With Zoho Desk, they found the perfect solution: a simple workflow rule that automates replies to customers during the holidays. By configuring the Holiday List and Business Hours, Zylker Techfix reassured their customers with thoughtful, seasonal messages—spreading festive cheer while letting them know their queries will be handled once the team is back.

1. Create a Holiday List

• Go to Setup (S) >> Organization >> Holiday Lists.
  
• Click on the New Holiday List tab to create a holiday list for your organization. 

• Within the Holiday List, enable the toggle for Associate Business Hours and link the preferred Business Hours.
  

3. Link from Business Hours

• Alternatively, you can associate the Holiday List directly on the Business Hours page.
• Navigate to Setup (S) >> Organization >> Business Hours and enable the Associate Holiday List toggle.
  

This ensures your Holiday List and Business Hours work seamlessly together for better holiday management.

You can associate only one Holiday to a Business Hour. 

To avoid duplicate notifications, disable the Receiving a new ticket toggle under Contact Notifications before configuring this Workflow rule. (Go to Setup(S) >> Customization >> Notifications (Notification Rules) >> Contact Notifications)

Steps to configure Workflow with a Custom Action 

To create the Workflow rule, perform the following steps:

1. Go to Setup >> Automation >>Workflows.

2. In the left panel, under Workflows, click Rules > Create Rule.

In the Basic Information section, perform the following steps:

3. In the Module drop-down menu, select Tickets.

4. Enter a name and description for the rule.

5. To activate the rule immediately, select the Active checkbox. Otherwise, you can activate it later from the Rules page.

6. Click Next.

In the Execute on section, perform the following steps:

7. Select Create and Customer Reply to execute the rule when a ticket is created or a customer replies.

8. Click Next.

Under Criteria:

9. Select the criteria Execution Time, choose on a holiday of, and select the Business Hours to which you have associated the Holiday Lists. Click Next.

10. Add another criteria Execution Time, choose outside of business hours, and select the business hours during which your organization is operational.

The outside business hours criteria is added to ensure the workflow starts operating either from the holiday eve or once business hours end.

11.  Add an Action 

In the Actions section, You can add an Alert or a Custom Action (Email reply).

I. To Add an Alert: Create/ Edit the Email Notification 

a. You can create or edit an email template by navigating to Setup (S) >> Customization >> Email Templates. To create a new email template, click on the Add tab.

b. To edit the default notification, select the email template Acknowledge Contact on Receiving a New Ticket under Contact Notifications and modify the email message based on your holiday reasons.

c. To add this Alert to the Action in the workflow, Click on the + icon under Action and select Alerts, then click New under Action Type.

d. Enter a name, choose the email template Acknowledge Contact on Receiving a New Ticket under Contact Notifications or a custom alert you’ve created, select the teams or roles you would like to notify, and click Save.

i. To add a Email reply  to the workflow rule, click on the + icon under "Action" and select Email Reply under Action Type.

ii. Enter a name. Under From Address, select Email address from the drop-down list.

iii. Under To Address, click on the Insert Placeholder { } option and select the Email placeholder from Tickets, Contacts, or Accounts as required.

iv.  In  the Ticket Reply section, type the customised message that you want to send to your customers. You can use Insert Placeholder as required within the Ticket Reply section. 

v. Click Save to save the Action.

12. Add an Action based on your preference (Alert/ Email reply) within the Workflow rule. 

13. Click Save to save the Workflow.

The alert email will be sent separately to your customer's inbox, whereas the custom action email reply will be threaded within the customer's inquiry email.

Implementation

When a ticket is created or a customer responds to a pending ticket during the Holiday List or outside Business Hours, an automated response is sent to inform them that a ticket has been created and will be promptly handled as soon as business hours resume after the holiday. 

It’s the perfect way to enjoy your holidays and keep your customers smiling. So go ahead—plan your celebrations and let Zoho Desk take care of the rest!

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas filled with joy, warmth, and just the right balance of work and play! 🎅🎄

Christmas wishes from The Zoho Desk Team. 

Until Next week, 

Lydia | Zoho Desk.