We are opening this feature on request basis. You can raise your request through the Early Access Form. More information on Parent-Child Ticketing in this announcement. 

In most cases it is common to see tickets for a similar issue or related query from one or many users.

1. You may receive multiple tickets from customers during an outage
2. A request to replace a faulty product from many buyers
3. Order enquiry, return, and refund requests from a customer
   
   

In the above cases, the person who is handling the request will have better context if the related tickets are interlinked. They can easily refer to the relevant ticket and understand the issue before replying. Moreover, it will allow them to maintain a well-organized database where information can be found easily.  

Zoho Desk facilitates parent-child ticket relationships. It provides an option to select one ticket as a parent and associate a similar ticket to it as its child. 

Business scenarios 

Lapse in critical transaction due to unplanned system outage

Sudden interruption in service can make the day tough for customer support teams. Tickets pour in from all channels making it difficult for the support agents to reply and close them individually. One of the tickets can be marked as a parent ticket, and the related ones as its child tickets. This will establish a parent-child relationship, allowing agents to close only the parent ticket, which will automatically close all the child tickets saving their valuable time. 

Seeking no dues clearance for employee exit 

When an employee resigns from the organization, most departments are required to issue a No Due certificate or letter to ensure there are no outstanding dues. Tickets created in each department can be considered as child tickets and linked to the parent ticket created in the HR department. The parent-child relationship will ensure that HR can close the ticket only when all the child tickets are closed. In other words, an employee's exit process can only begin after No Due has been received from each department. 

Order, replacement, and refund enquiry for a product

In the ecommerce business, it is common to receive multiple enquiries from a customer for a single product. For example, if a customer raises a request to enquire about an order and subsequent requests for replacement and refund, these three tickets can be linked through parent-child ticketing. 

The parent ticket about the order enquiry can be automatically closed once the child tickets on replacement and refund are closed. Automatic closure will ensure that tickets do not remain open needlessly by reducing dependency on agents, and preventing inadvertent delays due to manual intervention.

Permission Required

• Users with administrative privilege can configure parent-child ticketing
  
• Users with permission to update and create Tickets can link tickets as parent or child.
• Professional and Enterprise editions

Check Feature Availability and Limits

Configuring parent-child ticketing

• Automatically close child ticket when parent is closed - The agent can close the parent ticket, which will ensure all child tickets are closed. This option can be useful in cases where the same issue has been reported by multiple customers, as in the above example of system outage. An automatic response can be sent to the contact once the child tickets are closed. 
  
  
• Allow agents to close the parent ticket only when the child ticket is closed - The agents can be restricted from closing the parent ticket if a child ticket is open. In the above case of employee exit processing the HR team cannot close the parent ticket unless all the child tickets are closed. 
  Note: The above two preferences are linked and cannot be enabled simultaneously. 
  
  
• Automatically close the parent ticket once all the child tickets are closed - The agents need not close the parent ticket. It can be closed automatically if all the child tickets are closed. In the above instance for product enquiry, once the related tickets on replacement and refund are completed, the parent ticket is closed. 
  

Points to remember 

• A child ticket can be associated with only one parent ticket. 
• A parent ticket can be associated with a maximum of 200 child tickets.
• Once the association is initiated a notification will be displayed that "child ticket association is initiated and will take a while to complete.   
• While associating, only those tickets that are unassociated with any tickets are listed. 
• A child ticket cannot be associated with further child tickets.
• A parent or child ticket can be reopened if needed. 
  
• If a child ticket is reopened, the parent ticket will open automatically. However, this will not reopen the other child tickets. 
• Parent-child ticketing is department specific. 
• Tickets from within a department can be associated with each other. 
• The following tickets cannot be associated as a child:
• that are already associated as a parent or child. You can disassociate and associate them with another ticket.
• that are archived, marked as spam or moved to recycle bin.
• tickets for which you don't have permission.
  
• Within the parent-child subtab of a ticket, users can update the ticket status and owner of a child and parent ticket. However, ticket statuses cannot be modified if they are associated with a blueprint. 
  
  
  

1. Navigate to Setup > Customization > General Settings > Tickets.
   
2. In General Settings for Tickets, go to Parent-Child Ticketing and click Configure.
   
3. In the Parent-Child Ticketing Preferences page, click Select Departments to enable.
   
4. Select the departments from the drop-down list and click Enable.
   
5. Click on the department and select the preferences from the following options:
   
1. Automatically close child requests when parent is closed
   
2. Allow agents to close parent ticket only when all its child tickets are closed
   
3. Automatically close the parent ticket when all the child tickets are closed.
   
6. Click the Close icon to save the changes and exit the configuration page.

Establishing parent-child association between tickets

From this page, agents can:

• Create a parent or child ticket
• Associate existing tickets as a parent or child
• Clone the ticket as a parent or child

1. In the Tickets module, select a ticket and click the Parent-Child tab.
2. Click Associate Parent/Child Ticket drop-down and choose + Create new child ticket or + Create new parent ticket.
   Alternately, click Associate Child Tickets or Associate Parent Tickets drop-down and click Create Child Ticket or Create Parent Ticket as required.  
   
   
   
3. In the Add Ticket page, enter the details and Save. 
4. The ticket will be associated as a parent or child as selected. 
   
   
5. Click Associate existing Ticket, and select the available tickets from the list view and click Associate.  
   
   

To clone the ticket as parent or child

1. In the Tickets module, select a ticket and click the Parent-Child tab.
2. Click the drop-down next to Create Child Ticket and select Clone this ticket as a parent or child.
   
   
3. In the Ticket Detail page, edit the required information and Submit.

Dissociating tickets from parent-child relationship

To dissociate tickets

1. Select a Ticket and click on it.
2. In the Tickets detail page, click the Parent-Child tab.
3. Hover on the ticket you want to dissociate.
4. Click the Dissociate icon (  ).
   
   
5. Click Dissociate in the popup. 

Dissociate the child tickets from the parent

Assign the child tickets to an agent or team

Update field value in child ticket

Sending a reply for child tickets 

Close

In the parent child ticket associated, the agent can select and close a bunch of child tickets. 

For example, a parent ticket is tracking a software update issue, and each child ticket associated is the individual issues reported. After troubleshooting, while some users have reported that the issue has been resolved, some users are still facing the same problem. In this case, the agents can select all the child tickets for which the problem is resolved and mark them all as Closed, without affecting the status of unresolved child tickets or the parent ticket. 

Delete child tickets

If certain child tickets are duplicates or irrelevant, agents can delete them in bulk. This helps clean up the ticket queue without affecting the main parent ticket.

Apply macro to child tickets

When a parent ticket is resolved, and several child tickets need a standard response or action, agents can use a macro to apply the same message or action to all child tickets in the selection. 

For example, a parent tickettracking employee onboarding process can associate  individual candidates as child tickets. Once the tasks such as sending the welcome email, completing the IT request form, enrolling in the ID card form, and finishing the mandatory compliance course are completed, the agent needs to update the status of all child tickets to "Completed" and assign a follow-up task to HR for final documentation.

The agent can create a macro that automates these actions across all relevant child tickets at once. This macro can:

1. Send the welcome email to the new hire
2. Update the status of all child tickets to "Completed"
3. Assign a follow-up task to HR for final documentation

Note: A macro can be applied to the child tickets both before or after the parent ticket is resolved.                                             

Revoke blueprints from child tickets

If a blueprint is applied to a parent ticket and its child tickets, the agent can revoke that blueprint from multiple child tickets at once. This action could be used if the child tickets need to follow a different process than the one set by the parent ticket.

For example, an e-commerce platform recalled a product and created a parent ticket. All related tickets are linked as child tickets. While most tickets are for exchanges, some customers have raised tickets for returns and refunds. Agents can select all return and refund tickets and revoke the product exchange blueprint from them. 

Update resolution

If the parent ticket's resolution is marked e.g., "Issue Resolved – Software Updated", agents can mass update the same resolutions in all the child tickets at once.

To mass update child tickets

1. Navigate to the Ticket module.
2. Open the required parent ticket from the ticket list view.
3. In the Ticket detail view, click the Parent-Child subtab.
4. Select the required child tickets.
5. Select the desired mass action.