Turn chat conversations into real action with Integration Blocks in Guided Conversations

Turn chat conversations into real action with Integration Blocks in Guided Conversations


When a Guided Conversation fails, it's usually not because the logic is wrong. They fail because the conversation stops moving.

A customer starts a chat with a clear goal: report an issue, check a status, or confirm something. At first, the flow does exactly what it was designed to do: It asks the right questions. It captures the right inputs.

Then nothing happens.

From the builder’s point of view, the flow is complete, and from the customer’s point of view, it feels unfinished. This gap is where most frustration comes from.

Why progress matters more than answers   

Customers rarely start a chat because they want information alone. They want momentum. They want to know that what they just shared led to something real: a request logged, a record updated, or a confirmation sent.

If the conversation ends without that signal, customers assume they will have to explain everything again somewhere else. Guided Conversations need to close that gap.
 

How  Integration Blocks maintain the flow   

Integration Blocks are not about adding more automation. They are about preventing dead ends.

An Integration Block connects a point in the conversation to an action in another system. While the chat continues, work is already happening in the background.

This is the moment where a conversation becomes operational.

A practical example from day-to-day support   

Consider a simple flow for reporting a billing issue:
  1. The customer shares their email address and describes the problem.
  2. The bot acknowledges it and ends the chat.
Technically, this is correct. Emotionally, it feels risky.

Now compare that with the same flow using a Desk Integration Block:
  1. As soon as the customer submits their details, a lead or ticket is created in Zoho Desk.
  2. A ticket reference number is generated, giving the customer immediate confirmation that their request is being tracked
  3. The customer receives a confirmation and may later get a follow-up from the team for an issue resolution.
The chat did not just listen, it acted. The customer feels the difference because progress is visible, even if the backend work is hidden.
 

The role of confirmation in reducing anxiety   

Even when an action is taken, customers still look for reassurance. Did their request actually go through?

This is where the Email Integration Block fits naturally into the flow.

A short email sent at the right moment changes how the entire conversation is. This is where an Email Integration Block fits naturally. A short, well-timed email changes how the conversation is perceived:
  1. The system has not just captured the issue, it's already working on it.
  2. Customers feel confident that the next steps are already in motion.
You don't need to send any long emails; the point is just to close the loop.
 

Designing for handoff, not escalation   

Some conversations end with automation; others end with a person. A common mistake is treating agent handoff as a fallback.

A better approach: make handoff intentional. Using Zia Context Blocks, you can summarize the conversation so far, then transfer it to an agent seamlessly.

Integration Blocks allow the context, actions, and confirmations to travel forward. The agent starts where the bot left off, not from scratch. Customers experience continuity, not repetition.
 

Thinking in outcomes, not blocks   

It is easy to think about Guided Conversations as a sequence of blocks: a question block, a choice block, an integration block.

Customers do not experience blocks. They need to see results.
  1. Was my issue captured?
  2. Was something sent to me?
  3. Does someone know about this now?
Integration Blocks help you design for those outcomes.

The quiet success of a good conversation   

When Guided Conversations work well, customers do not notice the flow. They leave without reopening the chat. They don't need to send any follow-up emails or repeat the story to another team.

From the outside, nothing dramatic happened.

But the conversation never stalled, and that is often the difference between a chat that looks complete and one that actually feels that way to a customer.

So let me ask you:

Where do your Guided Conversations usually stop moving?
Have Integration Blocks helped turn chats into real action?
What worked, and what didn’t?

Share your thoughts below. Let’s talk.
 
Prabin | Zoho Desk

    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



                                                        • Topic Participants

                                                        • Raj R

                                                            • Sticky Posts

                                                            • Zoho Desk Partners with Microsoft's M365 Copilot for seamless customer service experiences

                                                              Hello Zoho Desk users, We are happy to announce that Zoho Desk has partnered with Microsoft's M365 to empower customer service teams with enhanced capabilities and seamless experiences for agents. Microsoft announced their partnership during their keynote
                                                            • WhatsApp pricing changes: Pay per message starting July 1, 2025

                                                              Starting July 1, 2025, WhatsApp is shifting from conversation-based pricing to per-message billing. That means every business-initiated message you send will count. Not just the first one in a 24-hour window. Pricing updates on the WhatsApp Business Platform
                                                            • Live Webinar - Work smarter with Zoho Desk and Zoho Workplace integration

                                                              Hello customers! Zoho Desk and Zoho Workplace are coming together for a webinar on 14th May, 2024. Zoho Workplace is a suite of productivity apps for email, chat, docs, calls, and more at one single place. Zoho Desk is closely integrated with a few tools
                                                            • Apple iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 updates for Zoho Desk users

                                                              Hello Zoho Desk users! Apple recently announced the release of iOS 17 and iPad OS 17. These latest OS updates will help you stay productive and efficient, through interactive and seamless user experiences. Zoho Desk has incorporated the updates to help
                                                            • Zoho Desk Cheat Sheet For The Year-End

                                                              Check out these Zoho Desk best practices to end this year on a high and have a great one ahead! #1 Set Business (Holiday) Hours - If you have limited working hours, please make sure you restrict your business hours or set them as holidays for the coming days. Let your customers know when you will, and won't, be available. #2 Update the Annual Holiday List - Check the holidays for the new year and update the holiday schedule. Usually, holidays from the current year will be carried over for the next


                                                            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

                                                                                              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

                                                                                                              • Zoho ToDo in Cliq

                                                                                                                Our organization utilizes Zoho ToDo in the Zoho Mail Desktop app. Is there a way for these to show up in Cliq Desktop app as well?
                                                                                                              • 【Zoho CRM】サンドボックス機能のアップデート:カスタムビューが利用可能になりました。

                                                                                                                ユーザーの皆さま、こんにちは。コミュニティチームの中野です。 今回は「Zoho CRM アップデート情報」の中から、サンドボックス機能のアップデートをご紹介します。 目次 1. カスタムビューとは 2. 今回の機能アップデートについて 1. カスタムビューとは カスタムビューは、ユーザーが設定した条件に基づいてデータをフィルタリング・整理し、 重要な情報へ効率的にアクセスできるようにする機能です。 「過去15日間の見込み客」や「受注間近の商談」、「特定の優先度レベルが設定された案件」など 条件を指定してわずか数クリックで設定できます。
                                                                                                              • Changing an agents email address

                                                                                                                How do you change an agent's email address? I keep getting a red circle even though I am an admin. And on one of my agents he has two email addresses? How is that possible?
                                                                                                              • Zoho CRM - Potentials Tab

                                                                                                                Hi! When I create a Deal (Potentials tab) the header looks like this: After a refresh on the page it looks like this: What should I do so that it is displayed like in the second pic without refresh? Also I have a user that as of recently, cannot see this
                                                                                                              • Unable to create embed code for resource of workdrive using API

                                                                                                                Hello Team, I am trying to create embed code for a resource using workdrive api in powershell, however facing some issues with injecting data in body. Followed Doc: https://workdrive.zoho.com/apidocs/v1/filefoldersharing/shareeveryone Please help, below
                                                                                                              • Feature Request - Insert URL Links in Folders

                                                                                                                I would love to see the ability to create simple URL links with titles in WorkDrive. or perhaps a WorkDrive extension to allow it. Example use case: A team is working on a project and there is project folder in WordDrive. The team uses LucidChart to create
                                                                                                              • not able to convert pdf to jpg and other forms and vice versa.

                                                                                                                i want to change my pdf to jpg, word, etc and some times jpg to pdf. i don't know how to do in this.
                                                                                                              • Enable / show scroll bar when Mega Menu is opened

                                                                                                                Hey there I am using the mega menu add-on and experience a "flicker" whenever the mega menu opens. The reason is, that the scrollbar, which has a width of a few pixels, stops showing when the mega menu opens. As the scrollbar disappears the whole page
                                                                                                              • Reports: Custom Search Function Fields

                                                                                                                Hi Zoho, Hope you'll add this into your roadmap. Issue: For the past 2yrs our global team been complaining and was brought to our attention recently that it's a time consuming process looking/scrolling down. Use-case: This form is a service report with
                                                                                                              • How can I transfer data from Production to Development environment?

                                                                                                                Hi, I am using Creator V6 and would like to bring all the data in production to the Development and Testing environments? Is there an easy way of doing that or I have to export and import each table?
                                                                                                              • New portal SAML authentication error: User not found

                                                                                                                Dears, Has anyone else been experiencing this lately? I am creating a new portal authenticated by SAML (Entra ID). I followed the same process as I did with other portals, but any new portal created after this always encounters this error. I’ve been reporting
                                                                                                              • Devis et facture multi page

                                                                                                                Bonjour, je suis sur Zoho invoice et je rencontre un problème sur mes devis et factures lorsqu'ils dépassent 1 page. je me retrouve souvent avec des lignes coupées ou le sous total page 1 et le total page 2. j'aimerai savoir s'il existe une possibilité
                                                                                                              • Help with Filtering Records, HTML Pages, and Automatic File Uploads in Zoho Creator

                                                                                                                Hi Zoho Creator Community, I’m building a Zoho Creator application and need guidance on a few features I’ve been struggling with. I want to implement them safely and efficiently, and I’d appreciate any examples, tips, or best practices. I want users to
                                                                                                              • Feature Suggestion for Zoho Websites – Inspired by Squarespace Systems

                                                                                                                Dear Zoho Team, I’m a Zoho user and also a Squarespace Platinum Circle member, and I recently noticed the launch of Zoho Websites in India. I wanted to share some ideas for features that could enhance the platform for professional users and agencies.
                                                                                                              • Custom View - Sort by Custom Field

                                                                                                                I created a custom field for our Engineering team to know which tickets to work first by numbering them.  I created a custom view to general data which includes the Engineering Priority.  However, I cannot sort the Engineering Priority column ascending
                                                                                                              • Zoho Indeed Intergation not pulling candidate details

                                                                                                                We have recently integrated zoho with indeed. Prior to this our candidates came into the candidates tab via the zoho.resumes email address from indeed and it pulled through the candidates mobile number, and majority of the time a postcode. However since
                                                                                                              • Custom View of tickets created today

                                                                                                                How can I create a custom view that list all my ticked created in the current date? Currently, if I select the "Created Time" criteria, the "Current Time" option does not work as today. Actually, I don't know how it works this "Current Time".
                                                                                                              • Lifecycle Reports

                                                                                                                From data to decisions: A deep dive into ticketing system reports A lifecycle report captures and visualises the sequential states that a ticket undergoes across its lifespan. For instance, when a customer submits a support ticket for a faulty product,
                                                                                                              • Zoho Forms - Print Button on Forms

                                                                                                                Hi Forms team, I'm replicating a form for a client which is currently based on JotForm. I noticed that at the end of the form there is a button to print the completed form. I thought this would be something worth sharing and a nice to have in Zoho Forms.
                                                                                                              • Putting Watermark on Zoho Sheet

                                                                                                                Can this be done?
                                                                                                              • Validation function not preventing candidates under 18 or over 30 from submitting the web form

                                                                                                                Hello everyone, I’m trying to create a validation rule for the Candidate Webform in Zoho Recruit. I added a custom field called “Date of Birth”, and I want to make sure that candidates cannot submit the form unless their age is between 18 and 30 years.
                                                                                                              • Report to know the history of certain Tickets on Desk

                                                                                                                Hi there guys, As the title implies we're wondering if there's any way to get some kind of Report that allows us to check the History of various Tickets at the same time since as of today if we want to know that we have to check them 1 by 1 which is not
                                                                                                              • Advanced Usage Billing: Prepaid with Drawdown

                                                                                                                Picture yourself at your favourite coffee shop, Bean & Brew. You come by every morning for your usual cappuccino, and occasionally you get an extra cold brew and a muffin or two in the afternoon. Interestingly, Bean & Brew has a new idea of offering a
                                                                                                              • Zoho Commerce in multiple languages

                                                                                                                When will you be able to offer Zoho Commerce in more languages? We sell in multiple markets and want to be able to offer a local version of our webshop. What does the roadmap look like?
                                                                                                              • Urgent Zoho Creator down!!!???

                                                                                                                Now my zoho creator faced this issue. Anyone has idea? Urgent!!!
                                                                                                              • The Social Wall: September 2025

                                                                                                                Hello everyone, As we step into the fall season, some major updates are on the horizon. Meanwhile, here are the exciting updates we rolled out this September. Approvals in iOS Managing approvals just got more seamless on mobile. With this update, the
                                                                                                              • Introducing Detailed View for Candidates in Vendor Portal

                                                                                                                We’ve added a new Details sub-tab inside the Vendor Portal to help vendors easily view complete candidate information after submission. With this update, vendors can now access all candidate details, from personal information to associated job openings,
                                                                                                              • Zoho One Down

                                                                                                                Zoho Team, Checking if when the services up - currently Zoho One is down
                                                                                                              • How can I track which zoho users are actively using Zoho CRM

                                                                                                                I have several licenses of Zoho CRM. We now need to add a new user. I could purchase a new license, but before I do, I would like to see if any of our existing users are not actively using the license assigned to them. How can I determine the activity
                                                                                                              • Access to Detail View From HTML Snippet

                                                                                                                Zoho Creator displays a detail view that slides out from the right onClick of a record in a report. Am I able to access that detail view from an html snippet, e.g. click a record in a list and display the detail view? The zc_LoadIn dialog is a bit clunky,
                                                                                                              • Billing Management: #10 Solving Common Mistakes in Billing

                                                                                                                Over the past few weeks, we have explored different facets of billing, from the simplicity of traditional one-time billing to the evolving landscape of subscriptions, retainers, and usage-based models. We've unpacked how billing isn't just about sending
                                                                                                              • 【開催間近 - 10/17】東京 ユーザー交流会 Vol.3 参加登録 受付中!(参加無料)

                                                                                                                ユーザーの皆さま、こんにちは。コミュニティチームの藤澤です。 10/17(金)に、東京・新橋で「東京 ユーザー交流会 Vol.3」を開催します! ZOHOLICSよりも小規模なイベントですので、「リアル開催はちょっと緊張する…」という方も、安心してご参加いただけます✨ 当日は、初公開の事例を2つご紹介予定です! なお、セッション映像のアーカイブ配信は予定していないため、会場にお越しいただいた方だけが、登壇者へ直接質問したり、リアルな声を聞いたりできる貴重な機会となっています。 ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
                                                                                                              • Loading CSS Stylesheets into HTML Snippet

                                                                                                                Combining html/css into a single snippet can grow quite large for a UI that has a lot of functionality/styling. To keep things tidy, are we able to pull files into an html snippet using a <link> tag? If so, what are some best practices?
                                                                                                              • Notes Attachments

                                                                                                                Two things it would be nice to have the attachment size the same as the attachments sections and it would be nice to be able to attach links like you can in the attachments section. Thank you
                                                                                                              • Canvas: empty images

                                                                                                                Hello. If I add an image field like contact photo in a Canvas design, and the field is empty, there is an ugly placeholder in its place. This doesn't happen in the standard view. In the standard view, if the contact photo is empty, nothing appears in
                                                                                                              • Google enhanced conversions not working

                                                                                                                Hi guys, I've connected Zoho CRM through Google Ads interface with the goal to setup the enhanced conversion tracking in Google Ads. I have to Zoho related conversion goals which you can see in the images below: For the conversion goal above I've setup
                                                                                                              • Sync Contacts with iPhone

                                                                                                                Is syncing the Zoho Personal Mail contacts with the iPhone (or other mobile devices) in the works?  I just dumped Yahoo & then found out that contacts sync is missing.  Importing is only a stop gap and a step backwards for me.
                                                                                                              • MS Teams Meeting to Zoho CRM

                                                                                                                Has anyone figured out a good way to push MS Teams meeting info on a trigger of "meeting end" to Zoho CRM? We're looking for a way to take attendees of a meeting and meeting duration and push it into Zoho CRM after the meeting has ended. If I can just
                                                                                                              • How do I move a section or element from one page to another in the NEW Zoho Sites UI

                                                                                                                I have a section on my home page with numerous elements within it and I'd like to move the entire section to a different page on my site so I don't have to recreate it from scratch.  Is there a way for me to do that easily? I could use a quick answer on this please.
                                                                                                              • Zoho Projects app update: Global Web Tabs support

                                                                                                                Hello everyone! In the latest version(v3.10.10) of the Zoho Projects app update, we have brought in support for Global Web Tabs. You can now access the web tabs across all the projects from the Home module of the app. Please update the app to the latest
                                                                                                              • Next Page