Automation #3 - Auto-sync email attachments to tickets

Automation #3 - Auto-sync email attachments to tickets



This is a monthly series where we pick some common use cases that have been either discussed or most asked about in our community and explain how they can be achieved using one of the automation capabilities in Zoho Desk.

Most of our customers use email as their primary channel for customer support. Keeping that in mind we ensured Zoho Desk's multi-channel capability allowed for every email received in your inbox to be automatically converted into tickets in Zoho Desk. But for some time now, we have been receiving question on how to convert email attachments into ticket attachments within Zoho Desk. This process, which is mostly achieved manually now by many customers, can be automated using a simple script.

This automation involves two components: a connection and a workflow rule. We will first start by creating the connection and then set up the workflow rules to execute the custom function.

To create the connection, perform the following steps:
  1. Go to Setup > Connections under Developer Space
  2. Click "Create Connection"
  3. Select "Zoho OAuth" under "Default Connection"
  4. Give the connection name as "ticketattachment"
  5. Under Scope below values
    Desk.tickets.READ
    Desk.tickets.UPDATE
  6. Click "Create and Connect"
  7. Click "Connect" and click "Accept"
Connection is created successfully.

To create workflow rule and associate custom function, perform the following steps:
  1. Go to Setup, and under Automation, click Workflows.
  2. On the left panel, under Workflows, click Rules > Create Rule,
    In the Basic Information section, carry out the following steps:
  3. In the Module drop-down menu, select Tickets.
  4. Enter a name and description for the rule.
  5. If you want to activate the rule right away, select the Active checkbox. Else, you can just create the rule now and activate it later, on the Rules page.
  6. Click Next.
    In the Execute on section, perform the following steps:
  7. Select the Create checkbox to execute this rule every time a new ticket is created. 
    NOTE: If you would like to fetch all the attachment sent out and received in tickets, select "Customer Reply" and "Agent Response"
  8. Click Next, skip the "Criteria" and Click Next.
  9. In the Actions section, carry out the following steps:
  10. Click the + icon under "Action" and select "New" next to Custom Functions
  11. Enter a name and description for the custom function.
  12. In the script window, input the Custom Function you find below:

    1. //Replace your zoho desk URL accordingly
    2. getTicketThread = invokeurl
    3. [
    4. url :deskDomain + "/api/v1/tickets/" + ticketID + "/latestThread"
    5. type :GET
    6. connection:"ticketattachment"
    7. ];
    8. dir = getTicketThread.get("direction");
    9. info "Direction " + dir;
    10. if(dir == "in")
    11. {
    12. prefix = "customer_";
    13. }
    14. else
    15. {
    16. prefix = "agent_";
    17. }
    18. listAttachments = getTicketThread.get("attachments");
    19. for each  attach in listAttachments
    20. {
    21. attachmentURL = attach.get("href");
    22. filename = prefix + attach.get("name");
    23. getAttachment = invokeurl
    24. [
    25. url :attachmentURL
    26. type :GET
    27. connection:"ticketattachment"
    28. ];
    29. if(getAttachment != null)
    30. {
    31. if(isText(getAttachment))
    32. {
    33. getAttachment = getAttachment.toFile(filename);
    34. }
    35. //info getAttachment;
    36. param = Map();
    37. param.put(filename,getAttachment);
    38. getAttachment.setParamName("file");
    39. uploadResponse = invokeurl
    40. [
    41. url :deskDomain + "/api/v1/tickets/" + ticketID + "/attachments"
    42. type :POST
    43. parameters:param
    44. headers: {"Content-Type":"multipart/form-data"}
    45. connection:"ticketattachment"
    46. ];
    47. info uploadResponse;
    48. }
    49. }
  13. Click Edit Arguments
  14. In the Name field type TicketID, and from the Value drop-down list select Ticket Id under Ticket Information
  15. Click "Save" to save the custom function
  16. Click "Save" again to save the workflow.
This should help you fetch attachments from incoming or outgoing response of a ticket and update them under tickets attachments tab.

    Access your files securely from anywhere

          Zoho Developer Community




                                    Zoho Desk Resources

                                    • Desk Community Learning Series


                                    • Digest


                                    • Functions


                                    • Meetups


                                    • Kbase


                                    • Resources


                                    • Glossary


                                    • Desk Marketplace


                                    • MVP Corner


                                    • Word of the Day



                                        Zoho Marketing Automation
                                                • Sticky Posts

                                                • Zoho Desk Virtual Meetup: US Central, October 5 - 7, 2021

                                                  After the interactive Virtual Meetups in the other regions, we are starting with the US Central and Midwest regions from October 5 to October 7, 2021. The dates for other regions will be announced soon.  At this event, we will explore the topics which
                                                • Register for Zoho Desk Beta Community

                                                  With the start of the year, we have decided to take a small step in making the life of our customers a little easier. We now have easy access to all our upcoming features and a faster way to request for beta access. We open betas for some of our features
                                                • Ask the Experts 10: A 5-hour online Q&A on Zoho Desk Best Practices

                                                  Welcome to Zoho Desk's Ask the Experts session! This is a monthly discussion on our  forums; wherein a panel of experts will take on questions  specific to topics related to Zoho Desk. The panel will be available for a 5-hour period and will answer any questions posted here.   Let's begin the year learning some best practices from our experts. In this month's ATE we are opening the floor to questions on how to use Zoho Desk the best way.  If you have a business use case but not sure if Workflow is
                                                • Share your Zoho Desk story with us!

                                                  Tell us how you use Zoho Desk for your business and inspire others with your story. Be it a simple workflow rule that helps you navigate complex processes or a macro that saves your team a lot of time; share it here and help the community learn and grow with shared knowledge. 
                                                • Ask the Experts 7: A 5-hour online Q&A on Telephony and Call Module

                                                  Welcome to Ask the Experts session! This is a monthly discussion in forums; each session, a panel of experts will take questions on specific topics related to Zoho Desk. The panel will be available for a 5-hour period and answer any questions posted here. In this month's Ask the Experts, we will take questions on everything related to Telephony and the Call Module in Zoho Desk. We will discuss the following aspects:  Integration with different Telephony vendors Routing calls to agents Converting


                                                Manage your brands on social media



                                                      Zoho TeamInbox Resources

                                                        Zoho DataPrep Resources



                                                          Zoho CRM Plus Resources

                                                            Zoho Books Resources


                                                              Zoho Subscriptions Resources

                                                                Zoho Projects Resources


                                                                  Zoho Sprints Resources


                                                                    Qntrl Resources


                                                                      Zoho Creator Resources



                                                                          Zoho Campaigns Resources


                                                                            Zoho CRM Resources

                                                                            • CRM Community Learning Series

                                                                              CRM Community Learning Series


                                                                            • Kaizen

                                                                              Kaizen

                                                                            • Functions

                                                                              Functions

                                                                            • Meetups

                                                                              Meetups

                                                                            • Kbase

                                                                              Kbase

                                                                            • Resources

                                                                              Resources

                                                                            • Digest

                                                                              Digest

                                                                            • CRM Marketplace

                                                                              CRM Marketplace

                                                                            • MVP Corner

                                                                              MVP Corner





                                                                                Design. Discuss. Deliver.

                                                                                Create visually engaging stories with Zoho Show.

                                                                                Get Started Now


                                                                                  Zoho Show Resources


                                                                                    Zoho Writer Writer

                                                                                    Get Started. Write Away!

                                                                                    Writer is a powerful online word processor, designed for collaborative work.

                                                                                      Zoho CRM コンテンツ






                                                                                        Nederlandse Hulpbronnen


                                                                                            ご検討中の方





                                                                                                  • Recent Topics

                                                                                                  • Add Feature To Hide Plugin Sections On Record View

                                                                                                    Hi team, I'm trying to help a client tidy up their CRM. When it comes to record view some sections and fields are visible no matter what Layout Rules are applies and they are not removeable from the layout editor. I would like to see an option to hide
                                                                                                  • Creator Simplified #10: Predefine Form Field Values and Make Them Read-Only for Users

                                                                                                    Hey Creators, Ready for this week's tip in the Creator Simplified series? Today, we will explore how to have read only fields in a form. Use Case: Assume a scenario where the default value for a Department field needs to be English Literature, but you
                                                                                                  • fetch records from analytics table from creator

                                                                                                    I have a creator workflow that I am working in that will compare data from within the app to a table in zoho analytics. Is there a way to fetch a record from Analytics? I have attempted a custom connector with analytics and tried to use it with invoke
                                                                                                  • Directly Edit, Filter, and Sort Subforms on the Details Page

                                                                                                    Hello everyone, As you know, subforms allow you to associate multiple line items with a single record, greatly enhancing your data organization. For example, a sales order subform neatly lists all products, their quantities, amounts, and other relevant
                                                                                                  • Ability to Change Custom View After Cadence Creation

                                                                                                    Dear Zoho Team, I hope you are well. We would like to request an enhancement to the Cadence feature in Zoho CRM. Currently, during the creation of a Cadence, we can select a Custom View under the "Who is this for?" section. However, once the Cadence is
                                                                                                  • Zoho Creator Integration with QuickBooks: A Step-by-Step Guide

                                                                                                    Introduction: Integrating Zoho Creator with QuickBooks allows you to sync your business data between the two platforms, providing a seamless experience for managing accounting, invoicing, and financial data. This integration helps automate workflows and
                                                                                                  • Note not being pulled for other modules in email template

                                                                                                    Hi there, Currently i am creating an email template that is able to pull the data from notes field in estimate module and email it to procurement team where they will be able to receive the email with the contents of the note, i am unable to replicate
                                                                                                  • No Sales Returns on SO's with Dropped Shipped items + Inventory Items

                                                                                                    We have encountered an issue in Zoho related to sales orders that include both dropshipped items and inventory items. Specifically, it is currently not possible to create sales returns for the company’s own inventory items from these sales orders. This
                                                                                                  • Pre-fill TO and CC fields for Email Templates

                                                                                                    This would be a game changer to be able to set either specific email addresses or merge fields based on deal role titles into email templates. Please pass this along to *hopefully* add to future features of Zoho CRM.
                                                                                                  • Pick list - Cannot save list "Special Characters not Allowed" error message

                                                                                                    Bulk uploading values. All values are pretty standard - with the exception of a "-" (dash). Like:  Industry - Prepared Food Is the simple dash a special character too? Jan
                                                                                                  • Flow with CRM

                                                                                                    Hello, I have a simple flow that uses a web hook to enter data into a Sales Order. I have the web hook sending Flow data which has a PO field. If the PO has a special character like - or / or \ the task fails. How can I get the flow to be okay with the
                                                                                                  • Making the Resolution Tab Mandatory

                                                                                                    Hello Everyone! This edition is here to show you how to make the Resolution mandatory when closing a ticket. The Ticket Resolution tab helps keep a record of the solution provided for the ticket query. The resolution can serve as a quick reference to
                                                                                                  • Remove County field from Customer Address input screen (or allow input to be deleted)

                                                                                                    We are in the USA and have just noticed that there is now a County field in the Customer Address input screen (and maybe other areas of Zoho Books, but this is the one affecting us at the moment). County is not important to our business, and in fact we
                                                                                                  • Notificación de cumpleaños

                                                                                                    Hola: Se puede enviar alguna alerta de felicitación al personal que cumple años, que se dispare solo? Si existe como se puede hacer? Saludos
                                                                                                  • Automation#25: Move Tickets to Unassigned When the Owner Is Offline

                                                                                                    Hello Everyone, Welcome to this week's Community Series! 'Tis the holiday season—a time when work often takes a brief pause. The holiday spirit is in full swing at Zylker Techfix too, with employees taking some well-deserved time off. During this period,
                                                                                                  • Callback URLs

                                                                                                    I need to connect to an external service through an API that requires me to provide a Callback URL so that a status update can be sent back when the API request has been processed. Is there a way to do this in Creator without having to use a middleware
                                                                                                  • Email signature not being included if user creates ticket / sends email

                                                                                                    When I create a ticket (send email), the signature doesn't appear to be added to the ticket. Can you confirm if this is the case? It would obviously be useful to include the user's signature even when sending a client an email and not only on replie
                                                                                                  • Zoho Notebook window ignores taskbar

                                                                                                    When maximized to full screen, the Zoho Notebook window ignores the presence of the taskbar and overlaps it. What could be the problem? Linux Mint 22 Cinnamon. Zoho Notebook 3.2.0
                                                                                                  • URL for job opening

                                                                                                    I would like to ask you to add this feature to the product: create an unique url for each job opening on Zoho Recruit, so that I can add a link to it when I post the opportunity in a mailing list or on a forum.
                                                                                                  • Document images

                                                                                                    We used to be able to rotate the images but this has now been removed ???
                                                                                                  • VENDORS ARE NOT SYNCHED WITH CONTACTS IN CRM

                                                                                                    Hello, While the ACCOUNTS and CONTACTS (Including the primary contact) are synced with the CONTACTS module in CRM, the vendor's CONTACTS are not synced with CRM - which basically forces the users to re-enter all vendor's contacts twice and then update
                                                                                                  • Involved account types are not applicable when create journals

                                                                                                    { "journal_date": "2016-01-31", "reference_number": "20160131", "notes": "SimplePay Payroll", "line_items": [{ "account_id": "538624000000035003", "description": "Net Pay", "amount": 26690.09, "debit_or_credit": "credit" }, { "account_id": "538624000000000403", "description": "Gross", "amount": 32000, "debit_or_credit": "debit" }, { "account_id": "538624000000000427", "description": "CPP", "amount": 1295.64, "debit_or_credit": "debit" }, { "account_id": "538624000000000376", "description":
                                                                                                  • KB Templates

                                                                                                    * It would be nice if Zoho can provide users an option to create custom templates for KB articles. Also, it would be nice as well if the users can have an option to 1.) select a default template and 2.) declare default tag/tags, for KB articles created through Ticket's resolution.
                                                                                                  • Zoho CRM Reports Module on Mobil App

                                                                                                    I have the mobile app and the reports module doesn't appear in the sidebar for some reason. I saw a Youtube video where the user had the Reports module on mobile. Is there a setting to show it on mobile? Thanks.
                                                                                                  • Contacts Don't Always Populate

                                                                                                    I've noticed that some contacts can easily be added to an email when I type their name. Other times, a contact doesn't appear even though I KNOW it is in my contact list. It is possible the ones I loaded from a spreadsheet are not an issue and the ones
                                                                                                  • Zoho Projects Android app update - List view enhancement

                                                                                                    Hello, everyone! In the latest android version(v3.9.15) of the Zoho Projects app update, we have enhanced the List view of tasks. We have also introduced a complete scroll of the tasks in the list view without scrolling the task fields(status, start date,
                                                                                                  • Print PO receipt

                                                                                                    Hi I would like to print the PO receipt. There does not seem to be any way to do this. I track batch numbers and printing the PO does not show this. Only the receipt would show the details of the receipt. Currently I print the screen which does not have
                                                                                                  • On the US Data Centre rather than the UK but dont know how to migrate it

                                                                                                    We have a new staff member with an external email address and cant add them to Zoho chat - we have been told its becuase we are in the UK but on a US Data centre - we therefore need to change it but no idea how to can anyone else as we are going round
                                                                                                  • Zoho Sheet Custom function column showing Error #EVAL!

                                                                                                    Hello I have a custom function in Zoho Sheet developed to convert a date time from one time zone to another. The custom function takes date and time columns and then using subHour( ) converts the time to PST time. However, though the custom function works,
                                                                                                  • How to add a Data Updated As Of: dynamically in text?

                                                                                                    I need to add a "Data Updated As Of" in the dashboard to show when was the last date the data was updated. I tried to create a widget but it does not look really good, see below. Is there a way I can do this through the text widget and update it automatically
                                                                                                  • Create Your Own Issue Management System

                                                                                                    Effective issue management is a cornerstone of project success. Every bug or issue, no matter how small, needs to be tracked and resolved in time to maintain project momentum. In this post, we’ll explore how an issue management system in Zoho Projects
                                                                                                  • Resource utlisation

                                                                                                    Dear Team, We use the excel for the weekly predicted people utilization how the resource are allocated , is there any way that i can use any of the zoho products.
                                                                                                  • Ask the experts - A live Q & A discussion on Zoho Recruit

                                                                                                    We are delighted to come back with another edition of Ask the Experts community series. This edition, we'll be focusing on everything about Zoho Recruit. The topics will focus on the features that are used/asked by the majority of users and also based
                                                                                                  • Bug - OTP (email) and No Duplicates

                                                                                                    Scenario: Form with an email field, Validation: "No Duplicates" (because I want to ensure 1 entry per email). Embedded form into website (JS option). Enabled email based OTP. 1st test (via my website) - entered my email address - sent OTP - entered pin,
                                                                                                  • Personal Facebook page posting instead of Business Page

                                                                                                    I have a Facebook page that is associated with my Personal Profile and I am the Admin of that Page. I would like to schedule and Post to my Personal Page not the Business Page. Each time I try to connect to the "Page" it takes me to the Business Page. Is there a way of connecting to my personal page?
                                                                                                  • Fixed asset management

                                                                                                    I want to know if there is any individual module for fixed assets management
                                                                                                  • Recording depreciation of fixed assets as a percentage of residual value

                                                                                                    In India, fixed assets are depreciated as a percentage of their residual value at the beginning of each fiscal year. I went through the documentation for creating recurring journal entries, but could only find ways to depreciate by a fixed rupee amount
                                                                                                  • Function #28: Automatically calculate Customer Loyalty points

                                                                                                    Hello everyone, and welcome back to our series! Today, we're excited to share a workflow designed to streamline the management of loyalty points. Many businesses offer incentives or rewards in the form of loyalty points to their customers as a way to
                                                                                                  • Function #6: Calculate Commissions for paid invoices

                                                                                                    Zoho Books helps you automate the process of calculating and recording commissions paid to sales persons using custom functions. We've written a script that computes the commission amount based on the percentage of commission you enter and creates an
                                                                                                  • How to Add Product SKU in Invoice?

                                                                                                    How to Add Product SKU in Invoice?
                                                                                                  • Next Page