Salesforce Open CTI Sunsetting: Timeline, Impact, and Your Migration Options

Salesforce Open CTI is being deprecated February 28, 2028. The JavaScript-based framework that allowed third-party phone and dialer tools to embed natively inside Salesforce is being phased out in favor of Service Cloud Voice, Salesforce’s newer telephony architecture.

For teams running CTI integrations today, this is not an immediate emergency, but it does require a clear plan. Salesforce has signaled that Open CTI will not receive new investment, and the migration window to Service Cloud Voice is already open.

This article explains what Open CTI is, what sunsetting actually means in practice, how Service Cloud Voice compares, and what steps to take to keep your integration running without disruption.

What Is Salesforce Open CTI?

Salesforce Open CTI is a JavaScript API that lets third-party telephony and dialer applications embed directly inside Salesforce without requiring the user to install software or switch between tools. Instead of opening a separate desktop app to make or receive calls, reps can access their phone controls, call logs, and contact data from within the Salesforce interface itself.

Open CTI works by embedding a telephony widget inside a Salesforce softphone panel. When a call comes in or goes out, the integration can:

• Automatically log the call to the related Contact, Lead, or Opportunity
• Surface relevant CRM records based on the caller’s phone number
• Trigger screen pops with customer context before the rep picks up
• Sync call data back to Salesforce in real time

It was introduced as a replacement for the older CTI Toolkit, which required a locally installed adapter on each user’s machine. Open CTI removed that dependency by running entirely in the browser, making it easier to deploy at scale across distributed sales and support teams.

For years, Open CTI has been the standard integration layer between Salesforce and third-party phone systems. Most major telephony vendors, including dialers built specifically for revenue teams have built their Salesforce integrations on top of it.

What Does Sunsetting Mean for Open CTI?

Sunsetting does not mean Open CTI stops working tomorrow. It means Salesforce has formally stopped investing in it and is directing customers toward a replacement. In practice, this typically unfolds in three stages:

For Open CTI, Salesforce has moved into the deprecation phase. The framework continues to function for existing integrations, but it will not keep pace with new Salesforce platform updates, Lightning improvements, or emerging telephony requirements.

The practical risk is compatibility. As Salesforce continues to release new versions and update its core platform, Open CTI integrations may begin to break in ways that Salesforce has no obligation to fix. Teams that stay on Open CTI are essentially running on borrowed time.

When Is Salesforce Open CTI Being Sunsetted?

Salesforce has set February 28, 2028 as the official end-of-life date for Open CTI. After this date, the framework will no longer be supported, and Salesforce will make no guarantees about compatibility with future platform releases.

Key milestones to know:

2028 may feel far away, but enterprise migrations rarely go quickly. Evaluating vendors, running a pilot, retraining reps, and reconfiguring workflows takes time, often six to twelve months at minimum for mid-size and large organizations.

The practical takeaway: do not wait for the deadline. Teams that begin planning now will have full control over the process. Teams that wait until 2027 will be rushed, competing for vendor resources, and at higher risk of disruption.

What Are Your Options After Open CTI?

When Open CTI is sunsetted in February 2028, you will need a supported telephony integration to keep your phone system connected to Salesforce. There are two realistic paths.

Option 1: Migrate to Service Cloud Voice

Service Cloud Voice is Salesforce’s native replacement and the path Salesforce will push hardest. It offers deep platform integration, real-time transcription, and Einstein AI features built directly into Salesforce.

The catch is cost. Service Cloud Voice requires additional Salesforce licensing on top of what your team already pays, and for most mid-market sales organizations, that incremental cost is significant. Teams with dozens of reps, the licensing expense alone can be difficult to justify before factoring in implementation, training, and telephony infrastructure.

For large enterprise teams already deeply invested in the Salesforce ecosystem and needing native omni-channel routing, Service Cloud Voice makes sense. For most revenue teams that need a reliable, full-featured dialer tightly integrated with Salesforce, the cost-to-value calculation is harder to make work.

Option 2: Revenue.io’s RingDNA Dialer

Revenue.io connects directly to Salesforce without requiring Service Cloud Voice licensing. It delivers full dialer functionality including call recording, call transcription, AI summaries, mobile functionality, voicemail drop, local presence, and automatic activity logging at a significantly lower cost per user.

For revenue teams that want to move off Open CTI without rebuilding their entire telephony stack or absorbing a major licensing increase, Revenue.io’s dialer is worth evaluating seriously.

Here are the remaining sections:

How Open CTI and Service Cloud Voice Compare

Understanding the technical differences between the two frameworks helps clarify why Salesforce is making this change and what your team will gain or lose in the transition.

Open CTI does one thing well: it lets third-party phone tools live inside Salesforce. Service Cloud Voice goes much deeper, treating telephony as a native part of the platform rather than an embedded external tool.

The tradeoff is cost and complexity. Service Cloud Voice is more capable, but it comes with massive additional investment. For teams that do not need the full Salesforce stack, a native integration like Revenue.io covers the core use cases at a fraction of the cost.

How to Prepare for the Open CTI Sunset

February 2028 is far enough away that most teams are not in crisis mode, but close enough that planning should start now. Enterprise migrations take longer than expected, and waiting until 2027 means competing for vendor resources during peak migration demand.

Here is a practical approach to getting ahead of it.

Step 1: Audit your current Open CTI integration

Start by understanding exactly what you have. Document which telephony vendor you use, how the integration is configured, what Salesforce objects it writes to, and which workflows depend on it. This audit becomes the foundation for any migration plan.

Step 2: Identify what your team actually needs

Not every team needs the full Service Cloud Voice stack. Define your core requirements: call logging, screen pops, recording, coaching, reporting. Knowing what matters to your team makes it easier to evaluate options without overpaying for features you will not use.

Step 3: Evaluate your options early

Give yourself time to compare Service Cloud Voice against Salesforce native alternatives like Revenue.io. Request demos, ask vendors about their migration support, and pressure-test the cost model across your full user count.

Step 4: Run a pilot before full rollout

Whichever path you choose, pilot it with a small group of reps before rolling out to the full team. This surfaces configuration issues, training gaps, and workflow problems before they affect revenue.

Step 5: Plan your data migration

If you are moving to a new integration, make sure historical call data, recordings, and activity logs are preserved and accessible in Salesforce after the switch. This is often overlooked and can create compliance or coaching gaps if not handled carefully.

Step 6: Train your team before go-live

A new telephony integration changes how reps make calls, log activity, and access customer context. Build training into the rollout plan, not as an afterthought. Reps who understand the new system from day one adopt it faster and revert to workarounds less.

Conclusion

Salesforce Open CTI is being sunsetted on February 28, 2028. For sales and service teams that rely on a CTI integration today, that deadline represents a real forcing function to evaluate what comes next.

The two paths are clear. Service Cloud Voice is Salesforce’s native replacement and offers the deepest platform integration, but comes with significant additional licensing costs that make it a difficult fit for many mid-market revenue teams. Revenue.io offers full dialer functionality natively inside Salesforce at a significantly lower cost per user, without requiring the Service Cloud Voice licensing layer.

The teams that will navigate this transition best are the ones that start evaluating now. Auditing your current integration, defining your requirements, and piloting a replacement with time to spare is far less painful than scrambling in 2027 when everyone else is doing the same thing.