Why Are Logged Calls Not Visible in Salesforce?

Question

We have a new Salesforce user who is a C-level executive, assigned a role higher than some existing users on the record. The record in question is a Person Account, which has multiple logged calls in its activity history. When logging in as the two existing users, all logged calls are visible as expected. However, when logging in as the new user, these logged calls do not appear.

Conversely, if the new user logs a call, it is not visible to the existing users. Other activities, such as tasks, appear for all users without issue. The record types are the same across all users, and they all have identical permission set assignments and profiles. The new user can access a logged call directly through its URL without any errors or missing data. There is no filtering applied in the Activity Section of the record page. We are using Financial Services Cloud (FSC), and I am unable to determine what is preventing these logged calls from appearing. What could be causing this issue, and how can it be resolved?

Answer

This issue is likely caused by Salesforce’s Activity Sharing Model, Role Hierarchy Limitations, or Account Team Permissions. Here are some possible explanations and solutions:

1. Organization-Wide Defaults (OWD) for Activities

Salesforce treats Activities (Tasks, Events, and Logged Calls) differently from standard records. By default, Activities are private and do not always follow the Role Hierarchy. Even though the new user has a higher role, they may not automatically gain access to activities logged by lower-level users.
To check and update this setting:

1. Go to Setup → Sharing Settings.
2. Locate the Activity object (or Task and Event).
3. Check if the Organization-Wide Default (OWD) is set to Private.
4. If it is, change it to Controlled by Parent so that activity access follows the visibility of the parent record (in this case, the Person Account).
   If you need to keep Activities private, you may need to create Sharing Rules to grant visibility.

2. Account Teams and Activity Visibility

In Financial Services Cloud (FSC), Person Accounts rely heavily on Account Teams for record access. If the new user is not part of the Account Team, they might not have access to associated activities.
To resolve this:

1. Open the Person Account record.
2. Go to the Account Team related list.
3. Ensure that the new user is added with at least Read/Write or Read-Only access to activities.

3. Activity Ownership and Sharing Rules

Each logged call is an Activity record owned by the user who created it. If OWD for Activities is set to Private, users cannot see activities owned by other users.
To create a Sharing Rule:

1. Navigate to Setup → Sharing Settings.
2. Scroll to the Activity Object section.
3. Click New Sharing Rule.
4. Define a rule that shares activities between users based on roles or public groups.

For example, if you want all users within the same role hierarchy to see each other’s activities, you can create a rule:

If Activity Owner’s Role = [Existing Users' Role]  
Then Share With → [New User’s Role]  
Access Level: Read/Write

4. Field-Level Security (FLS) and Page Layouts

Even if profiles and permission sets are identical, Field-Level Security (FLS) or different Page Layout Assignments might be hiding logged calls.

To verify this:

1. Go to Setup → Object Manager → Task & Event → Fields & Relationships.
2. Ensure the “Call Type” or “Logged Call” field is visible to the new user’s profile.
3. Navigate to Page Layouts and confirm that all users are assigned the same layout.

5. Lightning Record Page Filters or Custom Components

Even though there are no explicit filters in the Activity Section, there might be hidden Lightning Page configurations causing the issue.
To check this:

1. Open the Lightning Record Page in the Lightning App Builder.
2. Select the Activity Timeline Component.
3. Ensure that there are no custom filters applied that could be restricting visibility.

If logged calls are not visible for a specific user, the issue is likely due to Activity OWD settings, Account Team permissions, or Sharing Rules. The best approach is to set OWD to Controlled by Parent if possible, add the new user to the Account Team, and ensure that Activity Sharing Rules are configured correctly. Also, verify Field-Level Security and Page Layout Assignments to rule out UI-related issues.

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