Zoho Desk: What's new in 2024 | Feature release

Zoho Desk: What's new in 2024 | Feature release

Zoho Desk's 2024 release is here!

This year, we are bringing you a range of highly-anticipated features, including some that are designed to meet unique and industry-specific needs. With solutions for personalization, automation, AI, ticket management, and more, we're committed to offering you an enhanced and highly customizable help desk experience.

Here are some of the areas we've improved.
  • Ticket management
  • Customization
  • Automation
  • Zia
  • Privacy and Security
  • Data administration
  • Personalization and multilingual
  • Mobile experience
Webinar: What's new in Zoho Desk - A 2024 Release Overview' webinars. Registration links at the end of the post. 

Ticket Management

Easily link and manage related tickets with parent-child ticketing (early access available on request)

Tickets can be related to one another by subject, or by the customer who raised them. Related tickets can be linked through a parent-child relationship that:
  • Provides clear context during ticket handling
  • Promotes efficient ticket management
  • Improves agent productivity
  • Contributes to an organized ticket database
Help Document and Availability
Understanding parent-child ticketing | Professional and above


Reduce response time and improve customer satisfaction with mass and scheduled replies

Send bulk responses to similar tickets that require the same response. This improves time management and enhances agent productivity by reducing repetitive tasks and inadvertent errors. Schedule responses at a more convenient time for recipients, promoting faster resolution.

Help Documents and Availability
Sending mass replies to tickets | Professional and above

Mass reply



Scheduled reply



Bring more context to tickets with ticket ID customization (coming soon)

Ticket IDs are unique, auto-generated identifiers that are used for reference. Businesses can customize the ID to make it relatable and contextual. Alphanumeric prefixes or suffixes can be added, such as a country code, ticket channel, product name, or even the ticket due date. This also makes it easier for customers to identify the tickets they've raised.


Customization

Meet custom requirements with custom modules

Build custom modules to map your business with Zoho Desk. From real estate to finance, IT, and retail, every business has unique methods for handling customer tickets.

For example, to resolve a transaction question, the agent will need to request context to provide a timely resolution.
All business and customer data can be stored right inside the Desk account using custom modules, eliminating the need to switch between applications. This can help with providing customized travel plans, connecting educators to students and universities, understanding asset utilization in the organization, monitoring vendor and supplier information, and more. With relevant data easily accessible across teams, ticket handling becomes easier and decisions become more contextual.

Help Document and Availability



Interlink modules using Custom Lookup fields

Bridge two modules by adding Lookup fields that allow users to find records from module A while creating records in module B. For example, creating an Asset lookup in the Tickets module will allow users to select the asset they want while raising a request.

Help Document and Availability
Creating custom lookup fields | Professional and above


Data validation with RegEx in Validation and Layout Rules

Maintain data authenticity and acceptable data formatting with the help of RegEx validation. Users can create and set acceptable patterns or formats for necessary fields. For example, the alphanumeric arrangement or the pattern required for passwords can be set using RegEx.

Help Document and Availability


Identify and segregate records easily with color coding (coming soon)

Picklist values can be assigned different colors for easy identification. This allows you to differentiate records at a glance, categorize them, and easily analyze a large quantity of data. It also allows users to personalize their experience by choosing the color palette that suits their brand or preference.


Automation

Optimize support services with tailored Support Plans

Customer requirements vary. While some want to receive a first response within an hour, others demand that a certain number of tickets be resolved weekly. They may even require dedicated support for one specific product.

As a service provider, it is imperative to segregate and categorize customer requirements and build tailored support plans that address various needs. This process also ensures that the agents are not overworked.

For example, a ticket-based plan can provide optimum support to enterprise customers. It can specify an upper limit on the number of tickets that will be addressed for a defined period, such as 100 tickets per week. These 100 tickets will adhere to the SLA specified by the plan. Based on their credit limit, customers can gain real-time insight into the number of tickets they have already raised, as well as the remaining balance for the week. Once the upper limit is reached, further tickets can be charged based on the customer's request, ticket type, and other parameters, as defined by the contract.

Help Document and Availability


Extend the capabilities of Blueprint with extension-based operations

The blueprint guides support agents through a ticket's lifecycle, helping them make the right decisions and follow a systematic approach to handling tickets.

With Blueprint widgets, you can link your marketplace extensions to a Blueprint flow. This will allow agents to schedule a meeting, share their location, and send surveys to gather customer feedback right from the Blueprint.

Help Document and Availability
Blueprint - Widgets | Professional and above


Zia

Improved data accuracy and agent productivity with Zia's field predictions

Zia can detect patterns in existing tickets and use the information to auto-update field values in incoming tickets. This helps customer support teams maintain data accuracy, ensure data validity, and minimize manual intervention. For example, Zia can predict the severity of a ticket and assign it to the most suitable agent or team for a faster resolution.

Zia can be retrained as new tickets with diverse data enter the system. She identifies changes, recreates patterns, and suggests values based on new trends.

Help Document and Availability
Zia - Field Predictions | Enterprise 


Privacy and security

Enhance data and system security

Encrypt system-defined fields (early access available on request)

Predefined fields, such as name, email address, and contact number, can be secured from unauthorized access using the Advanced Encryption Standard method.

Help Document and Availability


Secure download of email attachments (coming soon)

Admins can prohibit agents from downloading certain types of files, preventing inadvertent access to malicious content or software. This helps organizations maintain their confidentiality and privacy standards.


Data Administration tools

Monitor daily activities across the Desk account with an audit log

The audit log provides a complete overview of what actions were taken, when, and by whom, in chronological order. By monitoring every activity, admins can take necessary measures to revert any action that was unintended, pinpoint problem areas, and prevent large-scale issues.

Help Document and Availability
Monitoring audit log | Enterprise 


Test and validate configurations before implementation with a sandbox

Businesses can test, evaluate, and make modifications to existing configurations without disturbing the live account in a sandbox. Based on the result, they can deploy only valid changes to the live account, ensuring they achieve the desired behavior and eliminate flaws in existing process flows.

Help Document and Availability


Personalization and multilingual features

Enhancements to accessibility controls (coming soon)

This year, we have made a few more enhancements to visual accessibility.
  • Focus ring: Highlights elements of focus on a webpage or user interface, making the element more prominent for users. It is particularly helpful for individuals who navigate digital content using keyboards or other non-mouse input methods, such as screen readers or voice commands.

  • Skip navigation: Jump past repeated navigation elements to the main content area of the webpage.

  • Custom cursor: By default, the cursor is arrow-shaped. Users can customize the size and color of the cursor.

  • Toast notifications: Toasts are short and time-sensitive notifications used to display alerts, warnings, information, and success or failure messages. They appear in small rectangular boxes at the top-right corner of the screen. Users can set toast notification time and display preferences, including:
    • The duration of notification display before auto-closure
    • Whether to close warning manually and alert notifications
    • Whether to display notifications as a stack or list

New languages

We have introduced three new languages to the list: Vietnamese, Arabic, and Hebrew, Zoho Desk now offers solutions in 23 global languages.

Help Document and Availability
Language preferences | All editions


Marketplace and Developer tools

Monitor API usage to make informed decisions

The API dashboard will provide a detailed visual representation of API usage patterns, including information on call volume, daily averages, and the top apps, services, custom functions, access points, and users. These statistics help in analyzing and monitoring API usage effectively.

Help Document and Availability
Working with API Dashboard | All paid editions


Locate important and relevant applications inside Tickets with the Extension Starter Pack

For quick navigation, the marketplace app can be accessed from the top bar. In addition, to facilitate improved decision-making, the system will display your most relevant apps right on the Tickets Detail page.
  • Customer insights
  • Ticket insights
  • Print tickets for Zoho Desk extension
  • Geolocation extension
  • My Followed tickets
  • Checklist extension
Help Document and Availability


Mobile experience

Create dashboards and pin important items in the Radar app

Create dashboards using charts, graphs, tables, and other data visualization components to represent business data in a more comprehensible manner. Also, add the most-used dashboards to the dashboard grid for quick access from anywhere, at any time.
Pin frequently-accessed information, like filtered dashboard views, follow-up tickets, calls, or events to the top of your menu for easy access and quick action.

Help Document and Availability
Creating Dashboards in Radar App | Standard and above





That's a wrap!

Upcoming Webinars

We are planning to schedule webinars for all these release features soon. The upcoming webinars that you can register for are:

What's new in Zoho Desk - A 2024 Release Overview on 27th Feb, 2024 - Register here
Exploring Custom Modules in Zoho Desk on 1st March, 2024Register here

Please Note: All the new 20+ features will be released in batches in the next couple of weeks. Give them a try and share your feedback here. For further inquiries, you can write to support@zohodesk.com

Regards,
Anumita Gupta
User Education | Zoho Desk

    Access your files securely from anywhere

        All-in-one knowledge management and training platform for your employees and customers.






                              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

                                                              • 2024 Email Authentication Standards: Elevating Security with Google and Yahoo

                                                                In contemporary email communication, email authentication plays a pivotal role in mitigating email fraud, spam, and phishing attacks. Brace yourself for a new level of security. Starting February 2024, Gmail and Yahoo will be implementing robust email
                                                              • Using Agent Email Address as From Address

                                                                Currently, while replying to a ticket, it is possible for agents to choose their own email addresses as 'from' addresses. Although we built this just for that little extra flexibility, in hindsight, it hasn't figured much in conventional usage.  Almost all businesses prefer that responses to their customers' tickets be sent from the common support/service email address and NOT from those of individual agents. During personal interactions at events, some of you have even made passing mentions about
                                                              • Edit and Delete options in Comments

                                                                A lot of teams have been using ticket comments extensively to collaborate everyday. Notification Center further improved this experience by bringing real-time updates. As we continue to build more improvements to this experience, we've shipped a small-yet-important
                                                              • Webinar 2: Supercharged customer support for growing business

                                                                Join us for this webinar and learn how to step up your support game using a real-time communication platform to generate happier, more successful customers. In this live webinar, we will will discuss the importance of SalesIQ for your support team and how it can help you:  Understand your customers better and their journeys to proactively support and engage them even before they ask for help.  Integrating real time conversations into Zoho Desk’s Support, providing a conversational customer service
                                                              • Customize Colors of your Customer Self Service Portal

                                                                You asked for it. We heard you. We're happy to roll out the most sought after feature request, Customizing the Colors of your Customer Self-service Portal. Now you can set the color of your customer portal to mimic your company's web site, so that your customers visiting the portal will not feel alienated by the default theme.  Go ahead and configure the color of the header, tabs, fonts and background according to your needs. You can either choose between default color themes like Blue, Grey, Green


                                                              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

                                                                                                                • Kaizen #233 - Generating AI-powered Follow-up Emails Using CRM Functions and Widgets

                                                                                                                  Hey everyone! Welcome back to another interesting post in the Kaizen series! Sales teams regularly capture interaction notes in CRM after speaking with prospects. However, drafting a follow-up email that reflects the conversation context can be repetitive
                                                                                                                • Connect Bank in Zoho Books

                                                                                                                  Can I connect UOB or Ariwallex in Zoho Books?
                                                                                                                • Using MPN across multiple SKUs and inventory tracking

                                                                                                                  I have several different SKU's that share a common MPN and would like to track inventory by MPN. SKU1 has MPN1 assigned SKU2 has MPN1 assigned Here is an example If I start with 5 of MPN 1 in stock I want each SKU1 and SKU2 to show as 5 in stock, If I
                                                                                                                • Extend Zoho Canvas Customization to Zoho Creator Forms and Reports

                                                                                                                  Currently, Zoho Canvas allows users to design and customize the UI of Zoho CRM modules with a much better visual experience. This helps organizations create cleaner layouts, improve usability, and design interfaces that match their workflows. However,
                                                                                                                • Marketing Tip #1: Optimize item titles for SEO

                                                                                                                  Your item title is the first thing both Google and shoppers notice. Instead of a generic “Leather Bag,” go for something detailed like “Handcrafted Leather Laptop Bag – Durable & Stylish.” This helps your items rank better in search results and instantly
                                                                                                                • Feature Enhancement Request – Text Formatting Options in Item Description (Zoho Books/Quotes Module)

                                                                                                                  Dear Zoho Development Team, Greetings from Radiant360 Integrated Technical Services LLC. We would like to bring to your attention a functional limitation we've encountered within the Item Table / Quote Description section of Zoho Books (and Zoho CRM Quotes).
                                                                                                                • ZOHO Books Query

                                                                                                                  Good day, Can someone please advise. I recently migrated from ZOHO Invoice to ZOHO Books. No that I want to use the inventory on Books I cant as all my items have transaction history. The person I spoke to at ZOHO said I need to create a new Company profile
                                                                                                                • Best way to schedule bill payments to vendors

                                                                                                                  I've integrated Forte so that I can convert POs to bills and make payments to my vendors all through Books. Is there a way to schedule the bill payments as some of my vendors are net 30, net 60 and even net 90 days. If I can't get this to work, I'll have
                                                                                                                • ZOHO.CRM.UI.Record.open not working properly

                                                                                                                  I have a Zoho CRM Widget and in it I have a block where it will open the blocks Meeting like below block.addEventListener("click", () => { ZOHO.CRM.UI.Record.open({ Entity: "Events", RecordID: meeting.id }).catch(err => { console.error("Open record failed:",
                                                                                                                • inventory removal at packing list or shipment.

                                                                                                                  currently our system is set to remove inventory at invoice. This is creating an inventory nightmare? Is it possible to change the settings to remove the item from inventory at either the packing slip stage or shipping the item.
                                                                                                                • How to add employee and not invite them to log in?

                                                                                                                  I want to add 50 employees, but invite them only when everything will be configured and ready. Is it possible? Should we create employee profiles and then convert them later? Thank you,
                                                                                                                • How is Your eCommerce Experience w/Zoho Inventory?

                                                                                                                  First off, I'm SUPER grateful for the advent of Zoho Inventory and now the Zoho Commerce Suite. Overall, Inventory is a great product, especially for customers without an eCommerce presence. For eCommerce companies (especially those shipping more than ~10 packages/day), however, there are certain drawbacks that keep my clients from moving over to Zoho Inventory: Cons: 1. Invoice + Package Creation from Shopify/Other eCommerce Integrations: Zoho Inventory makes the somewhat perplexing decision to
                                                                                                                • Ability to Use Both AND and OR When Creating Rules (Advanced Conditions)

                                                                                                                  I'd like to be able to use more complicated logic when setting up rules. E.g. in Zoho Mail, I can choose "Advanced conditions (AND/OR) to create a rule that can be applied to multiple subject lines from the same sender. But in Zoho TeamInbox, I will have
                                                                                                                • Zoho Desktop App- Unable to Minimize/Freezes

                                                                                                                  I'm having issues with my Zoho Mail desktop app (PC). When go on my desktop and open the app this is what happens: - Unable to minimize and close app (in the screenshot attached you can see at the top right there is no option to minimize/close) - Unable
                                                                                                                • Zoho Invoice Zapier Integration

                                                                                                                  Is there still a way to use Zapier with Zoho Invoice? I've read online that that migrated to Zoho Books or Billing but since I am just using Invoice I can not find a Zapier Connection anymore.
                                                                                                                • Conect chat of salesiq with zoho cliq

                                                                                                                  Is there any way to answer from zoho cliq the chat of salesiq initiated by customers?
                                                                                                                • Bug: OAuth 2.0 State Parameter fails with Pipe Delimiters (RFC 6749 Non-Compliance)

                                                                                                                  I've discovered a bug in how Zoho's API Console handles the OAuth 2.0 authorization flow when the state parameter contains pipe characters (|), and I'm hoping the Zoho team can address this in a future update. The Issue Zoho's OAuth 2.0 implementation
                                                                                                                • Zobot with Plugs

                                                                                                                  Hello, I am having a problem with Zobot using Plugs. Here is my current flow: When I run the flow, I should immediately see the messages from the initial cards (Send Message cards), then after running the plug, and finally, see the messages after the
                                                                                                                • Print a document from Zoho Writer via Zoho Creator

                                                                                                                  If i use the code below i can get writer to create a new document or email it to me but i want to be able to print it directly from the browser and not have to send it via email and then print. Below is the code im using. Attached options form zoho writer
                                                                                                                • Is it possible to use HTML formatting in SMS messages sent from Zoho?

                                                                                                                  Hi everyone, I have a question regarding sending SMS from Zoho When we send emails from Zoho, we can include HTML code to format the message (like adding links, styling, etc.). Is it possible to do something similar when sending SMS messages through Zoho
                                                                                                                • Training for How can i Operate the Software Features

                                                                                                                  need to Help for Training of the ZOHO Billing Software
                                                                                                                • Automating Vendor Contract Management between Zoho Contracts and Zoho Books using Zoho Flow

                                                                                                                  Managing vendor agreements across procurement and finance systems often requires manually downloading executed contracts and attaching them to vendor records. This can become time-consuming and difficult to manage when dealing with a large number of contracts.
                                                                                                                • Problem applying batch operation error keeps looping that error

                                                                                                                  Problem applying batch operation error keeps looping that error an wont login
                                                                                                                • Shared Email Sending Duplicate Copies of Emails

                                                                                                                  Hi there, We recently have moved our info@ email to Team Inbox to trial. We set this channel up using the Microsoft setup which works fine and have 3 users. I am wanting to know: 1. When I send a new email, it will create a copy of that email and send
                                                                                                                • merhaba

                                                                                                                  merhaba sosyal medya paketimiz mevcut ama yorumları göremiyoruz ve o yüzden cevap veremiyoruz destek rica ediyoruz.
                                                                                                                • Teaminbox not working

                                                                                                                  We couldn't send or receive any mail within the team inbox. Displaying error 'Unable to process this request.'
                                                                                                                • Related lists New option in missing

                                                                                                                  hi I have created quite a few modules and added as related lists to my main module. Some have new, some dont I can not see why?
                                                                                                                • Cliq and ToDo integrations?

                                                                                                                  I'm a bit surprised not to find any way to open a Cliq chat for the current thread, or to create a Zoho Mail ToDo from a thread. Are these on the roadmap?
                                                                                                                • Reply-to names are mangled

                                                                                                                  Hello, I'm seeing an odd behavior in replies. Steps to reproduce: 1. Click reply to an email from "John Doe <doe.john@example.com> in TeamInbox Expected outcome: TO field pre-filled with "John Doe <doe.john@example.com>" Actual outcome: TO field pre-filled
                                                                                                                • I CANT UPGRADE MY FREE ACCOUNT

                                                                                                                  I TRY TO UPGRADE MY FREE ACCOUNT AND I COULD NOT UPGRADE IT CAN SOMEBODY TELL ME WHY? AND I HAVE THE MONEY SO.
                                                                                                                • Level up your ASO game with tags & categories in store reviews

                                                                                                                  Introducing tags and categories in Apptics' store reviews Dear Apptics community, If your app is listed on the Play Store or App Store, you already know how important store reviews and ratings are. They’re one of the most direct signals of user sentiment
                                                                                                                • Including attachments with estimates

                                                                                                                  How can attachments be included when an estimate is sent/emailed and when downloaded as a .pdf? Generally speaking, attachments should be included as part of an estimate package. Ultimately, this is also true for work orders and invoices.
                                                                                                                • Adding VENDOR SKU to PURCHASE ORDERS

                                                                                                                  how can we add the Vendor SKU when issuing a Purchase Order , so the PO shows the Supplier SKU and our own Internal SKU , which is what we want to receive into the system .
                                                                                                                • Possible to freely prompt/query CRM data using Zia?

                                                                                                                  Is it possible to prompt Zia to query on any information stored in the CRM, especially on the data stored in custom text fields? My use case is the people in my organisation have entered lots of text in custom text fields to capture information from an
                                                                                                                • Restrict employees to take only one day holiday from a multi-day festival holiday

                                                                                                                  Hi everyone, I have a requirement related to Optional/Festival Holidays in Zoho People. For example, in the month of May there are three optional holiday dates: May 11, May 12, and May 13. Employees can choose one of these days as their optional holiday.
                                                                                                                • Cannot modify colours in invoice email template

                                                                                                                  I have tried switching browsers... but I cannot change the (pretty horrible) default colours in the preset email when sending an invoice... the blue banner, red outstanding total and the bright green button... I can change other things but not the colours?
                                                                                                                • Cannot find zpuid for Zoho Projects user

                                                                                                                  I'm using the Zoho Projects v3 API to create a task. The task is created successfully, but in order to assign the task owner, the "Create a Task" API also requires the zpuid of the task owner. Unfortunately I cannot find any user-related API calls that
                                                                                                                • Print a document from Zoho Writer via Zoho Creator

                                                                                                                  If i use the code below i can get writer to create a new document or email it to me but i want to be able to print it directly from the browser and not have to send it via email and then print. Below is the code im using. Attached options form zoho writer
                                                                                                                • Allow styling for specific Subform fields in Zoho Creator

                                                                                                                  Sometimes in forms we need to visually highlight a specific field inside a Subform (for example Sanctioned Amount, Approved Value, Critical Fields, etc.) so that users immediately notice it while entering data. Currently there is no direct UI option to
                                                                                                                • Career site URL - Suggestion to modify URL of non-english job posting

                                                                                                                  Hi, I would like to suggest making a few modification to career sites that are not in english. Currently, the URL are a mix of different languages and are very long. It makes for very unprofessional looking URLs... Here is an example of one of our URL
                                                                                                                • Next Page