Extension pointers for integrating Zoho CRM with Zoho products #7: Initiate remote sessions and assist customers with their concerns from within Zoho CRM

Extension pointers for integrating Zoho CRM with Zoho products #7: Initiate remote sessions and assist customers with their concerns from within Zoho CRM

With an increase in customers, there's also an increase in the demand for customer support. While customer support can be provided via a variety of channels, such as live chat, email, or phone, there may be times when a visual demonstration is required in order for a support representative to check on the issue and resolve it.

In this post, let's see how to help Zoho CRM customers through an integration with Zoho Assist. In general, a support technician handles the customer's concern in the Cases module of Zoho CRM. Consider the following scenario: whenever a support representative wants to have a remote session with a customer to troubleshoot an issue on their end, they can do so with the click of a button from within Zoho CRM.

In order to resolve the problem, the technician will have met with the customer multiple times. Having all of the created sessions logged in a separate custom module, and the case-specific sessions as a related list in the specific case record, would make it easier to keep track of the assistance provided. Let's see how we can achieve this.

Creating a connector for Zoho Assist and adding connector APIs
  • Create a new connector in your extension for Zoho Assist using the Connectors feature under Utilities in the left panel of the Zoho Developer console. 
Note: Zoho Assist follows OAuth 2.0 protocols for authentication. You can see how to register Zoho products and retrieve your client credentials here.

                                                

The connector details for our example are as follows:
  • Add the necessary connector APIs for your functionality. Please refer to the Zoho Assist API guide for details.


The Zoho Assist REST APIs we added for our example are as follows:

Connector API Name
Method type
URL
Create Session
POST

Note: You can refer to this post to see the detailed steps involved in creating a connector, adding the connector APIs, and associating them with the extension.

Creating a button in the Cases module and associating it with a widget to initiate a remote session
  • Create a button called "Initiate a remote session" using the Links & Buttons feature available in the Components section of the Zoho Developer console, then associate a widget to perform the desired action.
  • For our use case, since we're going to log all the newly created sessions in a custom module, let's create a custom module, Session Details, with new custom fields like Session ID, Case Name and Case status during session initiation. Here the field Case Name is a lookup type, so that a relationship can be established between the Cases and the Session Details module in the form of a related list.
Initiate a remote session.js - code snippet

Util={};
var EntityId;
var EntityName;
var temp;
var emailid;
var message;
//Subscribe to the EmbeddedApp onPageLoad event before initializing the widget 
ZOHO.embeddedApp.on("PageLoad",function(data)
{
EntityId=data.EntityId[0];
console.log(EntityId);
entityname=data.Entity;  
//Fetching the current record details and retrieving the necessary field information
ZOHO.CRM.API.getRecord({Entity:entityname,RecordID:EntityId})
.then(function(data){
dataa=data.data[0];
email=dataa.Email;
customeremail=encodeURIComponent(email);
casestatus=dataa.Status;

var x = {
"customeremailid":customeremail,
}
/*Invoking the connector API to create a remote session with the customer in Zoho Assist by passing the constructed data set*/
ZOHO.CRM.CONNECTOR.invokeAPI("xxx.zohoassist.createsession",x)
.then(function(dataa){
response=dataa.response;
parseresponse=JSON.parse(response);
representation=parseresponse.representation;
//Fetching the necessary details from the created session response 
sessionid=representation.session_id;
customerurl = representation.customer_url;
technicianurl = representation.technician_url;

document.getElementById("customeremail").value=email;
document.getElementById("myAnchor").href = technicianurl;
//Constructing and passing the fetched data to be inserted in the new custom module called Session Details
var recordData = {
"Name": "Remote Session - " + sessionid,
"testsupport__Session_ID": sessionid,
"testsupport__Case_Number":EntityId,
"testsupport__Case_status_during_the_session_initiation":casestatus,
}

//Invoking the insert record API to insert a new record of the created session details
ZOHO.CRM.API.insertRecord({Entity:"xxx__Session_Details",APIData:recordData,Trigger:[]}).then(function(data){
console.log(data);
});

ZOHO.embeddedApp.init();

})
})
})

  • The above code snippet fetches the record details for the current case, from which the customer email ID and case status are retrieved. 
  • The retrieved customer email ID is passed as a parameter to the Create session API, which creates and initiates a remote session with the customer. 
  • The relevant details such as session ID and technician URL are retrieved from the session API response.
  • The retrieved details along with certain case-specific details are constructed and passed to the insert record API to be inserted as a new record in the custom module Session Details.
  • Now that the functionality is defined, the extension is published and installed in the Zoho CRM account using the private installation URL.


Sample output
  • After installing the extension, authorize the Zoho Assist connector.
  • Go to the Cases module and choose a case. Click on the Initiate a remote session button available on the record's view page. 

  • The widget is displayed with the customer email ID that the technician is going to initiate a remote session with.

  • Click on the hyperlink text "here". It will proceed to the remote session in Zoho Assist.
  • Now you can see that a new record has been inserted into the Session Details module.

  • Similarly, the record also reflects as a related list in the specific case record's view page as well.


Using this method, you can integrate Zoho CRM and Zoho Assist via an extension and perform functionalities as per your business requirements. We hope you find this information useful. Keep following this space for more advice!

SEE ALSO



    Access your files securely from anywhere









                          Zoho Developer Community




                                                • Desk Community Learning Series


                                                • Digest


                                                • Functions


                                                • Meetups


                                                • Kbase


                                                • Resources


                                                • Glossary


                                                • Desk Marketplace


                                                • MVP Corner


                                                • Word of the Day


                                                • Ask the Experts





                                                          Manage your brands on social media



                                                                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

                                                                                    • 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

                                                                                                          • Is It Possible to Hide Menu Option from Main Navigation?

                                                                                                            Is it possible to hide a menu option, e.g. Admin, from the Main Navigation based on some criteria, e.g. login = zoho.adminuser
                                                                                                          • How many clients can be added to Zoho Practice?

                                                                                                            How many clients can be added to Zoho Practice without having their zoho app?
                                                                                                          • Add Comprehensive Accessibility Features to Zoho Writer

                                                                                                            Hello Zoho Writer Team, We hope you are doing well. We would like to submit a feature request to enhance Zoho Writer with a full set of accessibility tools, similar to the accessibility options already available in the Zoho Desk agent interface. 🚧 Current
                                                                                                          • Need more details on API Usage Dashboard

                                                                                                            Hi Team, We have implemented Zoho Expense for a client and has done some integrations with well known third party ERP via api. Recently we have noticed a huge spike in the API consumption. But we couldn't get the root cause for the same. I accept there
                                                                                                          • Global Search placement in the new UI

                                                                                                            Having a hard time with the global search placement in the UI redesign. Surely I can't be the only one. Previously global search placement was perfect. A bar at the top/center of the page. Exactly where you would expect it to be. Since the new UI has
                                                                                                          • Preview an upload PDF or File

                                                                                                            I have a form where the customer has to upload a file (normally PDF - never jpeg)  When in report view I want to be able to preview the uploaded file without having to download it.  If I click on the upload it downloads to my computer, I want to be able
                                                                                                          • Edit item custom fields

                                                                                                            Getting this error : Transactions have been created with the custom field. Hence it cannot be deleted. Not trying to delete it, just trying to change which modules to show in or to not show at all in transactions !
                                                                                                          • Rendering PDF to view on page

                                                                                                            My company upload lots of PDF files onto Zoho. But every time we open it, it downloads the file instead of viewing it on the web page. Does Zoho allow uploaded PDF files to be rendered to view on web page yet? I've been trying to use <embed> or <object> but it cannot be loaded.  (similar thread: https://help.zoho.com/portal/community/topic/how-to-open-a-pdf-file-of-a-view-in-preview-mode)
                                                                                                          • Dynamically Fetching Lookup Field Display Value

                                                                                                            I have an audit trail form, Audit_Changes, that tracks old vs new values across different forms. For lookup fields, the old/new value is the ID, but I also need the display value. What's a best practice for dynamically fetching the display value of the
                                                                                                          • Create folder is fetch fails

                                                                                                            coming from zapier... zapier has a google drive task that searches for a specific folder in google drive, and if it fails to find the folder it will create a folder based on the search criteria, and contine along the singluar path of the flow. Trying
                                                                                                          • Workflow workdrive rollout

                                                                                                            Hi! When will workflow be rolled out to all users? Thanks.
                                                                                                          • Workdrive and ChatGPT Team Synced Connectors

                                                                                                            Hi, we want to be able to integrate Zoho Workdrive with OpenAI’s ChatGPT Team plan. Google Drive and OneDrive both offer this, zoho please catch up asap. We dont want to have to put our company files in google drive, we want to allow chatgpt Team edition
                                                                                                          • Are Environments Worth It?

                                                                                                            In concept, Environments in ZC is a great idea. I think the flow is pretty smart when you compare it to GitHub, especially for a low code audience. However, in practice, I've found it to be unpredictable, and I've only used it a few times. Aside from
                                                                                                          • CRM x WorkDrive: File storage for new CRM signups is now powered by WorkDrive

                                                                                                            Availability Editions: All DCs: All Release plan: Released for new signups in all DCs. It will be enabled for existing users in a phased manner in the upcoming months. Help documentation: Documents in Zoho CRM Manage folders in Documents tab Manage files
                                                                                                          • InvokeURL butchering JSON for OpenAI API calls

                                                                                                            My organization works with mostly educational institutions. We have a custom module called "Schools", which is the user-entered school name they put when using our service (which they enter along with their state and zip code). We want to map this to
                                                                                                          • Is it possible to pull the Zoho desk data into Zoho analytics in real time

                                                                                                            Hi - I am looking to add more dashboards and reports of Zoho Desk in analytics. I see there is a schedule to pull the data into analytics, but I'm wondering if there is an option to pull the data in real time instead of a specific interval?
                                                                                                          • Contact's title in "Contact Role Mapping"

                                                                                                            When I'm creating a deal, I'd like to see the contacts title in the listing. Right now, I only see this: How can I get the contact's title in there?
                                                                                                          • Microsoft Teams now available as an online meeting provider

                                                                                                            Hello everyone, We're pleased to announce that Zoho CRM now supports Microsoft Teams as an online meeting provider—alongside the other providers already available. Admins can enable Microsoft Teams directly from the Preferences tab under the Meetings
                                                                                                          • Account in Quick View Filter

                                                                                                            I have a report that I often run against a specific Account. Every time, I have to go into the edit menu and change the Advanced Filter. I would prefer to use the Quick View Filter, but it does not allow me to use the one and only field that makes any
                                                                                                          • Account in Quick View Filter

                                                                                                            I have a report that I often run against a specific Account. Every time, I have to go into the edit menu and change the Advanced Filter. I would prefer to use the Quick View Filter, but it does not allow me to use the one and only field that makes any
                                                                                                          • Ability to Create New Items When Zoho Trident is Minimized via tray or taskbar icon

                                                                                                            Allow users to create new items (emails, calendar events, tasks, etc.) directly from the system tray icon or by right clicking the task bar icon, even when the window is minimized or not actively running in the foreground. This enables quick access to
                                                                                                          • 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. Zoho
                                                                                                          • Enhancements to the formula field in Zoho CRM: Auto-refresh formulas with the "Now" function, stop formula executions based on criteria, and include formulas within formulas

                                                                                                            Dear Customers, We hope you're well! By their nature, modern businesses rely every day on computations, whether it's to calculate the price of a product, assess ROI, evaluate the lifetime value of a customer, or even determine the age of a record. With
                                                                                                          • I can not see Undeliverable emails from my Mass Email Leads activity in CRM

                                                                                                            I am sending email templates and I can not see the Undeliverables? I only receive the "Out of Office" replies and any manual replies from the lead. Can you please let me know where the Undeliverable emails are sent so I can use the information to clean up the database?
                                                                                                          • Select Zoho Contacts as Meeting Participants in Zoho Cliq

                                                                                                            Hello Zoho Cliq Team, We hope you're doing well. We would like to request an enhancement to the meeting scheduling functionality in Zoho Cliq. Current Limitation: When scheduling a meeting in Zoho Cliq, participants can only be selected from: Organization
                                                                                                          • Creating Secret via Vault API

                                                                                                            Hi I am trying to create a secret through vault api.  This is the response I get. One thing I am not sure is how to decrypt the secretdata, how to get the secrettypeid? {     "operation": {         "result": {             "error_code": "",             "message": "Sorry, we are unable to process your request.",
                                                                                                          • Ability to Select External Users from Participants List When Scheduling Meetings

                                                                                                            Hello Zoho Cliq Team, We hope you're doing well. We would like to request an enhancement to the meeting scheduling experience in Zoho Cliq. Current Limitation when scheduling a meeting in Zoho Cliq: External users can be selected from the list only under
                                                                                                          • Kaizen #212 - Map Dependency Fields in Zoho CRM using APIs

                                                                                                            Welcome back to another week of Kaizen! Over the past few weeks, we have been addressing your questions and feedback shared through our Kaizen 200th feedback form. Thank you for your continued engagement and thoughtful queries. We truly enjoy helping
                                                                                                          • Enhancing Zia's service with better contextual responses and article generation

                                                                                                            Hello everyone, We are enhancing Zia's Generative AI service to make your support experience smarter. Here's how: Increased accuracy with Qwen One of the key challenges in AI is delivering responses that are both contextually accurate and empathetic while
                                                                                                          • CRM for email in Outlook: how to ignore addresses?

                                                                                                            We’re using the "Zoho CRM for email" add-in for Outlook. When opening an email, the add-in displays all email addresses from the message and allows me to add them to the CRM or shows if they’re already contacts. However, sometimes people listed in To
                                                                                                          • Zoho Sign Reminder email template

                                                                                                            Is there a template we can edit for the reminder emails? I don't see it in Settings / Choose a template
                                                                                                          • Outdated state in mexico

                                                                                                            Hello Zoho team, the drop down to add the state for customers, when they introduce their state in mexico has a city named “Distrito Federal” that name changed many years ago to “ciudad de mexico”. could you please update this so my clients can find the
                                                                                                          • Is anyone using Zoho Flow with airtable?

                                                                                                            I need to build a flow that collects data from airtable and uses some of that data to create folders and files in google drive. I have fully function version of this in zapier and want to migrate to zoho. I am trying to perform a very basic fetch from
                                                                                                          • Default in fields on Form B based on the user selection in Form A

                                                                                                            Hi Everyone, I have added an action button to a form report to bring up a new form based on user selection, see it indicated in red below: Then when the ne form loads, I want to default in some of the fields based on the record the user was selected on.
                                                                                                          • SOME FEATURES ARE NOT IN THE ZOHO SHEET IN COMPARISION TO ZOHO SHEET

                                                                                                            TO ZOHO sir/maam with due to respect i want to say that i am using ZOHO tool which is spreadsheet i want to say that some features are not there in zoho sheet as comparison to MS EXCEL like advance filter and other Features which should be there in ZOHO
                                                                                                          • Organization Emails in Email History

                                                                                                            How can I make received Org Emails to show up here?
                                                                                                          • AI in Zoho Workplace: A Sneak Peek into What’s Coming!

                                                                                                            Hello everyone, We’re super excited to share something we’ve been working on and we want you to be part of it! You may have seen our announcement blog post introducing a major evolution in how AI works within Zoho Workplace. Want to be among the first
                                                                                                          • Display Client Name in Zoho Creator Client Portal Dashboard

                                                                                                            Hello Zoho Creator Team, We hope you are doing well. Zoho Creator recently introduced the option to set a client’s display name in the Client Portal settings, which is very helpful for providing a personalized portal experience. However, there is currently
                                                                                                          • Meet Canvas' Grid component: Your easiest way to build responsive record templates

                                                                                                            Visual design can be exciting—until you're knee-deep in the details. Whether it's aligning text boxes to prevent overlaps, fixing negative space, or simply making sure the right data stands out, just ironing out inconsistencies takes a lot of moving parts.
                                                                                                          • Migrate file from Single File Upload to Multi File Upload

                                                                                                            Dears, I have created a new field Multi File Upload to replace the old Single File Upload field. I'd like to ask you guys what is the best way to migrate the files to the new field?
                                                                                                          • Next Page