin added: Subject, Status, and a custom picklist called Call_Disposition__c. A customer calls about a delayed claim. While talking, the rep types into the notes field and sets Subject to "Claim 8841 status check". Status goes to Completed and the disposition picklist to "Resolved on first call". Clicking Add Call Data stamps the call's date and time into the log. On save, Salesforce writes a Task with those values to the Case's Activity History related list. A validation rule on Task blocks that save whenever Call_Disposition__c is blank.
How the footer panel behaves, and why it is a Task underneath
Where the panel appears, and where it never will
The log renders in the footer of a console primary tab. It is not a component you drop onto a page. An agent opens a Case or a Contact, the panel is already sitting at the bottom, and typing happens without leaving the open record. That inline placement was the entire pitch. It only shows on records that have an Activity History related list. Salesforce spells out the exclusions: no log on solutions, reports, dashboards, Salesforce CRM Content, the Article Management tab, or Visualforce pages. Accounts and contacts qualify. The rule follows from where the data goes, because a record that cannot hold a Task cannot hold a log entry either.
Every saved log is a Task
There is no interaction object behind the panel. The notes, the Subject, the Status and any custom field an admin added are all Task fields, and the saved row lands in Activity History. Permissions follow the same logic: Read on tasks lets an agent see the log, Edit on tasks lets them save one. That single design choice pays off everywhere downstream. Standard Task reports pick up interaction notes with no extra build. A validation rule on Task fires on save, which is how contact centers force a disposition code before an agent can close out a call. Anything you already know about activity reporting, ownership and sharing applies here, because it is the same data wearing different chrome.
Two configuration steps, and admins forget one
Fields come from Setup, not from the page layout editor. Enter Interaction Log Layouts in the Quick Find box, create a layout, and choose which editable Task fields belong in it. The notes field is added for you and cannot be removed. On the same Setup page, Log Layout Assignment maps each layout to a user profile. A phone team and a chat team can then see different fields. Building the layout does not make the panel appear. You also edit the record's page layout, open Layout Properties, and check Interaction Log. Miss that box and agents get a console with a blank footer. Both halves need the Customize Application permission. Salesforce also warns that flipping the setting has no effect on tabs already open. Close and reopen the record before deciding the configuration is broken.
Softphone data and the Clear Log button
With a softphone in the console, an agent can click Add Call Data to stamp the call's date and time into the log before saving. The result is one Task carrying both the typed notes and the call timing. That is the workflow most people picture when they hear the term. Clear Log looks more destructive than it is. Salesforce is explicit that clearing the notes or the Subject removes nothing already saved, since those entries are sitting on the Activity History related list. The button just resets the footer for the next customer. One convenience is worth knowing. When a contact is open on a subtab, that name is prefilled into the log's Name field. The agent can still change it before saving.
What Lightning uses instead
Lightning console apps have no footer log and never got one. The help documentation is blunt about the wider migration story: you cannot upgrade Salesforce Classic console apps to Lightning Experience from Setup. You build a fresh Lightning console app, or start from the packaged Service and Sales Console apps, and rebuild note capture from scratch. In Lightning that means the Activity Timeline plus the composer. Log a Call opens an inline form. The agent types, saves, and the Task lands on the timeline next to emails and meetings. Same object, same reports, different surface. Salesforce still flags that Lightning console apps lack full parity with Classic ones, naming push notifications and custom keyboard shortcuts as gaps. Audit your Classic-era requirements instead of assuming a clean swap.
How organizations use Interaction Log
Agents log every claim call from the console footer against a required disposition picklist. Managers then report on the resulting Tasks by owner and by week without building anything custom.
The interaction log paired with a softphone captures call timing and typed notes in a single save. Nobody has to open a separate Task form between back-to-back calls.
Trust & references
Cross-checked against the following references.
- Add Notes to Records in a Salesforce Console in Salesforce Classic (opens in new tab)Salesforce
- Set Up Interaction Logs for a Console in Salesforce Classic (opens in new tab)Salesforce
- Salesforce Console in Lightning Experience (opens in new tab)Salesforce
- Manage Activities with the Activity Timeline (opens in new tab)Salesforce
Straight from the source - Salesforce's reference material on Interaction Log.
Hands-on resources to go deeper on Interaction Log.
About the Author
Dipojjal Chakrabarti is a B2C Solution Architect with 29 Salesforce certifications and over 13 years in the Salesforce ecosystem. He writes and edits salesforcedictionary.com, published by KineticBit Inc., to help admins, developers, architects, and cert/interview candidates sharpen their fundamentals. More about Dipojjal.
Test your knowledge
+5 pts / dayQ1. When an agent saves an interaction log in a Salesforce Classic console, where does the note actually go?
Q2. An admin created an Interaction Log Layout and assigned it to the support profile, but agents still see no panel in the console footer. What is missing?
Q3. A support team is rebuilding its Classic console as a Lightning console app and asks how to bring interaction logs across. What is the accurate answer?
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