# Download External Chat Logs

Cloud Voice keeps a record of the chat sessions your agents handle with contacts outside your organization. You can export these conversations to your computer whenever you need them: for legal or regulatory compliance, to resolve a customer dispute, to review agent performance, or for any similar reason.

## Before you begin

Your Cloud Voice system must be running firmware version 84.13.0.25 or newer.

:::note
You can check the current firmware version in the PBX admin portal under the system settings. If your system is on an older version, the **External Chat Logs** page will not appear, and you will need to upgrade the firmware before you can export any logs.
:::

## Download the logs

1. Sign in to the PBX (Private Branch Exchange, your phone-system admin portal) web portal and open **Reports and Recordings > External Chat Logs**.
2. Choose whether to export everything or only a subset:

   **Export every chat log**

   Click **Download** above the list, then select **Download All Chat Logs**.

   ![The download menu opened above the external chat log list with the option to export all logs](/images/pbx/download-all-chat-logs.png)

   **Export selected chat logs**

   ![The chat log list narrowed by filters with the download menu ready to export the matching records](/images/pbx/download-filtered-chat-logs.png)

   1. Apply filters to narrow the list to the records you want. The matching external chat sessions appear on the page.
   2. Click **Download** above the list, then select **Download Filtered Chat Logs**.

   :::tip
   On a busy system, filter down to only the records you actually need before you export. A smaller download is faster to produce, easier to work with, and avoids pulling customer conversations you have no reason to hold.
   :::

## What you get

The logs are saved to your computer. Each download contains two CSV (comma-separated values, a plain table format that opens in Excel, Google Sheets, or any spreadsheet app) files:

- **Session_Record**: summary details for every chat session included in the export.
- **Chat_Data_Record**: the full message-by-message history of each chat session.

:::caution
These files contain the complete text of customer conversations and any personal details shared during a chat. Store and share them only as your organization's data-protection and retention policy allows, and delete local copies once you no longer need them.
:::