Eighth Insight - Oversee module relationships with Lookups
The Wheels of Ticketing - Desk Stories
Oversee module relationships with Lookups
Learning about lookups
A lookup field provides a powerful way to display and utilize data from another module directly within a field of your current module. This functionality establishes a seamless connection between different data sources, enabling users to access and work with related information effortlessly. Rather than duplicating data, which leads to inconsistencies and increased data management complexity, a lookup field acts as a bridge that consolidates information.
A lookup field enables users to retrieve and display data from a specific module based on an established relationship between two records. The data from the associated record is displayed within the lookup field, making it easy to view and use related information. Lookup fields are generally editable and show information retrieved from the associated record.
Lookup fields help display related information, filter data based on related fields, and manage complex relationships between different modules.
In a ticketing system, the Contact ID field in the "Tickets" module is a lookup field that retrieves contact information from the "Contacts" module. Linking modules
To create connections between two custom modules, it's essential to incorporate lookup fields. These fields are added to module layouts to establish relationships across different modules, whether they are standard-standard, custom-standard, or purely custom. For example, an "Assets" custom module can connect to another custom module or a standard module, such as "Contacts."
This connection allows users to link relevant records (such as contacts) with their respective items (like assets), making it easier to access and view information from either module. Adding a lookup field establishes a direct relationship, which enables users to perform actions such as linking, viewing, unlinking, or generating new tickets without needing to navigate away from the current module.
The importance of linking two modules through a lookup field lies in its ability to enhance information flow and improve data accessibility. By forming distinct relationships between various data points (such as assets and contacts), Zoho Desk facilitates more effective tracking, management, and resolution of customer inquiries and operational tasks.
Users with the "Manage Layouts and Fields" permission or those in a support administrator role can connect custom or standard modules by adding a lookup field to the module's layout (Standard layout for custom modules) through an easy drag-and-drop interface.
How it works in practice
There was a small but mighty help desk company called "Fix Tickets." The team at Fix Tickets was dedicated to resolving customer issues promptly and efficiently. One day, they decided to improve their ticketing system with a new feature: lookup fields.
On Monday morning, a customer named Amy reached out with a problem. Her internet was down, and she submitted a ticket through the help desk portal to request assistance. As her ticket entered the system, a lookup field allowed the help desk staff to view relevant information from the Accounts module instantly, the Contracts module, as well as any past tickets.
Using lookup fields eliminated the need for manual search, and a support agent quickly realized that Amy's account required verification. Meanwhile, Gunther received an email update regarding the status of the customer's ticket. They sent Amy an email update with instructions to verify her account and restore her connection. The entire process was seamless, all thanks to the lookup field functionality, which allowed Fix Tickets to access information quickly and enhance customer satisfaction.
As the week progressed, more tickets came in, and the team continued to rely on the lookup fields. They noticed a significant increase in their efficiency and a decrease in the time spent per ticket. Soon, customer satisfaction scores began to increase as positive reviews poured in from happy customers like Amy.
Uses of Lookup Fields
Data integrity
Lookup fields ensure that data entered into Zoho Desk is valid and consistent. By referencing existing data, such as user accounts or product information, you minimize the chances of errors and maintain the overall integrity of the database.
Consistency across records
Lookup fields ensure that the same values are used consistently across different records. This benefits teams by reducing duplication, enhancing the quality of data available in tickets, and providing team members with more insight into relevant information by linking records across modules.
Improved user experience
By allowing users to select from predefined options, lookup fields make data entry faster and easier. This reduces the time spent typing and searching for information, providing a more efficient ticket submission process.
Improved reporting and analytics
Lookup fields facilitate more accurate and meaningful reporting. By linking tickets to specific accounts, departments, or products, you can generate insights that help improve service delivery and customer satisfaction.
Streamlined workflow automation
Lookup fields can be utilized in workflow rules to automate ticket assignments and efficiently escalate issues. For instance, if a ticket pertains to a specific product, it can automatically be routed to the relevant product team.
Better relationship management
By associating tickets with customers or contacts through lookup fields, support teams can easily view related interactions and history. This context enables agents to provide more personalized and informed responses.
Simplified data management
Lookup fields enable organisations to manage relationships and processes involving various entities, such as users, products, and departments. Changes to the data automatically reflect wherever it’s invoked by a lookup field to ensure that all users are working with the most current and relevant information.
Faster issue resolution
Providing agents with quick access to related data through lookup fields speeds up the resolution process. Whether it’s identifying the correct department to solve a problem or accessing customer history to investigate an account issue, lookup fields enhance data quality, user experience, and operational efficiency.
Takeaway
Lookup fields can help your organization leverage its data to enhance all aspects of customer service, including routing and managing tickets, resolving customer inquiries, and reporting and analysis. This approach equips users with insights into exactly when and where they need them, which empowers them to make well-informed decisions and deliver effective service.
Please stay tuned for more Desk Feature stories.
Cheers,
Kavya Rao
The Zoho Desk Team
Also read:
Access your files securely from anywhere
New to Zoho Recruit?
Zoho Developer Community
New to Zoho LandingPage?
Zoho LandingPage Resources
New to Zoho Survey?
New to Zoho CRM Plus?
Deliver unforgettable customer experiences
New to Zoho CRM Plus?
Deliver unforgettable customer experiences
New to Zoho Marketing Plus?
Everything you need to run your marketing
New to Zoho Marketing Plus?
Everything you need to run your marketing
New to Bigin?
Topic Participants
Kavya Rao Addepalli
New to Zoho TeamInbox?
Zoho TeamInbox Resources
Zoho CRM Plus Resources
Zoho Books Resources
Zoho Subscriptions Resources
Zoho Projects Resources
Zoho Sprints Resources
Qntrl Resources
Zoho Creator Resources
Zoho CRM Resources
Design. Discuss. Deliver.
Zoho Show Resources
Get Started. Write Away!
Writer is a powerful online word processor, designed for collaborative work.
Zoho CRM コンテンツ
-
オンラインヘルプ
-
Webセミナー
-
機能活用動画
-
よくある質問
-
Ebook
-
-
Zoho Campaigns
- Zoho サービスのWebセミナー
その他のサービス コンテンツ
Nederlandse Hulpbronnen
ご検討中の方
Recent Topics
Unusual activity detected from this IP. Please try again after some time.
Hello Zoho admin and IT team We are a registered website in Eloctronic services and we been trying to add our users to the zoho system but this issue faced us ,, hope you unlocked us please.Alert if a field is ticked.
Hi There, We have two modules named Opportunities (Deals) and End Users (CustomModule1), as per the image below. Within Opportunities, we have a lookup field that looks up from the End Users Module. We are looking to get an alert either via email or anotherZoho CRM Analytics - Allow To Reorder Dashboards
I would like to suggest that you add the ability to reorder dashboards in the Analytics Module. I can see that this has been requested some time ago, the latest 9 years ago. I am not sure if this is a big or small endeavor, but such a small fix can goSending a Template to Sign
hi, trying to send a template to be signed using this as a test: $accessToken = "1000.xxx" $templateId = "1234" $uri = "https://sign.zoho.eu/api/v1/templates/$templateId/createdocument" $payload = @{ templates = @( @{ template_id = $templateId request_nameAdding Choices in a Sub-Form Dropdown
Hi, Has anybody tried Adding Choices to a Dropdown in a Zoho Creator Sub-Form programmatically? My Deluge code adds rows to a subform with 2 fields A and B. A - text field. B - dropdown. My Deluge script adds the row and displays A successfully. For theZoho CRM Email Templates 100% Width No Background How?
Hi, On the Zoho CRM Email Templates in setup > customization > templates > new templates > I choose blank template, but still it puts in a gray background and a max width for the email. I just want to make an email that looks like an email I would send from gmail that has no background or max width. How do you do this?Checking client unsubscribe details
Hi team, Can you please let me know where we can check if a client has unsubscribed, along with the date and time it was done? If this information is not available at our end, please help confirm the unsubscribe date for the below email ID from the backend:Optimum CRM setup for new B2B business
Can some advise the most common way to setup Zoho CRM to handle sales for a B2B company? Specifically in how to handle inbound/outbound emails. I have spent hours researching online and can't seem to find an accepted approach, or even a tutorial. I haveIntegration with...
Dear Zoho Commerce team, Please could you consider the integration within Zoho Commerce / Inventory and Qapla'? (https://www.qapla.it/en/) This app is better than Aftership in many ways: - Aftership integration require PRO plan and price start from moreScan and Fill CRM Lookup Field
Not sure if there is a reason why this isn't possible or if I'm just missing it. But I would like to be able to use the scan and fill feature on the mobile app to prefill the CRM lookup field and fetch the rest of the data in the form.Customer Management: #2 Organize Customers to Enhance Efficiency
When Ankit started his digital services firm, things felt simple. A client would call, ask for a website or a one-time consultation, Ankit would send an invoice, get paid, and move on. "Just one client, one invoice. Easy.", he thought. Fast forward aZoho Mail and Zoho Flow integration to automatically create ToDo tasks from outbound emails
How do i setup Zoho Mail and Zoho Flow integration to automatically create ToDo tasks from outbound emailsAttachments between Zoho and Clickup, using Flow.
Olá suporte Flow, tudo bem ? Estamos usando o flow para integrar Zoho Desk com o clickup. Não localizamos a opção de integrar anexos entre do zoho Desk para o clickup. Gostaríamos de saber se migrando para o plano pago, teremos suporte para fazer a integraçãoAdding an Account on Zoho Mail Trigger in Zoho Flow
I'm trying to create a flow using the zoho mail trigger "Email Receive". My problem is that when I select this trigger, it only shows one account from the account dropdown. I'm planning to assign it on a different email. How can I add other email adLinnworks
Unless I am missing something, the Linnworks integration is very basic and limited. I have reached out to support but the first response was completely useless and trying to get a reply in a timely manner is very difficult. Surely I should be able toTest data won't load
I am using a Flow to receive orders from WooCommerce and add them to a Zoho Creator app. I recently received an order which failed, and when attempting to test the order I found that it just shows a loading animation and shows up in the history as "queued."AddHour resets the time to 00:00:00 before adding the hour.
Based on the documentation here: https://www.zoho.com/deluge/help/functions/datetime/addhour.html Here's my custom function: string ConvertDateFormat(string inputDate) { // Extract only the date-time part (before the timezone) dateTimePart = inputDate.subString(0,19);WhatsApp Link is not integrating
Hello, I am using zoho flow. when new row added in google sheet it sends email to respected person. In email body I have a text "Share via WhatsApp". behind this text I putted a link. But when the recipient receives email and wants to share my given infoZoho flow - Webhook
If I choose an app as a trigger in Zoho Flow, is it still possible to add a webhook later in the same flow?Zoho Flow + Bigin + Shopify
We are testing Zoho Flow for the first time and want to create a flow based in first purchases. When a client makes his first order, we're going to add the "primeiracompra" (first order) tag to his account in Shopify (it's not efficient, but that's theAdding multiple Attendee email addresses when adding a Zoho Calendar event in Zoho Flow
I am trying to integrate Notion and Zoho Calendar via Zoho Flow. However, the Attendee email address supported by Zoho Calendar - Create event only supports one email address, so I am having difficulty implementing automation to automatically registerIs it The Flow? Or is it me?
I want to do some basic level stuff, take two fields from a webhook, create a zsheet from a template using one field with date appended, create a folder using both fields as the name, and put the zsheet into that folder. I was going to elaborate - butHaving problem with data transferring from Google sheet to ZMA
When connecting Google sheet with Zoho marketing automation it is having the email as a mandatory field. Can I change it as non-mandatory field or is there any other way to trasnfer data from google sheet to ZMA. I have leads which we get from whatsapp,Dropbox to Workdrive synchronisation
I want to get all the files and folders from Dropbox to Workdrive and each time a new file or folder is added in dropbox i want it to be available in Workdrive and wise versa. Sync Updates to Files Trigger: "File updated" (Dropbox). Action: "Upload file"Microsoft Planner Task to Service Desk Plus Request - error n4001
Hi there. I'm trying to create a flow that will create a new request in ServiceDesk Plus when a new task is created in Microsoft Planner. I have succesfully connected both Planner and ServiceDesk Plus, and have configured the 'create request' sectionTrailing Space in "Date and time scheduled "
I am trying to use the Zoho Projects - Create event action in a flow. It is failing with the output error as: "Action did not execute successfully due to an unknown error. Contact support for more details." The input is: { "Duration - Minutes": 30, "Project":Project name by deal name; project creation via flow
Hello, I want to create a project in zoho projects using flow by a trigger at the crm. My trigger is the update of a deal (stage). The project name should be the account name/ deal name. But I dont find the solution to it. Can you please give me the answerSlack / Zoho Flow; Repl
I am trying to add a comment in a zoho ticket when someone reply's to a message in a thread. The Message posted to public channel trigger doesn't seem to pick up thread messages. I also cannot use the thread_ts field as it doesn't seem to pull that in.Get Holiday ready with Zoho Mail's Templates
As the holiday season approaches, it’s time to step away from work and unwind. You may not be able to respond to every email or send individual messages to wish everyone holidays greetings—but It is still important to stay connected. How do you send thoughtfulCustomize folder permissions in a Team Folder in a Team Folder via zoho Flow
HI All, on the nth level folder of a team folder I would like to Customize folder permissions when it's created in the flow of Creating folders. That last level I only want to grant access to a specific group, goup ID 201XXXXXXXX. Can you help with aAssociating a Candidate to a Job Listing
Hello, I am trying to use Zoho Forms embedded on my website for candidates to apply for a job opening. I want the form then to tie directly with zoho recruit and have the candidate be automatically inputed into Recruit as well as associated with the specificAutomate reminder emails for events
Hi team, I am trying to automate send event reminders via zoho campaign to my attendees 1 day prior to my scheduled events. I used zoho flow, autoresponder in zoho campaign, as well as I used workflow and automation - but none of these methods are working.Update related module entry Zoho Flow not working with custom module ?
Hi everyone. I am facing an issue here on Zoho Flow. Basically what I am doing is checking when a module entry is being filled in with an Event ID. Event is a custom module that I created. If the field is being filled in I fetch the contact with its IDHow to disable time log on / time log off
Hi We use zoho people just to manage our HR Collaborators. We don't need that each persona check in and out the time tracker. How to disable from the screen that ?Zoho Flow - Add to Google Calendar from trigger in Zoho Creator App
Hello! New to Zoho Flow, but I believe I have everything setup the way it should be however getting an error saying "Google Calendar says "Bad Request". Any idea where I should start looking? Essentially some background: Zoho Creator app has a triggerEmail authentication
أريد التحقق من البريد الإلكترونيWhat’s New in Zoho Analytics – December 2025
December is a special time of the year to celebrate progress, reflect on what we have achieved, and prepare for what’s ahead! As we wrap up the year, this month’s updates focus on refining experiences, strengthening analytics workflows, and setting theMarketing Tip #12: Earn trust with payment badges and clear policies
Online shoppers want to know they can trust your store. Displaying trust signals such as SSL-secure payment badges, return and refund policies, and verified reviews shows visitors that your store is reliable. These visual cues can turn hesitation intoThe improved portal experience: Introducing the template view for inventory modules, enhanced configurations, and PDF export support
Availability: Open for all DCs. Editions: All Hello everyone, You can now achieve a seamless, brand-aligned portal experience with our enhanced configuration options and the new template view for inventory modules. Your clients will now be able to viewZoho Analytics Bulk Api Import json Data
HI, I’m trying to bulk-update rows in Zoho Analytics, and below are the request and response details. I’d like to understand the required parameters for constructing a bulk API request to import or update data in a table using Deluge. Any guidance onNext Page