What's new in Instant Messaging? | Zoho Desk | Feature Releases | Sept'2024

What's new in Instant Messaging? | Zoho Desk | Feature Releases | Sept'2024

Improve your business communications with these new and enhanced features in Instant Messaging!

Excellent communication is at the heart of every strong work relationship. These new features and enhancements for professionals will help you build better connections with Instant Messaging.

We're adding more ways to stay connected with your customers! 

We are excited to add Facebook Messenger and Instagram to Zoho Desk's list of IM integrations. You can now easily manage your Meta Business (Facebook) Page's activity alongside messages from various channels on one common platform.

Facebook Messenger

One of the most popular messaging channels, Facebook Messenger, fulfills your business communication needs and provides an easy outlet for communicating with customers and maintaining your social media branding. 


Instagram

Manage your Instagram messages directly from your instant messaging inbox and assist your customers using the same inbox automation features you already rely on, such as blueprints, business hours, and much more.



These new integrations let you link your business account with Zoho Desk and respond to customer inquiries on this popular IM platform.

Business Messaging that matches your needs

Business Messaging

Integrate Zoho Desk's native Business Messaging widget seamlessly across webpages and apps, and customize it to align with your brand's style. This allows seamless hand-offs between bots and agents with automation to facilitate personalized and engaging conversations. Whether integrated independently or through the ASAP help widget, you can manage all your interactions using the Instant Messaging module.



Now, you can personalize your messenger to align with your brand, making your conversational experience accessible on both web and mobile platforms. Engage with a broader customer base through our business messaging channel, which is easy to set up, adaptable to your needs, and scalable for future expansion!

Enhancements in WhatsApp

Multi-WABA support

Great news! We are now supporting multi-WABA for businesses on the instant messaging platform. If you've been using the WhatsApp channel to communicate with your customers, you're likely aware that every WhatsApp Business Account (WABA) needs a verified phone number specifically dedicated to that IM channel for the current WhatsApp Business Platform. Log in for more information: Facebook Business Manager Account.


Acquire in-depth insights on how you spend WhatsApp Credits

Easily identify conversation patterns and anomalies, spot trends quickly with our color-coded graph, and promptly see your actual usage with our clear and easy-to-read conversational payment statements.


Blended conversation is now available across multiple channels

Get ready to experience Bot messaging like never before

You have the option to create a complete Guided Conversations custom bot flow, which enables the development of entirely automated interactions that work in tandem with Facebook Messenger, Instagram, Line, Telegram, and other business messaging channels.


Support teams can set their status as online or offline

Set Business Hours

Now, customers can specify their business hours. This feature provides greater flexibility in managing customer expectations with instant messaging. It allows you to customize business hours for individual teams to accommodate varying time zones or differing work hours for support and sales teams. We have also included the offline message as an automated response informing customers that the support team will be unavailable for an extended period.


Now chat with your customers the way they want

Instant Messaging inbox enhancement

We've enhanced the instant messaging inbox to improve and optimize messaging to provide better tools, features, and capabilities for managing and responding to messages.


Easily configure webhooks in IM

Do more with our Instant Messaging APIs

We introduced a webhook to support all inbound and outbound messages from your applications for custom events across channels.


Promote your business with replies via WhatsApp

Send WhatsApp messages in bulk to your contacts

Agents can now select contacts from the Contacts module to send WhatsApp messages to multiple contacts. The message can be sent to the contact's phone number, mobile number, or both. WhatsApp facilitates effective marketing, engagement, and customer retention management.


 
Send a WhatsApp message to a Contact using quick action

Agents can send WhatsApp messages to single contacts directly from the quick actions list by clicking the drop-down arrow from the top panel next to the plus sign (+). Alternatively, they can use the keyboard shortcut "w+" from any location within the desk. Each time a message is sent to a new contact, a new record is automatically created in the Contacts module.


Omni-channel messaging

IM conversations thread separation

You can now manage all channel conversations in your ticketing threads. This brings all IM channels and their conversations into one easily accessible ticket thread so that you can quickly understand how communication is handled across users.


Reply to IM tickets

Allows support agents to respond to customer inquiries and interact with them seamlessly across different messaging platforms while maintaining a unified view of the conversation history.


Associating agents made easy

Edit channel form

After successfully adding the instant messaging channel, you will be alerted: You have successfully linked your Zoho Desk account with a messaging channel. You can update your preferences for each messaging channel created in your help desk anytime. The preferences allow you to assign different agents for each channel within the channel form.


IM Automation

Triggering Blueprint is designed as a process management tool for IM conversations

Automating ticket actions via Blueprint transitions helps your team save time and streamline ticketing processes for instant messaging conversations. This allows agents to connect with customers and ensures the proper process is followed.


Monitor customer happiness ratings

Measure Customer Satisfaction across IM channels

By enabling the happiness rating, you can ask the customer to rate their experience in a survey that appears after the conversation ends—supported channels are WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, and LINE.



With these improvements to your business communications, you can resolve issues faster, boost customer satisfaction, and grow your business successfully.

For more details, refer to the Instant Messaging help docs.


Cheers,

Kavya Rao
The Zoho Desk Team

    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



                                                          • 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製品と生成AIツールの活用について

                                                                                                            いつもありがとうございます。 弊社では、Zoho Oneを契約し、CRMを軸として、見込み客の管理から商談、その後の受注や請求の管理、サポート業務(Desk)、業務データのレポーティング(Analytics)などを行っております。 Zohoサービス自体には、Ziaというツールが搭載されているかと存じますが、それ以外の外部の生成AIツールと連携した活用などもできるのでしょうか?具体的には、CopilotなどがZohoに登録されているデータや情報を見て、対話型で必要なデータを提示してくれたり、商談や蓄積されたメモなどを分析してユーザが知見を得られるような活用ができないか、と考えております。
                                                                                                          • File Field Validation

                                                                                                            Hello all, We are tracking our customer NDA agreements in our CRM and have created 2 fields to do so, an execution date field and a file upload field. I want to create a validation rule to ensure that when the execution date field is populated that the
                                                                                                          • Work with Contacts who use multiple Emails / Manage obsolete Email addresses without loosing Emails in Context

                                                                                                            Hello List Work with Contacts who use multiple Emails Only after 1 week in using Zoho CRM productively we have contacts which randomly use 2 different email addresses. From the concept I've understood that Zoho CRM offers two email fields which are recognized
                                                                                                          • Subforms in Stateless Forms

                                                                                                            Stateless Forms are very useful, but we can't build complex data entry pages without Subforms. Can this be implemented? This would make Stateless Forms truly powerful.
                                                                                                          • New Field in CRM Product Module Not Visible in Zoho Creator for Mapping

                                                                                                            I created a new single-line field in the Products module in Zoho CRM. Zoho CRM and Zoho Creator are integrated, but the newly created field in CRM is not visible in Zoho Creator when I try to map fields.
                                                                                                          • Send 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 questions
                                                                                                          • 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
                                                                                                          • I want to subscribe 1 professional user but the email only 250 per day?

                                                                                                            When I subscribe 1 professional user, I am only able to send 250 email per day? So less? Or is it typo, 2500 rather than 250? Any sale agent or friends can clear my doubt? Thank You
                                                                                                          • Cliq does not sync messages after Sleep on Mac

                                                                                                            I'm using the mac app of Cliq. When I open my mac after it was in sleep mode, Cliq does not sync the messages that I received. I always have to reload using cmd + R, which is not what I want when using a chat application.
                                                                                                          • How to add a % Growth column for year-over-year comparison (2024 vs 2025)

                                                                                                            Hello, I am trying to build a monthly revenue comparison between 2024 and 2025 in Zoho CRM Analytics. My current setup is: Module: Deals (Affaires) Filter: Stage = Closed Won Date field: Closing Date Grouping: By Month Metrics: Sum of Amount for 2024,
                                                                                                          • How do you map a user picklist field to another user picklist field.

                                                                                                            In Zoho Projects, I'm trying to map a custom field (user picklist) in Task Details to a field (user picklist) in the Project Details. How do you get the two to map to each other? This is what I currently have that works for my other fields but doesn't
                                                                                                          • Explore Competitive 3D Scanner Prices at Protomont Technologies

                                                                                                            The genesis of Protomont Technologies emerged from the collaborative efforts of the founders in 2019, both the founders shoulder an enormous experience in the world of 3D Printing. Protomont Technology aims to craft your vision with creativity, empowering
                                                                                                          • New and improved API resources for Zoho Sign Developers

                                                                                                            Hello, Developers community! We know that for you, an API's real value depends on how quickly, easily, and reliably you can integrate the it with your application. That's why we're excited to talk about the recent improvements to our developer resources,
                                                                                                          • stock

                                                                                                            bom/bse : stock details or price =STOCK(C14;"price") not showing issue is #N/A! kindly resolve this problem
                                                                                                          • Marketing Tip #5: Improve store speed with optimized images

                                                                                                            Slow-loading websites can turn visitors away. One of the biggest culprits? Large, uncompressed images. By optimizing your images, your store loads faster and creates a smoother shopping experience leading to higher sales. It also indirectly improves SEO.
                                                                                                          • Why can I not choose Unearned Revenue as an account on items?

                                                                                                            Hello, I do not understand why we don't have the ability to code an item to unearned revenue. It is not an uncommon situation to have in business. I understand that there is the Retainer invoice as an option, however that doesn't really work for us. Our
                                                                                                          • Form Submission Emails

                                                                                                            Is there a current delay with submission emails being sent? We've had 10-20 forms completed today but only a handful of emails.
                                                                                                          • Rules not working properly

                                                                                                            I created a rule to display certain fields on certain states. But it seems to be not working. It hides the fields even when I selected California, (which is a state that should show the fields when selected)
                                                                                                          • Notebook font size issue

                                                                                                            If I copy something from somewhere and paste it in my notebook, the font size becomes smaller.
                                                                                                          • Sign in process is beyond stupid. I'd rather plug my phone into USB and copy files than sign in to this POS.

                                                                                                            792 clicks and fields to fill in just to get into a 3rd rate app is too stupid for me.
                                                                                                          • Ampersand in URL parameter // EncodeURL does not work

                                                                                                            Hi Zoho, I have a url link with a parameter. The parameter is including ampersand in some cases (Can be "H&M" or "P&I") When trying to use %26 instead of "&"  (the result I get using EncodeURL()) I get H%26M instead of H&M in the parameter field. How can I solve this? Thanks! Ravid
                                                                                                          • how can we create in zoho crm a new contact when the looup does not find a similar existing one

                                                                                                            In forms/integrations/zoho crm / ne w record tab, contact name is to be mapped with my form contact name. When I go in biew edit/lookup configuration, I don t get the options (help dedicated page simply repeat the same info you get in the app) and does
                                                                                                          • Directory Websites

                                                                                                            Directories are a good website category to gain search engine traffic. Directories for a professional service category as an example can help their members in search results over their individual website. It would be nice to have a directory template
                                                                                                          • Manage Task on Mobile

                                                                                                            How do we manage our task on mobile devices? It seems that there should be a standalone mobile app to handle the new task features. The new features released in regards to Task management are great by the way! Now we need to bring that all together in
                                                                                                          • Set Default Payment Method & Default account

                                                                                                            Hi, I would like to know how to set the default payment method and default bank account when recording payments in zoho books. At present we have to change these fields everytime we record a payment, which leads to potential error and as we have a very
                                                                                                          • Customer Portal on Zoho Desk

                                                                                                            Hi, I'd like to know more about the items below I found when setting up the Customer Portal on Zoho Desk. Could someone help me explaining these in details? Especially the 2nd and 3rd point. Thanking you in advance! Permissions Customers can sign up for Customer Portal Customers can view tickets of their organization (contacts) Customers must register to access Customer Portal Display Community in Customer Self Service portal
                                                                                                          • Slow Performance on desk.zoho.com. 11/3/2025

                                                                                                            I’m not seeing any active service alerts for desk.zoho.com, but everyone on our account is currently experiencing very slow load times when opening or navigating tickets. We’ve already tried the standard troubleshooting steps — clearing cache and cookies,
                                                                                                          • "Authorize to Access Your Account"

                                                                                                            Hi, I'm trying to log into cliq on my phone but I can't. It says "Authorize to access your account - Verify your identity to access your account using oneAuth credentials", and asks for a password. I tried maybe 100 different passwords and nothing works.
                                                                                                          • Books API Receiving an Error that Doesn't Make Sense when Creating Credit Note - trying to use 'ignore_auto_number_generation' argument

                                                                                                            Hello, I'm working on a newly created routine and I'm getting an error that doesn't make sense when trying to create a new Credit Note. Here is my POST request. Endpoint: https://www.zohoapis.com/books/v3/creditnotes?organization_id=########## Body:     {
                                                                                                          • Computer Showing Offline in Unattended Access

                                                                                                            I have a computer that was connected to the internet but showing offline in Assist. I tried uninstalling the program and deleting it from Zoho Assist the reinstalling and it still does not show up. I have been a user for several months and am not pleased with the lack of connectivity with Assist. If this continues I will have to find another product. The computer I reinstalled it on is not even showing up in Assist now. The name is NYRVLI-PC. Thanks
                                                                                                          • Closing Accounting Periods - Invoice/Posting dates

                                                                                                            Hi, I have seen in another thread but I'm unsure on how the 'transaction locking' works with regards to new and old transactions. When producing monthly accounts if I close December 24 accounts on 8th Jan 25 will transaction locking prevent me from posting
                                                                                                          • Zoho CRM Portal Error

                                                                                                            Hi, We’re experiencing an issue with the Zoho CRM Portal. When we try to access it, we receive an HTTPS connection error: net::ERR_CERT_COMMON_NAME_INVALID. If we proceed past that, we then get a 400 Bad Request error. Could you please help us resolve
                                                                                                          • Can we do Image swatches for color variants?

                                                                                                            We want to do something like the attached screenshot on our new zoho store. We need image swatches instead of normal text selection. We want to user to select an image as color option. Is this doable? I don't see any option on zoho backend. Please h
                                                                                                          • Meeting impossible to use when sharing screen

                                                                                                            he Meeting tool in Brazil is practically unusable when sharing anything, whether it’s a presentation or simple navigation. When accessed via Cliq, the situation gets even worse: even basic calls fail to work properly, constantly freezing. And as you are
                                                                                                          • Integrating Zoho CRM EmbeddedApp SDK with Next.js — Initialization and Data Fetching Issues

                                                                                                            You can get an idea from my code I have given in end: First, I worked on a React project and tried the same thing — it worked. My goal was to import the Zoho script and then load contacts using the Zoho Widget SDK, which was successful in React. Now,
                                                                                                          • Feature enhancement: Highlight rows based on a cell value

                                                                                                            Hello Sheet users, We're excited to announce a new feature enhacement, shaped directly by your valuable feedback! As you might know, conditional formatting is a great tool for anyone dealing with large data sets. Previously, if you’ve ever wanted to draw
                                                                                                          • Script Editor not an option

                                                                                                            I am trying to apply a script to a sheet and Script Editor is not an option. I don't want to go outside Sheets to do this (like Creator) if it can be done inside Sheets.
                                                                                                          • monetizing the courses

                                                                                                            Can I add a price for course enrollment ?
                                                                                                          • Can we add zoho books features like invoices estemates etc on our zohocommerce website. When our customer login with their account they can able to see all books features in one place on zohocommerce?

                                                                                                            Can we add zoho books features like invoices estemates etc on our zohocommerce website. When our customer login with their account they can able to see all books features in one place on zohocommerce?
                                                                                                          • Copy paste from word document deletes random spaces

                                                                                                            Hello Dear Zoho Team, When copying from a word document into Notebook, often I face a problem of the program deleting random spaces between words, the document become terribly faulty, eventhough it is perfect in its original source document (and without
                                                                                                          • Next Page