Automation#25: Move Tickets to Unassigned When the Owner Is Offline

Automation#25: Move Tickets to Unassigned When the Owner Is Offline




Hello Everyone,

Welcome to this week's Community Series!

'Tis the holiday season—a time when work often takes a brief pause. 

The holiday spirit is in full swing at Zylker Techfix too, with employees taking some well-deserved time off. During this period, ticket owners are frequently offline at work.
Amid the holiday hustle and bustle, customers continued responding to tickets. Unfortunately, tickets assigned to agents on leave went unnoticed, as they were not listed under unassigned requests.

Zylker Techfix needed a solution to ensure such tickets were reassigned to "Unassigned," preventing any customer requests from being overlooked. This is where a custom function came to the rescue, just in time!

Here’s how you can use this custom function to move tickets automatically to "Unassigned" when the ticket owner is offline and a customer replies. 
Follow these steps to implement the custom function within a workflow rule.

Prerequisites
1. Create a connection
  1.1 Go to Setup(S) and choose Connections under Developer Space.
  1.2 Click Create Connection.
  1.3 Select Zoho OAuth under Default Connection.
  1.4 Set the connection name as deskconnection.
  1.5 Under Scope, choose the below scope values:
Desk.settings.READ
Desk.basic.READ
Desk.tickets.UPDATE
Desk.tickets.READ
  1.6 Click Create and Connect.
  1.7 Click Connect and click Accept.
Connection is created successfully.

Create a Workflow Rule
1. Go to Setup, choose Workflows under Automation
2. Under Workflows, click Rules >> Create Rule.

In the Basic Information section,
3. Select Tickets from the drop-down menu under Module.
4. Enter a Rule Name and Description for the rule.
5. If you want to activate the rule right away, select the Active checkbox. Else, create the rule and activate it later.
6. Click Next.
 
In the Execute on section, follow these steps:
7. Select Customer Reply.  
8. Click Next.
 
9. In the Criteria section, select Ticket Owner is not empty. click Next

10. In the Actions section, click the + icon and select New next to Custom Functions.
11. Enter a Name and Description for the custom function.
12. Under Argument Mapping, give a desired Method Name. Map the arguments as below: 
  12.1 In the Argument Name field, type ticketId and select Ticket Id under the Tickets Section.     
                                      
13. In the script window, insert the Custom Function given below:
  1. // ----<<<< User Inputs >>>>----
  2. // --- Replace ".com" with appropriate domain extension based on customer's location/DC --- 
  3. deskURL = "https://desk.zoho.com";
  4. //Replace your Current Configured Department Id
  5. departmentId = "DEPARTMENT_ID";
  6. // ----<<<< Initial Configs >>>>----
  7. logs = Map();
  8. onlineAgentsId = List();
  9. //---------------------------
  10. try 
  11. {
  12. // ---- start your logic from here ----
  13. getTicketInfo = invokeUrl
  14. [
  15. url : deskURL + "/api/v1/tickets/" + ticketId
  16. type : GET
  17. connection : "deskconnection"
  18. ];
  19. logs.insert("getTicketInfo":getTicketInfo);
  20. assigneeId = getTicketInfo.get("assigneeId");
  21. onlineAgentsInfo = invokeUrl
  22. [
  23. url : deskURL + "/api/v1/onlineAgents?departmentId="+departmentId+"&limit=100"
  24. type : GET
  25. connection : "deskconnection"
  26. ];
  27. logs.insert("onlineAgentsInfo":onlineAgentsInfo);
  28. if ( onlineAgentsInfo != null && onlineAgentsInfo != "" && onlineAgentsInfo.get("data").size() > 0 ) 
  29.     {
  30. for each agentInfo in onlineAgentsInfo.get("data")
  31.         {
  32. onlineAgentsId.add(agentInfo.get("agentId"));
  33.         }
  34.     }
  35. logs.insert("onlineAgentsId":onlineAgentsId);
  36. if (!onlineAgentsId.contains(assigneeId.toString())) 
  37.     {
  38. ticketUpdate = invokeUrl
  39. [
  40. url : deskURL + "/api/v1/tickets/" + ticketId
  41. type : PATCH
  42. parameters : {"assigneeId":""}+""
  43. connection : "deskconnection"
  44. ];
  45. logs.insert("ticketUpdate":ticketUpdate);
  46.     }
  47. }
  48. catch (errorInfo)
  49. {
  50. logs.insert("errorInfo":errorInfo);
  51. }
  52. info "logs: \n" + logs;
  53. if(logs.containKey("errorInfo"))
  54. {
  55. throws "Error happen in the CF execution";
  56. }

NOTE
a. In Line 2, Replace ".com" with the domain extension based on your Data Center.
b. In Line 5, add the departmentId of the department where you want to configure this custom function.
How to fetch the DepartmentId? 
To find the departmentId, navigate to Setup (S) >> Organization >> Departments.
Select the department where you want to configure the custom function. Copy the numerical ID at the end of the URL from the address bar.

14. Click Save to save the custom function.
15. Click Save again to save the workflow.

Our Community Series is here to provide practical tips and solutions. If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to reach out to us at support@zohodesk.com—we’d love to hear from you!

Wishing you a joyful and productive holiday season. 

Until next time,
Best Wishes,
Lydia | Zoho Desk 


      • Sticky Posts

      • Register for Zoho Desk Beta Community

        With the start of the year, we have decided to take a small step in making the life of our customers a little easier. We now have easy access to all our upcoming features and a faster way to request for beta access. We open betas for some of our features
      • Share your Zoho Desk story with us!

        Tell us how you use Zoho Desk for your business and inspire others with your story. Be it a simple workflow rule that helps you navigate complex processes or a macro that saves your team a lot of time; share it here and help the community learn and grow with shared knowledge. 
      • Tip #1: Learn to pick the right channels

        Mail, live chat, telephony, social media, web forms—there are so many support channels out there. Trying to pick the right channels to offer your customers can get pretty confusing. Emails are most useful when the customer wants to put things on record. However, escalated or complicated issues should not be resolved over email because it's slow and impersonal.  When you need immediate responses, live chat is more suitable. It's also quick and convenient, so it's the go-to channel for small issues. 
      • Welcome to Zoho Desk Community - Say hello here!

        Hello everyone! Though we have been here for a while, it’s time to formally establish the Zoho Desk Community; we’re really happy to have you all here! This can be the place where you take a moment to introduce yourself to the rest of the community. We’d love to hear all about you, what you do, what company or industry you work for, how you use Zoho Desk and anything else that you will like to share! Here’s a little about me. I am Chinmayee. I have been associated with Zoho since 2014. I joined here
      • Webinar 1: Blueprint for Customer Service

        With the launch of a host of new features in Zoho Desk, we thought it’ll be great to have a few webinars to help our customers make the most of them. We’re starting off with our most talked about feature, Blueprint in Zoho Desk. You can register for the Blueprint webinar here: The webinar will be delivered by our in-house product experts. This is a good opportunity to ask questions to our experts and understand how Blueprint can help you automate your service processes. We look forward to seeing

        • Recent Topics

        • Using files from Zoho CRM in Gemini/ChatGPT/Claude

          Hi all, I’ve got subscriptions to Gemini and a few other AI tools which I use for tasks like data enrichment, email composition, etc. In our workflow, we often receive various documents from clients — such as process workflows, BRDs/requirement documents
        • Zoho Analytics & Zoho Creator - Modified Time value

          I'm trying to use the Zoho Creator system field 'modified time' in Zoho Analytics, but it's consistently showing 12 hours 'out' In Zoho Creator In Zoho Analytics Is this a constant difference that I just need to correct with a timezone change - or is
        • Zoho CRM - Option to create Follow-Up Task

          When completing a Zoho CRM Task, it would be very helpful if there was an option to "Complete and Create Follow-Up Task" in the pop-up which appears. It could clone the task you are closing and then show it on the screen in edit mode, all the user would
        • Portal For Different Apps

          I found some older threads on this but didn't see anything very recent. I'm new to Zoho One so forgive me if my terminology is off a bit. I was hoping set up a single point of entry into Zoho One. So, many of the apps could be found in one single place
        • Calls undetected

          Zoho Voice records indicate my last call ended at 6:00 PM. All incoming and outgoing calls occurred between 6:00 PM and 7:00 PM.
        • Unable to Select Authenticated Domain as Sender

          We’ve already authenticated our domain, but it’s still not appearing in the sender list when we try to run a campaign. Could you please check what might be causing this issue?
        • Forever FREE Business Email with Zoho Mail

          Forever FREE Business Email with Zoho Mail: is it available?
        • Zoho Projects - Project Details on the Project Menu

          Hi Project's team, I've helped may businesses setup and use Zoho Project and one thing I see time and time again is confusion on where to find the Project Details information. I would be much more intuitive if Project Details was on the menu before Dashboard.
        • Introducing WhatsApp integration in Bigin

          Greetings! In today's business landscape, messaging apps play a significant role in customer operations. Customers can engage with businesses, seek support, ask questions, receive personalized recommendations, read reviews, and even make purchases—all
        • Zia Conversation Summary: Context at a glance for every customer interaction

          Hello everyone! Every customer conversation tells a story—but in CRM, that story is rarely in one place. A sales rep moving between multiple leads has to reopen long email threads, check call remarks, and revisit meeting notes just to remember what was
        • Zoho Projects - Show Task List as dropdown field on Task records

          Hi Project's Team, I noticed today that there is no field on a task record related to the task list it belongs to. A dropdown would be helpful for quickly moving tasks between lists while in a task. I know that you can go to "Other Actions" and choose
        • Changing the Default Search Criteria for Finding Duplicates

          Hey everyone, is it possible to adjust the default search criteria for finding and merging duplicate records? Right now, CRM uses some (in my opinion nonsensical) fields as search criteria for duplicate records which do nothing except dilute the results.
        • My followed tickets extension is not working under the All departments view

          Hi. I've installed the My followed tickets extension. However, when I try to open the extension under the all departments view, I get the following message: 'Sorry, this extension is not supported in the All Departments view.' How can I solve this p
        • Ticket Time Entry to Timesheet

          The title just about sums it up. I have searched here and not found anything relevant, but If I overlooked, then please set me straight.  We have staff that do nothing but close tickets in desk all day long. These tickets represent their timesheet. Is there a way to have this information sync or for a tech to go into their timesheet themselves and sync it with their tickets of the same timeframe?? We waste a ton of time doing timesheets and the old "Clock in/Clock out" isnt detailed enough for us!!
        • Calls undetected.

          The call is not showing on the call log.
        • Calls undetected

          Zoho is not reading calls made.
        • Multi-currency and Products

          One of the main reasons I have gone down the Zoho route is because I need multi-currency support.  However, I find that products can only be priced in the home currency, We sell to the US and UK.  However, we maintain different price lists for each. 
        • Archiving Contacts

          How do I archive a list of contacts, or individual contacts?
        • Missing information data Zoho inventory

          there some missing data in Zoho inventory connection. pick list stock counts bin location we have requested it via mail and the support team doesn’t gove feedback. has anyone achieve to get these info or to ask other ya les
        • Calendar Events Issues

          Not able to view scheduled events on my calendar
        • Extensions 101 webinar series: Build, integrate, and monetize with extensions

          Attention developers! Are you ready to take your extension development skills to the next level? We're excited to bring back the Extensions 101 webinar series with an expanded lineup of Zoho products and an introduction to more platform features. Last
        • Custom Related List Inside Zoho Books

          Hello, We can create the Related list inside the zoho books by the deluge code, I am sharing the reference code Please have a look may be it will help you. //..........Get Org Details organizationID = organization.get("organization_id"); Recordid = cm_g_a_data.get("module_record_id");
        • Where are recordings stored?

          I have hosted a couple of test meeting, used the "record" button to start and stop the recording but I am unable to find where are those recordings saved?  Can anybody help? Thanks
        • Zoho Desk's integration with Microsoft PowerBI delivers advanced analytics insights

          Hello everyone, Gaining advanced insights through reports and dashboards is one of the critical requirements of every business. In addition to key metrics tracked in Zoho Desk, such as agent performance, SLA adherence, and ticket lifecycle, businesses
        • Create static subforms in Zoho CRM: streamline data entry with pre-defined values

          Last modified on (9 July, 2025): This feature was available in early access and is currently being rolled out to customers in phases. Currently available for users in the the AU, CA, and SA DCs. It will be enabled for the remaining DCs in the next couple
        • IMAP error message in Zoho mail

          I cannot send emails today. Everything fine for years until today. Get a message: "You are yet to enable IMAP for your account. Please contact your administrator". Does anyone know how to correct this?
        • Enhancements to Zoho Map integration tasks

          Hello everyone, We're excited to announce enhancements to the Zoho Map integration tasks in Deluge, which will boost its performance. This post will walk you through the upcoming changes, explain why we're making them, and detail the steps you need to
        • IMAP stopped working today

          Hello! I've been a paid customer for more than 10 years, IMAP was always working fine. But today this is the error I've got on my iPhone: I've tried toggling the IMAP for my account (Mail -> Settings -> Mail accounts) off and on again, but that did not
        • Are custom portals accessible on the Zoho learn smartphone app?

          In other words, can users external to my organisation, once signed up, use the app in the same way as internal users? Thanks
        • Zoho Books/Inventory - Update Marketplace Sales Order via API

          Hi everyone, Does anyone know if there is a way to update Sales Orders created from a marketplace intigration (Shopify in this case) via API? I'm trying to cover a scenario where an order is changed on the Shopify end and the changes must be reflected
        • Conditional Layouts On Multi Select Field

          How we can use Conditional Layouts On Multi Select Field field? Please help.
        • Multiple columns in a form

          I am evaluating Zoho Creator. However, I am seeing almost no layout control on a form.  Just a basic 1 or 2 column format that is then imposed on the entire form.  That's not going to work for many, many real world cases. We need multiple columns per line, and we need each line/section to occupy a single column or be able to span the columns.   Someone please tell me that I'm missing something and the capability is actually there.  
        • Global search

          Hi! I think it would be great to have a global search that would give you results from all records of a database, no only for a single field of a single form as we have now. Thanks!
        • Any insights about API/v2? Having problem for a while.

          I don't know why it is throwing a 404 error, my report name is correct. Has someone had this issue and how you fix it?
        • Edit QR code with redirect to form

          Guten morgen, wir haben ein Formular Reklamation_erstellen. Dort soll ein QR Code erstellt werden, der im Lieferschein angezeigt wird. Beim Scannen auf dem soll das jeweilige Formular zum BEARBEITEN geöffnet werden. Leider bekomme ich es nur so hin, dass
        • Getting all the ingredients together for baking an app

          Good day everyone. After reading a lot of the help docs and watching videos, I now started on my app. To prevent hours and hours wasted on going down the wrong track, I would like some clarification on the following. But first some background: I have
        • Help Needed with Configuring ZC Microservice

          I'm attempting to create a simple microservice, but am running into problems with scope and auth. Using Custom API Builder, here's my setup: 1. Method: GET 2. Auth: OAuth2 3. User Scope: All users 4. Response: Standard 5. Function: A function that returns
        • Creator Simplified #10: Predefine Form Field Values and Make Them Read-Only for Users

          Hey Creators, Ready for this week's tip in the Creator Simplified series? Today, we will explore how to have read only fields in a form. Use Case: Assume a scenario where the default value for a Department field needs to be English Literature, but you
        • Zoho Mail : Email Outgoing Blocked

          I suddenly received the following message yesterday. I cannot send any mail. Please resolve as soon as possible, I cannot work without sending email. Dear User, We regret to inform you that your email outgoing has been blocked and you will not be able
        • Creator and Tables

          Good day. I am trying to create my first application. I have imported my data into Tables and am creating my app in Creator. I do not see my tables and cannot see how to write forms data to a table. Even the Workflow just uses the form. In one of the
        • Next Page