Extension pointers #10: Define and raise a signal to receive timely notifications in Zoho CRM
Customer relationship management is a significant factor involved in the success of a business. When interaction with customers at all touch points is properly targeted, customers are satisfied and business flourishes. This makes it a necessity to stay updated about your customer interactions.
The Signals feature in Zoho CRM provides real-time notifications, helping you keep track of all your customer interactions from different channels in a single platform. It supports actionable alerts, so you can respond to notifications instantly and resolve them right away. Signals also enable alerts from integrated third-party apps to simplify the process of handling multiple applications. You can build customized notifications for different events and keep track of them in your Zoho CRM account.
Suppose a Zoho CRM user plans to pull their prospects from Zoho Desk, their customer support solution. Let's consider a possible scenario they might face and look at the solution.
Say that whenever a new customer/contact is added under the type "Prospect" in Zoho Desk, it is pushed into the Leads module of Zoho CRM. Once it's there, the sales rep needs to be notified that there's a new lead to process. The sales rep will also want to be able to visit the lead source page (in this case, the Zoho Desk page where the customer was created) to view the complete lead details.
In order to implement this solution, the Zoho Developer platform provides a feature called Signals. Creating a signal on the platform involves two major steps:
- Defining a signal
- Raising a signal
Now let's look at the steps in detail.
Defining a signal
In order to receive Signal notifications in Zoho CRM, it is necessary to create a signal.
- Log in to Zoho Sigma, then go to the Extension Details page.
- Expand the Automate options under Build in the left panel of the Zoho Developer console, and choose Signals.
- Click Define Signal.
- Enter the name for the signal and choose an icon for it. Click Save.
- The signal is now defined and a namespace is auto-generated for it.
Registering a webhook request and raising a signal
In our example, Zoho Desk sends an alert to Zoho CRM, so it is necessary to register a webhook. The webhook posts a callback request whenever a new customer with type "Prospect" is added in Zoho Desk. The response from Zoho Desk will be handled via a REST API function. Using the response data, we can push the lead to Zoho CRM and raise a signal. Now, let's see how.
1. Establishing a connection between Zoho CRM and Zoho Desk
- Create a connector between the two applications.
- Add the CreateWebhook API with the parameters specified by Zoho Desk. Learn about connectors.
- After creating the connector and adding the APIs, publish and associate the connector with the extension.
2. Defining a REST API function and raising a signal
A webhook needs to be created to receive real-time notifications from Zoho Desk. But before creating the webhook, you need to define a REST API function that will provide the subscription URL parameter required to construct the CreateWebhook API.
- Expand the Automate options under Build in the left panel of the Zoho Developer console, and choose Functions.
- Provide a name for the function and choose Yes for Invoke as REST API. Click Next.
- Enter the code for the function.
Code snippet
- In the code snippet, the response from Zoho Desk is obtained through the input variable of "signalfunction", crmAPIRequest. The required parameters are retrieved from the response and pushed as a new lead into the Lead module if the customer type is "Prospect." A signal map variable is created and the required specifications to raise a signal are assigned to it. In our example, we have also included an actionable item, a lead source URL. When clicked, it will redirect to the Zoho Desk page of the newly created lead, indicating its source and holding its complete details. Finally, the raisesignal task is invoked in order to raise the signal whenever a new lead is created from Zoho Desk.
- After the code is defined, click Invoke as REST API. The sandbox URL obtained is used for locally testing the functionality in the sandbox environment. Meanwhile, the production URL is used as the subscription URL while creating a webhook.
- Close the Invoke function dialog box. Click Save & Close to save the function.
3. Creating a webhook
Now that we have obtained the subscription URL, let's go ahead and create a webhook. We have chosen to create a webhook during the authorization of the connector.
- Expand the Install Actions options under Build in the left panel of the Zoho Developer console, and choose Connectors.
- Enter the code for creating a webhook under the On Authorization tab. Click Save to Connector.
m = {"nameSpace":"xxx.desksynccrmsignal"}; apikeyresp = zoho.crm.invokeConnector("crm.zapikey",m); zapikey = apikeyresp.get("response"); subscription_url = "https://platform.zoho.com/crm/v2/functions/desksynccrmsignal__signalfunction/actions/execute?auth_type=apikey&zapikey=" + zapikey; dynamic_map = Map(); dynamic_map.put("url",subscription_url); resp = zoho.crm.invokeConnector("desksynccrmsignal.deskconnector.createwebhook",dynamic_map); |
- In the code snippet above, the subscription URL obtained from the REST API function is constructed as a parameter for the CreateWebhook API. The ZAPI key value required for the subscription URL is fetched and passed to the URL. Finally the Create Webhook API is invoked and the webhook is created.
- After a new customer is added to Zoho Desk with the type "Prospect," a signal is raised in Zoho CRM and the customer is added as a lead in the Lead module.
- On clicking the notification symbol, the signal appears, along with the subject. On further clicking the SalesSignal region, the details contained in the signal are displayed along with a link pointing to the lead source.
- On clicking the lead source link, the user is redirected to the Zoho Desk page.
You can further modify the functionality of the signal based on your business requirements. Hope you found this information useful! For more extension tips, keep following this space.
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
Nanditha Somasundaram Somasundaram
Sticky Posts
Kaizen #217 - Actions APIs : Tasks
Welcome to another week of Kaizen! In last week's post we discussed Email Notifications APIs which act as the link between your Workflow automations and you. We have discussed how Zylker Cloud Services uses Email Notifications API in their custom dashboard.Kaizen #216 - Actions APIs : Email Notifications
Welcome to another week of Kaizen! For the last three weeks, we have been discussing Zylker's workflows. We successfully updated a dormant workflow, built a new one from the ground up and more. But our work is not finished—these automated processes areKaizen #152 - Client Script Support for the new Canvas Record Forms
Hello everyone! Have you ever wanted to trigger actions on click of a canvas button, icon, or text mandatory forms in Create/Edit and Clone Pages? Have you ever wanted to control how elements behave on the new Canvas Record Forms? This can be achievedKaizen #142: How to Navigate to Another Page in Zoho CRM using Client Script
Hello everyone! Welcome back to another exciting Kaizen post. In this post, let us see how you can you navigate to different Pages using Client Script. In this Kaizen post, Need to Navigate to different Pages Client Script ZDKs related to navigation A.Kaizen #210 - Answering your Questions | Event Management System using ZDK CLI
Hello Everyone, Welcome back to yet another post in the Kaizen Series! As you already may know, for the Kaizen #200 milestone, we asked for your feedback and many of you suggested topics for us to discuss. We have been writing on these topics over the
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
Bug Report and Suggestions for Improvement in Zoho Applications
Hi Zoho Team, I’d like to report a few bugs and improvement suggestions I’ve noticed while using Zoho products: Zoho Cliq Video Call: The camera sometimes turns off automatically during video calls. This seems to be a bug — please check and fix it. ZohoCanvas Flex Box containers should not require a width/height.
Flexbox containers are often used as organizational concepts, to ease re-flow on mobile etc. - I cannot use % for flexbox W or H - I cannot omit W or H This means that the content cannot dictate, and a Flexbox container cannot be used merely as an organizationalZoho Desk Android app update: Filter enhancement, Save Filters
Hello everyone! We have now enhanced the filter section on the ticket listing screen of Zoho Desk Android app as it is on the web(desk.zoho.com). Also, we have introduced an option to save filters for tickets on the mobile app. You can easily apply, rename,Very long loading times | bad performance [ZOHO DC: EU]
Hello there, we have recently noticed that the loading times have become extremely long when retrieving tickets and ticket details. For example, I open any ticket and get the following view. The subject and standard information (ticket owner, status etc.)Zia Profile Summary now supports six languages and responds faster
After numerous customer requests, we’ve expanded Zia Profile Summary to do more than just summarize resumes quickly. It can now summarize them in six different languages and deliver results even faster. What’s New 1. Extended language support Zia canIntroducing Zoho Show Android 3.0
Good ideas need the right space to grow. They deserve tools that move as fast as your thoughts and make creating feel effortless. And that is why we are bringing you Zoho Show Android 3.0! From a brand-new look and smoother navigation to improved collaborationProperly Capture Dropdowns & Hover Elements When Recording a Window/Tab
Hi Zoho WorkDrive Team, Hope you are doing great. We encountered a limitation when recording a selected window or browser tab: Certain UI elements, such as dropdown lists, hover menus, and overlays, are not captured unless we record the entire screen.Peppol integration zoho invoicefu
Hi, Belgium will require Peppol invoicing as of 2026. I found that this is being prepared for Zoho books, to be released in Sep 2025. Will Zoho Invoice get this functionality too? I like the Invoice app for my part-time side business as bike mechanicAllow Recording Only a Selected Portion of the Screen
Hi Zoho WorkDrive Team, Hope you are doing well. We would like to request a more flexible recording option in Zoho WorkDrive. At the moment, we can record either the entire screen or a specific window/tab — but not a custom selected portion of the screenRestricting Calendar View to Working Hours
Hi: I'm trying to implement a calendar which displays all of my customer appointments. Currently, the calendar shows all 24 hours of the day. Is there a way to restrict the hours to simply the times my business is open? Thanks!Add Camera Background Blur During Recording
Hi Zoho WorkDrive Team, Hope everything is well. We would like to request an enhancement to the video recording feature in Zoho WorkDrive. Currently, the camera preview displayed during a recording does not support background blur. This is an essentialAmazon FBA integration - Handle invoice reconciliation under different GSTINs,
Dear Zoho Community, Thank you for the clarification regarding the Amazon FBA integration, default warehouse, and GSTIN mapping in Zoho Inventory. I understand that Zoho currently supports only one warehouse for Amazon FBA, and that all FBA orders areWhatsapp Integration questions
Hi Questions: 1. Whatsapp messages are not reaching our CRM, is there a delay? 2. Is there any way to create a whatsapp catalog on a number that is integrated with ZOHO? 3. How do I configure my profile picture on a number that is integrated with ZOAllow Font Size 11 in Editors...
That is basic functionality...link mail.zoho.com/UnblockMe to unblock
Could you please unblock my account heloisa.bomfim@expansaodenegocios.comUnblocked me
Please can you help unblocked my account thanks materiauxjcbrunet2000@zohomail.comIntegrating External Portal Tickets Into Zoho Desk
A B2B travel company has a customer portal where clients can raise and submit tickets related to their bookings. These tickets need to be handled and managed in the backend through Zoho Desk. Ticket updates and replies from Zoho Desk should also be visibleMake Camera Overlay & Recording Controls Visible in All Screen-Sharing Options
Hi Zoho WorkDrive Team, Hope you are doing well. We would like to request an improvement to the screen-recording experience in Zoho WorkDrive. Current Limitation: At the moment the recording controls are visible only inside the Zoho WorkDrive tab. WhenSend WhatsApp voice messages from Bigin
Greetings, I hope all of you are doing well. We're happy to announce this enhancement we've made to Bigin. Bigin's WhatsApp integration now supports audio messages, so you can record and send voice messages. This makes it easier to handle customer questionsCUSTOM FUNCTION GIVE ERROR #EVAL!
CUSTEM FUNCTION CREATE KYA ZOHOSHEET ME US FUNCTION KO USE KIYA LEKIN DATA TO SAHI HAI LAKIN DATA SHEET ME NAHI LAG LAHA HAI KRUPYA SOLVE KARE MY CODE IS float ADDTWO_TWO(float NO1, float NO2) { ADD = NO1 + NO2; return ADD; }Samsung Keyboard Issues with Notebook
Dear Users, We're sorry to inform you that some of our users are experiencing certain issues like scrolling, delay/lag, cursor placement especially within the text notes. This occurs mainly due to Samsung Keyboard compatibility with Android 13 and someZoho Books | Product updates | September 2025
Hello users, We’ve rolled out new features and enhancements in Zoho Books. From PayNow payment method to applying journal credits to invoices and bills in other locations, explore the updates designed to enhance your bookkeeping experience. IntegrateZoho Workdrive for Office, "vsto runtime not found"
Hi all, I have been trying to get ZohoWorkdrive_MS-addin_1.4.exe installed, but I keep getting the error "VSTO Runtime Not Found!" - even though I have installed it ... Anyone else hear had problems with the MS addin? FYI, I am using O365 on A Dell laptop running Win 10 Home - fully patched and up-to-date. I have tried compatibility modes and running explicitly as Administrator - the usual steps. Any advice would be appreciated.Can no longer export as pdf
In NOTEBOOK I am no longer able to export notes to pdfs as I used to be able to. When I hit that command it asks where I want to send it, but no matter what I chose there is no pdf attachment that shows up in order to send. Nothing happens.Emails are going to notification folder and not in inbox
emails are going to notification folder and not into inboxHow can I prevent the Zoho Vault extension from automatically logging me out?
Hi, I want the Zoho Vault Chrome extension to never log out. How can I do this? It only allows me to log out for 1 week, and the same applies to the Android app.Zoho CRM App - Links
Hi Is there are plan for making Custom Links available in the Zoho CRM Android App? I can't see them being added? Thanks GeneTemplates
Trying to sort out / get rid of unwanted invoice templates, the error msgs are not at all helpful. Surely it's easy to amend the error msg by including a list of the names of the customers / vendors that use it, denying deletion or making it inactiveContacts limit in basic vs standard - what counts? Are customers contacts?
I’ve been using books for a number years for my small business. I only ever work with 20 clients at any given time. I do purchase services from a number of vendors to run my business, so there are some comtacts there too. I used to use the basic package,Finding missing records
I have a challenge and I am not really sure where to start with it. I can't find any similar threads on here, can anyone help: I have two forms, FormA and FormB. Both forms have records that contain a field called Job_Number. What I am trying to achieveUpdates for Zoho Campaigns: Merge tag, footer, and autoresponder migration
Hello everyone, We'd like to inform you of some upcoming changes with regard to Zoho Campaigns. We understand that change can be difficult, but we're dedicated to ensuring a smooth transition while keeping you all informed and engaged throughout the process.What's New in Zoho Inventory | August – October 2025
Hello customers, The last quarter has been incredibly productive! We've released a powerful slate of new features and enhancements in Zoho Inventory designed to give you better control, greater efficiency, and expanded functionality across your inventoryLet's Talk Recruit: Meet Zia, your all-in-one AI assistant (Part-2)
Welcome back to Let’s Talk Recruit series. In Part 1, we introduced Zia and how AI is reshaping the way recruiters work. This time, we’re taking a closer look at how far Zia has come and how each update continues to simplify your everyday tasks. WhenZoho Developer - Feature Request Platform
Zoho Developer is one of the most underatted platform in zoho ecosystem, however, it may just be what zoho needs to welcome more people to use Zoho Services. The more developers you have creating zoho creator applications and zoho extensions the moreLast/Previous month in relative date filter
In the relative date filter, what is the difference between "Last 2 months" and "Previous 2 months"? So, if we are on 25-July, then is my understanding correct of the following: Last 2 months :=: 25-May~24 July Previous 2 months :=: 01-May~30-June Thanks.Tags get removed from notes on mobile
I don't know why this keeps happening even after all these app updates but if you log out and log back into the app or you reinstall it, all the tags you assigned to your notes get taken off, but if you go on the desktop version the tags are still there.VAT rates - exempt and out of scope
Good Evening, UK based company here. I am a bit confused in respect of setting up VAT rates for exempt goods and services; at present I am simply leaving the VAT rate blank in the transactions in order to prevent any VAT appearing in the VAT return. WhenIntroducing Lead Capture: Empower exhibitors to capture leads effortlessly
Events provide a great opportunity for exhibitors to generate awareness and engage with potential customers. Efficiently distributing attendee information to exhibitors through a seamless and secure way is of paramount importance. Introducing Lead CaptureWork Order Creation Issue
Dear Team, I would like to inquire about the daily limit for Work Order creation in Zoho FSM. Yesterday (02/05/2025) at around 6:30 PM GST, I attempted to create a Work Order, but I have been unable to do so since then. Please find the attached imageConvert invoice from zoho to xml with all details
How to convert an Invoice to XML format with all detailsNext Page