Salesforce Voice: Do You Need to Replace Your Telephony?

Understanding your deployment options for native voice in Salesforce

As organizations plan their move away from Open CTI, one practical question surfaces immediately:Do I have to replace my entire telephony stack to modernize voice in Salesforce?The short answer is no. Salesforce supports multiple paths to native voice, and the right one depends on your current environment, your risk tolerance, and how far you want to go.This article breaks down the four main options available today.

What Salesforce Voice actually is

First, a common misconception. Salesforce Voice (formerly Service Cloud Voice) is not a phone system. It is the native voice layer inside Salesforce that:

Embeds voice directly into the Agentforce Service Console
Creates standard Voice Call records in Salesforce
Uses unified routing with Omni-Channel
Enables real-time transcription, AI guidance, and analytics

Telephony still comes from a provider. Salesforce Voice defines how calls enter Salesforce, how they are routed, logged, and analyzed, and how agents work in a single console. The difference between deployment options is where the dial tone and routing logic live.With the March 2026 launch of Agentforce Contact Center, there is now a fourth option: Salesforce provides the telephony natively, with no external provider required.

The four deployment options

Option 1: Salesforce Voice with Amazon ConnectThis is the most established integration. Salesforce provisions or connects to an Amazon Connect instance that handles inbound and outbound calls, IVR flows, and integration with AWS AI services.Best for: Organizations that are greenfield, planning a full telephony refresh, or want deep out-of-the-box AI features through AWS.Key consideration: This requires moving your telephony to Amazon Connect, which may mean less reuse of existing CCaaS investments.Option 2: Salesforce Voice with Partner Telephony from Amazon ConnectThis option applies if you already use Amazon Connect today. Instead of provisioning a new instance, you connect your existing setup to Salesforce through the Partner Telephony framework.Best for: Existing Amazon Connect customers who want to modernize the agent desktop and data model without redoing their IVR and routing.Option 3: Salesforce Voice with BYOT (Bring Your Own Telephony)For most enterprises with significant investment in existing telephony, this is the most practical starting point. With BYOT, you keep your existing telephony or CCaaS platform. Genesys, NICE CXone, Cisco, Avaya, RingCentral, Zoom, and other providers are supported.Calls are surfaced natively in Salesforce through Partner Telephony APIs. Agents use the Salesforce Voice widget. Voice data is stored as standard Voice Call records. Your provider continues to handle dial tone, carrier connectivity, and IVR logic.Best for: Organizations that need a low-risk transition away from Open CTI, want to modernize the agent experience first, and plan to adopt AI and unified routing without changing carriers on day one.Option 4: Agentforce Contact Center (native telephony)Launched in March 2026, Agentforce Contact Center brings telephony, IVR, and full CCaaS capabilities natively into the Salesforce platform. Voice is no longer routed through an external provider. It is built directly into the same system as your CRM, routing, and AI.This is the most consolidated option. One platform handles voice, digital channels, routing, data, and AI. There is no external telephony integration to maintain.Best for: Organizations starting fresh, mid-market companies ready for full platform consolidation, or enterprises that want to eliminate the integration layer between their CRM and their contact center platform.Key consideration: This is a newer offering. Currently available in the United States and Canada. Organizations with complex global telephony requirements or deep investments in existing CCaaS platforms may find the BYOT path a better starting point, with Agentforce Contact Center as a future consolidation target.

All four paths deliver the same foundation

Regardless of which option you choose, the outcome is consistent:

Voice becomes a native Salesforce channel
Calls produce standard CRM records
Routing is unified across voice and digital channels
AI has direct access to conversation data
Agents work in a single console

The options differ in where the telephony infrastructure lives and how much of your existing stack you preserve. They do not differ in the Salesforce experience they deliver.

Choosing the right path is a business decision

The choice between these options is not about right or wrong. It depends on your specific business reality:

Sunk cost: How much have you invested in your current telephony stack?
Timeline: How quickly do you need to move away from Open CTI before the February 2028 deadline?
Constraints: Do you have regulatory or regional requirements that affect telephony choices?
Appetite for change: Are you ready for full platform consolidation, or is a phased approach safer?

A common and pragmatic strategy: Start with BYOT to eliminate Open CTI and modernize the agent experience. Prove the value with native voice data and AI. Then evaluate whether to consolidate telephony onto Amazon Connect or Agentforce Contact Center based on results, not assumptions.

How OSF Digital approaches this decision

At OSF Digital, we do not start by recommending a telephony swap. We start by answering:

What problem are you trying to solve first: risk, efficiency, AI, or cost?
Which parts of your current stack work well today?
Where does Open CTI create friction or risk?

From there, we design an approach that removes Open CTI dependency, preserves business continuity, and creates a clear path to native voice and AI. For many organizations, that means BYOT first, not full replacement first.The right deployment option is the one that fits your current reality. Not the one that requires the biggest leap on day one.Ready to evaluate your options? Contact OSF Digital for a personalized assessment tailored to your environment.