Natterbox Freedom CTI and the Open CTI Retirement: Your Two Paths Forward

Natterbox has long pitched itself as telephony that lives inside Salesforce. Many of its customers run Freedom CTI, which Natterbox also calls Freedom for Salesforce. That product sits on Salesforce Open CTI, so the 2028 retirement applies to it. Natterbox has published a detailed FAQ on what happens next, and it is more specific than most vendor notices we have read.

Here is a plain summary of what Natterbox says, what it will cost you, and what to decide first.

Who is affected

According to Natterbox’s Open CTI retirement update, the change only touches customers on Freedom CTI. Customers already on Salesforce Voice (the product formerly called Service Cloud Voice) are not affected. Natterbox notes it has been a Salesforce Voice telephony partner since that product launched in 2019.

The deadline itself comes from Salesforce. The Salesforce Help retirement notice says Open CTI reaches end of life on February 28, 2028, and that legacy connectors will no longer function after that. New Agentforce Service orgs already cannot implement Open CTI.

Natterbox will keep developing Freedom CTI until then

One point stands out. Salesforce has stopped adding features to the Open CTI framework, but Natterbox says that does not freeze its own product. It states it can keep delivering new Freedom CTI features and will maintain full support until Salesforce fully retires the framework, “February 2028 at the earliest.”

That gives Natterbox customers some breathing room. It does not remove the deadline. Natterbox is clear that after February 2028 it will need to move all Open CTI customers to either a Natterbox alternative or Natterbox-powered Salesforce Voice, and that staying put risks interrupted service.

The two paths Natterbox describes

Natterbox frames the choice around what you want from Salesforce:

• Salesforce Voice suits teams that want native Omni-Channel routing, Einstein for Service AI and Agentforce AI agents.
• A Natterbox-owned option may fit better if you work across several CRMs, have mobile-first users, or rely on Natterbox’s own AI agents and analytics.

For the Salesforce Voice route, Natterbox says the change is mostly on the agent screen. Routing policies, call flows and admin controls that already live in Salesforce stay the same. The main swap is from the Open CTI interface to the Salesforce Voice console.

Costs and timelines

Natterbox says your Natterbox subscription price does not change. Moving to Salesforce Voice adds two cost lines: Salesforce Voice licensing, charged per user by Salesforce, and Natterbox professional services for the migration. Every agent who uses the voice channel needs a Salesforce Voice license. Natterbox also notes that at least one Salesforce Voice license is required to use Agentforce Voice.

On timing, Natterbox says most migrations finish within 4 to 12 weeks from kick-off to go-live. Teams, departments or locations can move in phases. Natterbox expects many migrations to happen in the 6 to 12 months before the retirement date, and says customers can choose to wait.

The detail most teams miss: reporting

Natterbox flags that historical call data and recordings stay where they are, but new calls will be stored on the Voice Call object rather than as Tasks. That means you need a reporting switchover date. Salesforce’s developer guide on migrating reporting confirms VoiceCall becomes the main reporting object. If your managers watch weekly call dashboards, decide early how they will read numbers that span both objects.

Natterbox also admits that while there is “largely feature parity,” some Open CTI features may be missing or work differently in Salesforce Voice. Ask your account manager for a feature-by-feature list based on your own setup.

What this means for your contact center

• Do not mistake breathing room for a delay. Freedom CTI keeps improving, but the February 28, 2028 date still applies.
• Decide the destination first. Salesforce Voice and a Natterbox-owned option lead to very different agent experiences and costs.
• Budget per seat. Add Salesforce Voice licenses for every voice agent, plus services, to your 2027 plan.
• Avoid the 2027 rush. If many customers move in the final 6 to 12 months, earlier slots may be easier to get.
• Plan the reporting cutover. Pick the date your dashboards switch from Task to VoiceCall.
• Use the window to compare. A required migration is a natural point to review whether your current channel mix still fits.

If you are comparing vendors while you plan, Partner Contact Center Powered by Vonage runs on Salesforce Voice, and Vonage Contact Center for Salesforce brings voice, video, WhatsApp, SMS, chat and email into the same Salesforce workspace.

Sources

• Natterbox Docs: Salesforce Open CTI Retirement: Notification Update
• Salesforce Help: Open CTI Retirement
• Salesforce Developers: Migrate Reporting (Open CTI Developer Guide)