Salesforce CTI Integration: How Dialpad Connects Calls and Customer Data in Salesforce

Salesforce CTI connects your phone system to Salesforce so reps and agents can make, take, and log calls from inside the CRM. Dialpad's Salesforce integration brings calling, messaging, automatic activity logging, and Dialpad AI call insights into Salesforce, so each conversation and the customer record it belongs to can live in the same place.

Here's what the integration does, how the Salesforce CTI compares to working from the Dialpad app, and how to set it up.

What is Salesforce CTI?

A Salesforce CTI is a computer telephony integration that places a softphone inside Salesforce. Reps can dial by clicking a number on a record, answer inbound calls in the same window, and have each call logged to the right contact, lead, or case.

Without a CTI, teams often dial manually, move between tabs, and type up call notes after the fact. That can slow reps down and leave gaps in customer history, especially on teams that handle a high volume of calls each day. A CTI keeps calling and customer data in one workspace, which is why it's common for sales and support teams that use Salesforce as their primary tool.

What Dialpad's Salesforce integration does

The Dialpad for Salesforce integration works with both Sales Cloud and Service Cloud. It covers four core areas: calling, activity logging, customer context, and Dialpad AI call insights.

Click-to-call and inbound calls inside Salesforce

With the Dialpad CTI in Salesforce Lightning, reps can click to call or message a phone number on a record, search contacts by name or number, and answer inbound calls without leaving the page. Admins can choose what happens when someone clicks a number, such as prompting a choice between a call and a message.

During a call, reps can record, transfer to a teammate, and answer a waiting call from the CTI. Contact center agents can also switch their status between Available and Off Duty in the same panel.

Automatic call and SMS logging

When a call matches a Salesforce record, Dialpad can log it automatically as a completed activity, along with its recording and any voicemail. SMS messages can be logged as well.

Admins decide how calls are logged: as Salesforce Tasks, as a Dialpad Call Log object, or both. Calls can also be linked to related records such as Cases, Opportunities, and custom objects. For teams that want consistent records, admins can require a subject and notes before an agent's next call.

Customer context during calls

For calls to shared lines such as a contact center, screen pop in the CTI can open the matching Salesforce record, like a contact, Case, or Opportunity, as soon as the call starts ringing, so reps don't have to search for it. In the Dialpad app's Salesforce panel, when a caller matches a Salesforce contact, reps can see who owns the record, open activities, activity history, and opportunity stage while they talk. They can create or connect contacts, log tasks, and add notes without switching tools.

That context also travels with reps on the go. In the Dialpad mobile app, they can view open and past Salesforce activities and log new ones, and notes entered during a call are logged as closed activities.

Dialpad AI call insights in Salesforce

Dialpad AI writes call insights back to Salesforce, so what was said on a call becomes part of the customer record instead of living in someone's notes. Supported fields include:

• AI Summary: the AI Recap of the call

• AI Action Items: follow-ups detected during the call

• AI Call Purpose and AI Outcome: why the customer called and how the call ended

• AI CSAT: the call's satisfaction score for teams using AI CSAT

• AI Playbook adherence: how closely a rep followed their AI Playbook

AI Summary and AI Action Items are rich text, so they appear on the Dialpad Call Log object or in a Dialpad AI section on the page layout rather than in standard Task fields.

Real-time features are available inside Salesforce too once Dialpad Everywhere is enabled. AI transcription captures the conversation as it happens, and AI Live Coach Cards can surface talking points or answers on a rep's screen when specific keywords come up.

With call purpose, outcome, and follow-ups stored in Salesforce, managers and ops teams can review conversation intelligence alongside pipeline and case data in Salesforce. The result is a practical way to turn interactions into operational insight.

Salesforce CTI vs. the Dialpad app: which setup fits your team

Dialpad gives teams two ways to work with Salesforce. The Salesforce CTI is built for teams that spend most of their day in Salesforce, while the Dialpad app with the Salesforce integration suits teams that work primarily in Dialpad and want Salesforce context alongside their calls.

The Help Center's comparison of the Salesforce CTI and Dialpad app also covers contact center features such as status changes and live call monitoring.

How to set up Dialpad for Salesforce

Setting up the integration takes a Salesforce admin and a Dialpad admin, and the Dialpad for Salesforce installation steps in the Help Center walk through each screen.

Requirements

The integration is free to install. Before you start, confirm you have:

• A Dialpad Support for contact centers, Dialpad Sell, or Dialpad Connect license

• Salesforce Enterprise or Unlimited edition, or another edition with API access

• API access enabled in Salesforce

• The latest Dialpad for Salesforce package

• A Salesforce System Admin profile for the person installing the package

Dialpad doesn't store Salesforce activities. It fetches information in real time through Salesforce APIs to display it.

Installation steps

1. Enable Salesforce in Dialpad. A Dialpad Company Admin turns on the Salesforce integration under Admin Settings, then My Company, then Integrations.

2. Install the package. Find Dialpad for Salesforce on Salesforce AppExchange and select Install for All Users.

3. Assign permission sets. Give admins the Dialpad for Salesforce Administrator permission set and give agents and reps the Standard user permission set.

4. Add Dialpad to your Lightning apps. In App Manager, edit each Lightning app, add the softphone as a utility item, rename it Dialpad, and assign the app to the right user profiles.

5. Turn on the integration for users. In Salesforce Setup, edit each user who needs access and set their Call Center to Dialpad Lightning.

6. Log in to the CTI. Each user opens the Dialpad CTI in Salesforce and signs in with their Dialpad credentials.

From there, admins can fine-tune contact matching, logging rules, and click behavior for phone numbers. Teams that started using the integration before March 15, 2024, may need to add the Dialpad AI section to their Salesforce page layouts manually to see AI fields.