New in Zoho CRM Plus - October 2019

New in Zoho CRM Plus - October 2019

Hello everyone! 


This post is a summary of the recent updates made to Zoho CRM Plus, aimed to help keep you up-to-date on all new and forthcoming changes.  

You can read through to learn about the latest updates added to different parts of our platform, such as CRM, Desk, and Social. Find out all the new ways you can utilize Zoho CRM Plus as a customer experience platform for your business. 
 
CRM 

1) Fine-tune your configurations in Assignment Rules
 
a. Selecting users based on set criteria  
 
Apart from sorting users into categories such as Users, Roles, and Groups, you can also define certain conditions for these categories based on which records will be assigned to them. 
 
For example, let's say you set an assignment rule in your CRM stating that all records from India and the US should be assigned only to users in the U.S. In the previous version, you would need to choose the U.S. users individually from the Users category.

With this new update, you can now define specific conditions, such as setting all your records from India and the U.S. to be assigned to users in the U.S.



b. Check user's availability before assigning a record  
 
In addition to easier and more specific lead assignment, we've also added an optional enhancement allowing you to check the availability of a user based on their shift timing and online status (whether they're logged into CRM or not) before assigning records to that particular user. 



Now that you can check for a user's availability before assigning records, there are times when you choose not to assign a record to the user, such as when they are unavailable or logged out, or have deactivated or deleted their CRM account.
 
To avoid such situations, you can also select a default user, who will be assigned the records in absence of the first selected user. For this default user, you can choose either a logged-in user (who has initiated the record action) or any other CRM user. More on Assignment rules here.
 
2) Updates to the data importing process: replacing empty values

In our previous version, if any field you marked as mandatory in your import file was empty or did not have a value, the record will not be imported. To address this, our new update allows you to define a value for the empty field while you are importing the records. More on imports here.



3) Find out how Zia answers your questions
 
"Explore" in Zia is a new feature that helps you trace the search route taken by Zia to find answers to your questions. 


  
For example, let's say you want to know your upcoming tasks and you tell Zia, "Show my upcoming tasks." Click on the "Explore" icon in the results and Zia will show you the criteria applied and the module the answer came from. In this example, it would be the "Tasks" module and the search criterion would be the duration.
 
This helps improve the accuracy of your search results, and also find out if Zia is fetching you the right information by looking at the criteria she set for fetching the results. 

To access this feature, hover over Zia's response and click the Explore icon. More on Zia here.
 
4) New views for CRM Dashboards
 
Along with the existing categories for dashboard views, Favorites, Created by me and Shared with me, CRM has added three more views: All, Public, and Other users' dashboards. 
 
All: Display a consolidated view of all the dashboards in your CRM
Public: View dashboards accessible to all users inside CRM
Other users' dashboards: Admins and Super Admins can view dashboards created by other users inside CRM.

 
5) Reduced refresh time for Sandbox

The refresh time for your Sandbox account (a test environment to check your CRM settings before deploying them to production) has been reduced from every 30 days to every three days. 
 
In addition to the shorter refresh time period, you also get to retain your Deployment Logs for up to six months. More on Sandbox here.
  
Desk 
 
1) The new, improved Social module inside Desk
 
An active social media presence, combined with real-time responsiveness from your customer support teams, can work wonders for your business. Desk, your dedicated service for support operations, helps utilize your organization's social media accounts as direct support channels.
 

 
With our new take on Social module under Desk, you can now organize your Social media channels—Facebook pages, Instagram accounts, and Twitter handles—into a single unit, called a brand. 
 
*A brand is the fundamental unit under which you can manage the Facebook page and Twitter handle of a brand/organization.

After you connect your social media accounts to a brand in the Social module, all posts, tags, and private messages posted or received by the accounts are automatically populated from their respective feeds. You can perform all basic actions from there, such as commenting on a post, liking a post, replying to a tweet, and retweeting or liking a tweet. You can also manually or automatically convert posts into tickets in your help desk portal.
 
2) Convert business reviews into tickets with new Marketplace extensions

We have now introduced two new marketplace extensions for Desk: App Store Reviews and Google Play Reviews for Desk. With these extensions, you can now convert your reviews on Google Play and App Store into tickets within your help desk. Links to both review channels will be redirected to the respective app channels. Your agents can now reply to reviews from Desk, and their responses will be automatically posted on Google Play Store. 

Note: Due to authentication constraints, agents can view but not reply to App store reviews from Desk
 
Social 

1) Easily accessible emoji menu 
 
You can now access the emoji menu anywhere you type on Social. 
Previously, the emoji menu was available only under the Compose window but with this new update, the emoji menu is easily accessible whenever you start typing on the platform. This includes your notifications tab, your livestream updates, and under the monitor tab. More on emoji menus in Social here.
 
2) Tag your Facebook and LinkedIn accounts in your posts
 
In our previous version, you could tag Twitter and Instagram profiles in Social posts. Our new update in Social now allows you to also tag your Facebook and LinkedIn pages in your posts.
​ 
To tag Facebook and Linkedin Pages on Social, type the "@" symbol, followed by the name of the Facebook or LinkedIn page. The New Post box will display matching profile suggestions for you to choose from. Select the correct username from the drop down, then click Done and your tag will appear on the post. More on tagging users in social media posts here
 
That's it with our product updates for this month, but stay tuned for next month's news! In the meantime, check out these new updates and share your experience with us in the comments below. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 







    • Sticky Posts

    • Zoho CRM Plus in 2023: Let's rewind

      Hey everyone, There's something about December that makes us want to sit back and remember all the wonderful moments, as we get ready for the New Year, 2024! (Psst! We are also turning 10—yay!) This year, CRM Plus had a lot of wonderful updates, taking
    • The CX Workshops are back in 2023!

      Hello, can you see my screen? Can you hear me? This is a phrase we've all been saying more often than "good morning" over the last couple of years. Well, now it's time to re-connect in person. We're excited to invite you all to the CX Workshops we've
    • Refer Zoho CRM Plus to your friends and earn rewards!

      Hey everyone,   We'd like to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for continuing to be our esteemed customers. Now you have the opportunity to refer Zoho CRM Plus to your friends or family members who are looking for a suitable solution to enhance
    • Social in CRM Plus now supports TikTok, Instagram Stories and Reels, and YouTube Shorts

      Hey everyone,   We are excited to inform you that Social in CRM Plus now allows you to publish on TikTok! We've also updated it to let you create Instagram Stories and Reels, as well as YouTube Shorts. Here's a brief about the updates.  Publishing on
    • Unified telephony in Zoho CRM Plus

      In any business, managing calls with the prospects or customers is an integral part of a salesperson or a support agent's daily life. They have access to information about the customers within Zoho CRM, and they also use a suitable PBX service to communicate
    • Recent Topics

    • Emails not being received from a particular domain

      Cannot receive any emails sent from atco.com Domain is in the spam whitelist so should be no reason for it not to be coming through. Have filed a ticket and besides a generic response of we are looking at it - it seems there is no actual support workers
    • Mail Not Showing In Inbox or Sent Box

      Hi, there are mails that are not displaying in both my inbox and sent box. I just tried the iPad app and it is the same but there is a blank field where a mail should be and it refers to a server error. Please fix this.
    • Marketing Automation List Entry Criteria is no longer an option

      For a couple of years now we have used the "List Entry Criteria" option to filter our Journey recipient list. All of a suddent the option no longer exists for New Lists and I can only delete the option from existing lists but can no longer edit it. Anyone
    • GCLID arrives not in CRM with iframe integrated ZOHO Form

      Hello amazing community, I enabled Adwords integration in ZOHO CRM. I have a ZOHO Form integrated in a wordpress. I tested iframe and Javascript. I enabled the "handover" GCLID in the ZOHO Form. When I add a GLID with http://www.example.com/?gclid=TeSter-123.
    • How to overcome Zoho Deluge's time limit?

      I have built a function according to the following scheme: pages = {1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10}; for each page in pages { entriesPerPage = zoho.crm.getRecords("Accounts",page,200); for each entry in entriesPerPage { … } } Unfortunately, we have too many entries
    • Add Webhook Response Module to Zoho Flow

      Hi Zoho Flow Team, We’d like to request a Webhook Response capability for Zoho Flow that can return a dynamic, computed reply to the original webhook caller after / during the flow runs. What exists today Zoho Flow’s webhook trigger can send custom acknowledgements
    • Bidirectional sync between Zoho Bookings and Zoho CRM - Part 1

      Hey, community members! The default integration between Zoho CRM and Zoho Bookings is unidirectional, which means that any appointments booked, rescheduled, or deleted in Zoho Bookings will be reflected in Zoho CRM. However, any modifications made to
    • Is it possible to edit placeholder text?

      In the master slides I want to make sure my templates have more meaning for the users and want to replace the standard placeholder text with something more instructional. Instead of "Click to edit Mast subtitle styles" I want to have "Click to enter reporting
    • Delay function execute

      I've got a workflow which uses a webhook to send information to Flow, which in return updates a record in Creator. Problem is, by the time this has executed, the rest of my script has run and can't find the (yet to be) updated info in the record. Is there
    • How to allow download of a file AFTER information is collected?

      I can't find this anywhere. Can someone help with what seems to be a pretty basic web function today? - File is stored in Workdrive - Prospect goes to a URL where the file is located - System requests prospect to enter "Name" and "Email" - An email is
    • Add Baseline methods to API

      There are no API methods for creating or querying baselines,  Use case: Customer is notified of the current project start date according to plan via another product/integration. We would like to auto create a baseline (Automated via API) at the point
    • Bulk Fill In & Edit PO/Bill/SO/Invoice

      Hello, I am adding stock in bulk on a PO, the system is automatically populating the Rate (price) and Tax from the item data. Problem is that the bill rate is different from the rate on the item data, so I have to manually erase each and enter the price.
    • Fixed Assets beg balance

      Hello, I trust you are well I'm a new zoho books user and I find it difficult to plug in the fixed assets balance and here's what I have done: 1- I imported the fixed assets data into the fixed assets module as per the instructions 2- the import process
    • Syncing with Google calendar, Tasks and Events

      Is it possible to sync Zoho CRM calendar, task and events with Google Calendar's tasks and events. With the increasing adoption by many major tool suppliers to sync seamlessly with Google's offerings (for instance I use the excellent Any.do task planning
    • CRM Deluge how can link attach file with workdrive file.

      Hi, We have create file at workdrive and would like to link to attachment at crm module by deluge. Right now can only upload it to attachment but can not link the file from workdrive. Thank you
    • Feature announcement: AI-powered document generator in Zoho Sign

      Hi there! We recently announced manual document creation by offering an editor within Zoho Sign. Today, we are excited to announce AI-powered document generation to help you draft agreements, purchase orders, and other important business documents in
    • Permanently deleted files

      Is there a way to get back permanently deleted files from your account if they were accidentally deleted and no longer recoverable from the recycling bin? I know I am probably screwed but I just figured I would ask.
    • Shared Mailbox in iOS app

      Hi, On the desktop I am using a Shared mailbox for our company's general mailbox that somebody else should be able to view. In the iOS app however I can't find it? Old sources on the internet says this isn't possible but that can't be right? Somebody
    • Tip #41- Simplify Compliance and Efficiency with Zoho Assist’s Data Cleanup Feature- 'Insider Insights'

      Managing device data efficiently is just as important as securing remote access. With Zoho Assist’s Data Cleanup feature, admins can easily remove outdated or unnecessary device records, keeping the console organized and secure. This action is carried
    • Revenue Management: #6 Revenue Recognition in Professional Services Industry

      If you run a consulting firm, agency, or any service-based business, you have a situation where you have signed the contract, maybe even sent the invoice, and have received some initial payments. So, can you consider this as revenue? What if the project
    • Zoho fsm scheduled maintenance dispatch

      Hi, I'm reaching out regarding an issue I'm encountering with the Scheduled Maintenance feature in Zoho FSM. I’m trying to configure it so that it automatically dispatches all maintenance jobs scheduled within the next 150 days, starting from today. However,
    • zoho.inventory.getRecords returns no records

      I running a custom function (Deluge) in Zoho Flow with a connection to Zoho Inventory. To debug the problem, I created the test function below. It returns "Number of contacts fetched: 0". This confirms that there's no issue with the org ID or connection
    • Zoho Campaigns Event timestamps do not propagate to Zoho CRM

      We have integrated Zoho CRM and Zoho Campaigns. But when looking at Contact records, the Campaign event data is missing the actual timestamps: especially when a particular email was sent. They're not in the Campaigns related list, and the cannot be found
    • Feature announcement - Simplifying document creation with Zoho Sign

      Hi there, We are pleased to announce the release of our document creation feature, enabling you to create, edit, and finalize documents like agreements, purchase orders, and contracts without relying on external tools or applications. <br> This
    • Integrating File Attachments in Zoho Flow Email Notifications

      Hi, I would like to be able to send an email once an entry is made in a form, and in this email, I would like to attach a file that has been added to the form using the ImageUpload (or FileUpload) widget. So, I started by creating a flow that will trigger
    • Zoho project purchases

      Hi Folks, I think having a purchase module in projects will help in putting together a project p and L. Project wise purchases and expenses.  Do let me know your thoughts.
    • Create Tasklist with Tasklist Template using API v3

      In the old API, we could mention the parameter 'task_template_id' when creating a tasklist via API to apply a tasklist template: https://www.zoho.com/projects/help/rest-api/tasklists-api.html#create-tasklist In API v3 there does not seem to be a way to
    • How can I restore all the deleted Time entries of a Task in Zoho Projects

      How can I restore all the deleted Time entries of a Task in Zoho Projects? Query: In Zoho Projects, I cloned a task and deleted the time entries from the cloned task. However, this also deleted the time entries from the original task. How can I restore
    • Is there a way to make an account inactive in ZoHo Desk

      We have a few Clients "Accounts" that we no longer do business with. It would be beneficial for them to not show up in lists. However, we want to go back and view tickets, time, etc.
    • How to set the value of the Phone field importing contacts in Zoho Desk

      Hi everyone, i'm new in Zoho Desk, we're setting up the environment and i'm importing contacts from another CRM using a file CSV and i'm getting a problem with phone numbers (italian): the leading zero is cut away, also if the value is inside double quotes.
    • Set Custom Icon for Custom Modules in new Zoho CRM UI

    • Deprecation Notice: OpenAI Assistants API will be shut down on August 26, 2026

      I recieved this email from openAI what does it means for us that are using the integration and what should we do? Earlier this year, we shared our plan to deprecate the Assistants API once the Responses API reached feature parity. With the launch of Conversations,
    • How to center a field inside a section?

      I’ve been trying to center a field inside a section in Zoho Canvas. When I align it visually, it looks centered in the editor, but after clicking Save, the field appears misaligned on the actual canvas. I also tried setting the field to full width, but
    • Kaizen #192 - Implementing Custom Token Persistence in Python SDK

      Welcome back to another week of Kaizen! Last week, we discussed how to implement Login with Zoho using OAuth 2.0 and saw how to bring it to life in a real-world application with the Zoho CRM Python SDK. We also discussed how Zylker Academy built a custom
    • Showing the map along with mileage expense

      When you use the GPS to track mileage, it shows you the map of the actual path travelled. It would be very useful and practical to save that map with the mileage expense, so that when the report is created, it provides a map of each mileage expense associated
    • Enable Validation Rule for Multi-Select Picklist Field

      Zoho, Please allow validation rules for multi-select fields.
    • File Upload field not showing in workflow

      Hi, I have added a field on Zoho CRM. I want to use it in a workflow where that particular field is updated based on another field, however it is not showing up in the field list to select it in the workflow. Why is this please?
    • CRM Custom function updating a module record shows the Super Admin user as the record modifier

      Dear Zoho CRM Team, Is there any way to update this so that when a custom function has updated a record the Super Admin user doesn't become the modifier? This happens on the record as a modifier and shows up in the audit logs. It would be more useful
    • Best practice importing items and matching assemblies

      Hi, I was wondering what would be the best practice to import items and composite items (assemblies) From my backup, what should I import first? The items or the composite items? I am on Zoho one, using inventory and books. Kind regards, Sabine
    • Best way to fetch employee names from Zoho People into Zoho Creator Inventory Stock Form field Employee Name Lookup

      Hi Team, I have a requirement in my Zoho Creator application (Inventory Stock Adjustment) where I need to fetch employee names from Zoho People and use them as a lookup in a form. Currently, I am considering using an integration field to fetch this data
    • Next Page