FAQs: Workflow Rules | Zoho Desk

FAQs: Workflow Rules

What is a workflow Rule and why do we need it in Zoho Desk? 

Workflow rules are used to automate and streamline the support processes, ticket management, and customer interactions. They help ensure consistent and efficient handling of tickets and facilitate collaboration among agents. Here are some common examples of workflow rules:
  1. Ticket assignment: Workflow rules can automatically assign incoming tickets to specific agents or teams based on various criteria, such as ticket type, customer priority, or expertise. This helps ensure that tickets are promptly routed to the most appropriate resource for timely resolution.
  2. Priority and escalation: Based on predefined rules, workflows can automatically assign different levels of priority to tickets, escalate them based on response or resolution time thresholds, or trigger alerts to supervisors or higher-level support tiers. This helps prioritize critical issues and ensures timely resolution.
  3. SLA Management: Service level agreements (SLAs) define response and resolution time commitments. Workflow rules can enforce SLAs by tracking ticket status, sending reminders for approaching or breached SLAs, and generating reports to monitor performance against SLA targets.
  4. Email Notifications: Workflow s can trigger email notifications to customers, support agents, or supervisors at various stages of the ticket lifecycle. For example, notifications can be sent when a ticket is created, assigned, updated, or resolved, keeping stakeholders informed about the progress of their requests.
  5. Knowledge Base Suggestions: When a support agent is working on a ticket, workflow rules can analyze the content of the ticket and suggest relevant knowledge base articles or solutions that may assist in resolving the issue. This helps agents provide accurate and efficient support by leveraging existing knowledge resources.
  6. Ticket Categorization and Routing: Workflow rules can automatically categorize and tag incoming tickets based on keywords, customer details, or other criteria. This categorization enables effective ticket routing, grouping similar issues together, and improving reporting and analytics.
  7. Automated Responses: Workflow rules can trigger automated responses to customers to acknowledge their support requests, provide status updates, or share relevant information. These responses can be customized based on ticket type, priority, or other attributes.
  8. Ticket Closure and Follow-up: Workflow rules can initiate actions upon ticket closure, such as sending satisfaction surveys to gather feedback from customers or generating reports for performance analysis and improvement.
These examples illustrate how workflow rules in a Zoho desk can streamline support operations, improve efficiency, and enhance customer satisfaction by automating various aspects of the ticket management process.

How do I create a workflow rule?

To create a new workflow rule in Zoho Desk, follow these steps:
  1. Log in to your Zoho Desk account with administrator privileges.
  1. Go to Setup () in the top-right corner and select Workflows under Automation.
  2. On the Workflow Rules page, Choose a department from the drop-down for which you want to create a workflow rule.
  3. Click the Create Rule button.
  4. Choose the module from the list and give your rule a name and description for reference.
  5. Set the trigger conditions for the rule, which determine when the rule should execute. (e.g. create, edit, agent response, happiness ratings)
  6. Choose the criteria to execute the workflow rule.
  7. Add the actions you want the rule to perform when the trigger conditions are met.
  8. Click Save.


What are the different types of actions I can set in a workflow rule?

In Zoho Desk workflow rules, you can set various types of actions, such as:
  1. Assigning the ticket to a specific agent or team
  2. Sending an automated email response to customers
  3. Updating ticket fields, like status, priority, or custom fields
  4. Notifying agents, teams, or customers
  5. Escalating or de-escalating ticket priorities
  6. Adding tags to tickets
  7. Adding or removing skill types
  8. Closing or reopening tickets automatically
  9. Running custom functions using Deluge script

Can I create a workflow rule to automatically assign tickets to specific agents based on certain criteria? 

Yes, you can create a workflow rule to automatically assign tickets to specific agents based on a predefined criteria. When setting up the rule, define the condition based on ticket attributes like category, type, priority, or custom fields, then select the desired agent or team to whom the tickets should be assigned.
Example: Automatic Ticket Assignment for high priority tickets

A company that offers IT services receives various support tickets from its clients through Zoho Desk. The company has a priority system for tickets, where urgent tickets require immediate attention and resolution. They want to automatically assign urgent tickets to a dedicated team of senior support agents who can quickly address critical issues.

The support admin create a workflow rule in Zoho Desk that automatically assigns tickets with high priority (urgent) to a specific team of senior support agents, ensuring prompt handling and resolution of critical customer issues.

The support admin sets up a workflow rule in Zoho Desk to automate the ticket assignment process for urgent tickets.

To create the Workflow Rule:
  1. Navigate to Setup > Automations > Workflows > New Rule.
  2. Name the rule "Automatic Assignment for Urgent Tickets."
  3. Add a brief description to explain the purpose of the rule.
To define the trigger conditions:
  1. Set the rule to trigger when a ticket is created or updated.
  2. Specify the trigger condition to check the ticket priority. For example, "Ticket Priority is high." 
Assign urgent tickets to the Senior support team:
  1. Add the action to assign the ticket to the specific team of senior support agents. For example, "Assign Ticket to Team: Senior Support Team."
 Notify the Senior support team:
  1. You can optionally add an action to notify the senior support team about the new ticket assignment. This can be done via an email notification or an in-app alert.
Save the Workflow Rule:
  1. Once the trigger condition and actions have been defined, save the workflow rule.
Whenever a new ticket is created or updated in Zoho Desk, the workflow rule automatically checks the ticket's priority. If the ticket priority is high the rule immediately assigns it to the dedicated team of senior support agents called the "Senior Support Team."


Can I set up a workflow rule to send an automated response to customers when they submit a new ticket? 

Yes, users with administrative privileges can set up an automated response. A workflow rule can be created with the trigger condition based on ticket creation. An action can be added to send an email response (acknowledgement) to the customer every time a ticket is created.

You can also customize the email content using email templates and include dynamic placeholders to personalize the response.

To set up an automated response to customers:
  1. Log in to your Zoho Desk account with administrator privileges.
  2. Go to Setup () in the top-right corner and select Workflows under Automation.
  3. On the Workflow Rules page, choose a department from the drop-down for which you want to create a workflow rule.
  4. Click the Create Rule button.
  5. Choose the Tickets module from the list and give your rule a name and description for reference.
  6. Set the trigger conditions for the rule as Create. This will execute the rule whenever a ticket is created.
  7. Select your Criteria, If any, from the drop-down to trigger the rule when those specific criteria matches.
  8. Select Actions under Tasks and click Send Email Replies.
  9. Choose your email templates or create a new email templates to be send.
  10. Click Save.

See also>> Managing email templates



How do I update the status of a ticket automatically using a workflow rule? 

To update the status of a ticket automatically using a workflow rule in Zoho Desk:
  1. Log in to your Zoho Desk account with administrator privileges.
  2. Go to Setup () in the top-right corner and select Workflows under Automation.
  3. In the left sidebar, click on Create Rule.

  4. On the New Workflow page, Name the rule appropriately, such as "Automatic Ticket Status Update" and Add a description to document the purpose of the rule, if required.

  5. Define the trigger conditions:
    1. Set the rule to trigger when a ticket is Created or Edited.
    2. Specify the trigger condition to check the necessary criteria for updating the ticket status. For example, you may want to update the status when a specific custom field is changed, or a certain tag is added to the ticket.
  6. Add the action to update the ticket status:
    1. Select New Field Updates from the All Action drop-down.
    2. On the New Field Updates page, add the Assignment Value Name. Add a description if required.
    3. Choose the Status field to be updated. 
      For example, change it from Open to Escalated or any other appropriate status from the drop-down.
  7. Save the workflow rule to apply the changes.
Now, whenever a ticket meets the trigger conditions defined in the workflow rule, its status will be automatically updated to the specified value. For example, if the ticket's custom field changes or if a specific tag is added to the ticket, the status will be modified automatically according to the created rule.


Can I create a workflow rule to notify specific team members when a ticket is assigned to them? 

Yes, a workflow rule can be created to send notifications to specific team members when a ticket is assigned to them. Users with admin privileges can set up the rule's trigger condition to check for ticket assignment and add the action to notify the respective team members via email or notifications.

To create a workflow rule to notify specific team members when a ticket is assigned to them:
  1. Log in to your Zoho Desk account with administrator privileges.
  2. Go to Setup () in the top-right corner and select Workflows under Automation.
  3. On the Workflow Rules page, choose a department from the drop-down for which you want to create a workflow rule.
  4. Click the Create Rule button.
  5. Choose Tickets module from the list and give your rule a name and description for reference.
  6. Set the trigger conditions for the rule as Create. This will execute the rule whenever a ticket is created.
  7. Select your Criteria if any from the drop-down to trigger the rule when those specific criteria matches.
  8. Select Alerts under Action and click on New.
  9. On the Create Alert page:
    1. Enter a name for the alert.
    2. Under Email Template, select Notify team when a ticket is assigned.
    3. Create a new email template if you want to configure it by clicking Create a Template.
    4. Under Send Email Alert To, choose Agents. You can also choose the specific agents from the drop-down whom you want to send the alert.
    5. In Also Notify, you can choose from Record Owner, Record Creator, etc to send the alerts.
  10. Click Save to set the alert.
  11. Now, Save the Workflow.
Your rule has been successfully created.


What conditions can I use to trigger a workflow rule in Zoho Desk? 

Zoho Desk offers a wide range of conditions to trigger workflow rules. Some common conditions include ticket status, priority, category, type, skills, and custom fields. You can also use date and time conditions, SLA conditions, and more.

Can I perform field update on custom fields using a workflow rule?

Yes, you can update custom fields using a workflow rule in Zoho Desk. When setting up the rule, select the action to update the ticket field, and then choose the custom field you want to modify and the new value.

Can I close tickets automatically when certain criteria are met? 

Yes, you can create a workflow rule to automatically close a ticket when specific criteria are met. Set up the rule's trigger conditions to check for the relevant attributes, such as ticket status or custom fields, and add the action to close the ticket.


How can I send a survey automatically to the customers after their ticket has been resolved? 

To send a survey after ticket resolution, create a workflow rule with trigger conditions that check for ticket status being resolved. Add the action to send the survey email with a survey link to the customer. You can also use Zoho Survey or integrate other survey tools in Zoho Desk for this.

How do I test and validate my workflow rule to ensure it works as intended? 

To test a workflow rule, create a test ticket that meet the rule's trigger conditions and verify if the actions are executed as expected. Make adjustments as needed and test again until the rule performs as desired.

We hope that this list of frequently asked questions about Workflow Rules is informative. If you still have questions that haven't been addressed, please let us know. We will be happy to discuss them with our subject matter experts and add them in the future. And please don't forget to share your rating below! 

Can I send a notification to the customer when specific fields in a ticket are updated?

When a ticket is created, a notification is sent to the customer who submits the ticket. But, if you want to send them a notification when certain actions are performed in a ticket, such as the ticket is assigned to an agent, the priority is changed, or if the status is updated, then you can create a Workflow rule. 
To create a workflow rule to notify the contact,
  1. Navigate to Setup > Automation > Workflows > Create Rule.
  2. In the New Workflow page, select the Module from the drop-down list.
  3. Enter the Rule Name.
  4. Select the Active checkbox if you want the rule to be active.
  5. Enter the Description for the workflow rule.
  6. Select the Field Update option in the Execute On section and select Ticket Owner from the drop-down. If required, you can select other field names as well.
  7. Click the All/Any link to execute the rule when all or any of the selected fields are updated.
  8. Click the + icon under All Actions and select Alerts and New.
  9. Create or choose a custom template, then select the Notify Contact checkbox and click Save.
Based on the workflow rule created, a notification will be sent to the contact. 

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