Jonathan is an outside sales rep at United Rentals Fluid Solutions in Miami–Fort Lauderdale. He visits construction job sites, talks to customers about dewatering pumps and heavy equipment rental. By the time he's back at the office, he's forgotten half of what was discussed.
The Problem
Jobsites are loud. Hands are dirty. Gloves are on. Typing on a phone in the Florida sun while standing next to a 6-inch trash pump is not how work gets documented. So it doesn't get documented. Customer requests slip through the cracks. Follow-ups get missed. The CRM stays empty until someone reminds Jonathan to update it three days later.
Jonathan isn't lazy. He's a top performer. The tool just doesn't fit the way he works. He needed something he could use while walking between job trailers, with one hand holding a hard hat and the other holding his phone.
The Solution: Voice Notes
Voice Notes is a new tab inside Delivery Hub. It's dead simple: one big microphone button, a transcript area, and a “Create Work Item” button. Tap the mic. Talk. Stop. Your words become a Salesforce Work Item with a name, description, and date — no keyboard required.
The interface is mobile-first. The mic button is oversized on purpose — you can hit it with wet gloves. The transcript text is large enough to read in direct sunlight. There are no menus to navigate, no dropdowns to tap, no forms to fill out.
How It Works Technically
Voice Notes uses the Web Speech API — a browser-native speech recognition engine. This means:
- Zero API cost. No OpenAI Whisper calls, no Google Cloud Speech charges, no per-minute billing. The browser handles all transcription locally.
- Audio never leaves the device. There is no audio file uploaded to a server. The browser processes speech locally and returns text. This matters for regulated industries.
- Real-time transcription. Words appear as you speak. You can see exactly what the system is hearing and correct it before creating the record.
There's also a batch mode. Ramble for two minutes about three different topics. The system splits your transcript by sentence boundaries and creates one Work Item per topic. Smart date parsing converts “next Monday” or “end of the month” into ISO dates automatically.
The Apex Backend
The LWC calls two @AuraEnabled Apex methods:
createSingleWorkItem
Takes a name, description, and optional date. Creates one Work Item record, links it to the current user's Network Entity, and returns the record ID with a direct link.
createBatchWorkItems
Takes a list of transcript segments. Creates multiple Work Items in a single DML operation. Returns a list of record IDs and links for confirmation.
Both methods respect CRUD and Field-Level Security. If a user's profile doesn't have create access on the Work Item object, the method throws a clear error instead of silently failing.
Who It's For
Voice Notes was inspired by Jonathan, but the use cases go way beyond outside sales:
- Field service technicians documenting issues on-site without setting down their tools.
- Account managers capturing action items during a client call by talking to their phone instead of scribbling notes on a napkin.
- Executives dictating tasks while walking between meetings.
- Anyone with accessibility needs who finds typing difficult or impossible.
Before and After
The Jobsite Visit
Before
Jonathan drives back to the office, tries to remember what the client said about the pump replacement timeline. Types a half-complete Jira ticket. Forgets the deadline.
After
Jonathan walks to his truck, taps the mic, says "Client needs 4-inch pump swap by next Friday, quote approval pending." Work Item created with a due date of next Friday. Done before he starts the engine.
The Client Call
Before
Account manager hangs up, opens Salesforce, tries to reconstruct 30 minutes of conversation. Creates one task that says "follow up" with no details.
After
Account manager uses batch mode during the call. Three sentences become three Work Items, each with specific action items and dates. The client gets a follow-up email within the hour.
The Walking Meeting
Before
Two managers walk and talk. Great ideas are shared. Nobody writes anything down. Two weeks later, nobody remembers what was decided.
After
One manager voice-notes the key decisions as they walk. Five Work Items created by the time they reach the elevator. Decisions are captured, assigned, and tracked.
What's Next
Voice Notes is live today. Here's what's on the roadmap:
- AI-powered intent detection. Automatically set priority based on urgency cues in your speech. “This is critical” → Priority: High.
- Audio recording attachment. Optionally save the raw audio file as a Salesforce ContentDocument, linked to the Work Item for reference.
- Offline mode. Queue voice notes when you're in a dead zone. They sync automatically when connectivity returns.
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