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Native vs integrated Salesforce CTI: where does your call data live?

A native Salesforce CTI writes calls, recordings, and transcripts directly to Salesforce objects as the system of record. An integrated CTI keeps the call in a separate vendor cloud and syncs a copy in through middleware. The practical differences: where your data physically lives, whether Salesforce Flow can trigger on it directly, and whether you can connect your own telephony account at carrier cost.

Last updated 2026-06-22

What "native" means

WorkDial is a Salesforce-native CTI platform: it writes each call to Salesforce as it happens. The call is a Call__c, the recording reference a Recording__c, and the transcript a Transcript__c. The Salesforce record is the source of truth from the moment the call ends, not a copy mirrored in afterward. The app logic runs as a managed package inside the org, so it inherits Salesforce's data model, sharing rules, and field-level security.

What "integrated" means

An integrated CTI keeps the call and its data in the vendor's own phone system, then syncs a copy into Salesforce through a connector or middleware. You end up with two systems of record: the vendor's database, where the call actually lives, and the Salesforce copy that arrives on a sync. When the two disagree, or the sync lags or breaks, the Salesforce record is the one that is wrong.

Where your call data lives

This is the practical difference that matters most. With a native CTI, your call records are Salesforce objects in your org. With WorkDial specifically, the recording is the one piece you place yourself: native Salesforce Files in your org, your own Twilio account, or your own cloud storage. WorkDial does not operate a data store to keep a copy in. An integrated CTI, by contrast, stores the call and often the recording in its cloud and references it from Salesforce, so the data you are governing in Salesforce is a pointer to someone else's system.

Your Twilio account your telephony transport

carries the call. stores nothing.

Your Salesforce org boundary

Call__cCall record

Recording__cRecording

Transcript__cTranscript

Sentiment__cSentiment

fig. 01 native data boundary

Native: the records live in your Salesforce org; the telephony transport stays outside, and you choose where recordings live.

Can Salesforce Flow act on the call?

Because a native call is a real Salesforce record, Salesforce Flow can trigger on it directly: route a negative-sentiment call to a manager, create a follow-up task, or update a field the instant the call is written. With an integrated CTI, your automation waits on the synced copy arriving, and it can only act on the fields the connector chose to bring across.

Can you bring your own telephony?

Yes. WorkDial uses bring-your-own-Twilio: you connect your own Twilio account, pay carrier rates directly, and WorkDial adds no markup on the minutes. Many integrated tools resell minutes instead, bundling telephony into their price at a markup. Your telephony account is yours, the same way your Salesforce data is yours.

The short version

Native means one system of record, inside Salesforce, that your own controls already govern. Integrated means two, with a sync in between. WorkDial is the native kind. The deeper architecture, with the diagrams, is on the Architecture page below.