Fourth Insight - The power of Multi-Layouts

Fourth Insight - The power of Multi-Layouts

The Wheels of Ticketing - Desk Stories

The power of Multi-Layouts




QuoteIn the previous insights, we have established that layouts are the foundation for a ticketing system, and fields are the building blocks for the same system.


Fundamentals of layouts

Fields play a crucial role in helping customers and agents collect valuable end-user information to understand their concerns better. Organizations must prioritise collecting accurate data in the right format to ensure efficiency. It's essential to avoid overwhelming end users with unnecessary or confusing fields; clarity is key. Additionally, the layout of these fields should be thoughtfully classified based on the data collected from end users to provide a more intuitive and user-friendly experience.

Understanding multi-layouts

Using multiple layouts in a help desk environment can significantly enhance the customer experience and streamline support processes. 

For instance, let’s take a telecommunication service provider that offers both postpaid and prepaid options. These two services cater to distinct user needs and provide varied features. Imagine an end-user needing to raise a support ticket specifically for a postpaid service. Instead of relying on a single generic form encompassing both service types, the organization can enhance user experience by developing two tailored layouts: one dedicated to postpaid and another to prepaid services. 

This approach involves choosing the right fields to align with each service and streamlining the ticket submission process. Doing so significantly reduces data clutter, allowing the end-user to navigate the forms easily and provide the necessary information to receive adequate and timely support for their queries.

Multi-layout best practices


For a ticketing help desk system to support multiple layouts effectively, consider the following:

  • Modular design: Streamline your ticket submission process into multiple services according to your business. Each service can be created as a layout. If there are common details between services, build this interface with reusable fields.
  • Role-based preset: To simplify onboarding, pre-configure layouts connected to agent roles according to the solutions they provide to customers.
  • Customisation engine: To ensure accurate information and help agents with all required information, include widgets using extensions and proper recommendations using tooltips.
  • Responsive data integration: To avoid ticket creation latency, ensure only the required fields are added to the layout. Using layout rules, you can also make the design responsive based on the input.
  • Performance optimisation: Validate the data given in the layout fields using validation rules to minimise the agent's load time on incorrect data.
  • Accessibility: Design layouts with keyboard navigation, screen reader support, and high-contrast options to accommodate all users.
These best practices can help your organization apply multiple layouts in your ticketing help desk system to accommodate diverse agent workflows, improve efficiency, and raise customer satisfaction levels.

A story for better understanding

Streamlining Support with Multiple Layouts

This narrative illustrates how multi-layouts improve efficiency, adaptability, and the overall experience for agents managing customer support tickets.


At Help Point Innovations, a rapidly growing SaaS company, the customer support team faced challenges managing an overwhelming influx of tickets. While their help desk system was operational, it lacked flexibility and only provided a uniform ticket view, frustrating agents. Simple inquiries were often lost amid more complex technical problems, causing agents to spend unnecessary time navigating multiple tabs to locate information. This led to declining morale and increasing response times.


Enter Chandler, the new support operations manager, tasked with turning things around. He collaborated with the operations team to implement a new ticketing help desk system that supported multiple layouts tailored to different agent needs. 

The Standard Layout – The All-Purpose Form 

On his first day, Chandler shadowed Mike, a level 1 support agent handling general inquiries. Mike used the standard layout, a clean, streamlined form designed for quick ticket triage:

 

  • Ticket list pane: A sortable list of open tickets with columns for ticket ID, customer name, priority, and subject. Filters let Mike focus on "New" or "High Priority" tickets.
  • Ticket details pane: Clicking a ticket displayed the customer's message, purchase history, and a chat-like thread for internal notes and replies.
  • Quick actions bar: Buttons for everyday actions like "Assign to Self," "Reply with Template," or "Escalate" were front and center.

 

Mike valued how the Standard Layout let him process simple tickets, like password resets or billing questions, in under a minute. For example, when a customer asked about a subscription refund, Mike pulled up the ticket, checked the purchase history in the details pane, and sent a pre-approved refund response using a template without leaving the screen.

 

The standard layout empowered level 1 agents to efficiently handle high-volume, straightforward tickets, reducing average response time by 30%.

The Tech Layout – In-depth Troubleshooting 

Next, Chandler observed Lila, a Level 2 technical support specialist who tackled complex issues like API errors and software bugs. Lila switched to the technical layout, and when queries came in, she automated the tickets to move them to this layout so that they could help with in-depth analysis:

 

  • Expanded ticket details: The layout prioritized technical data, showing error logs, system diagnostics, and API call history alongside the ticket thread.
  • Integrated tools pane: A sidebar linked to debugging tools, a knowledge base, and a code snippet library for quick reference.
  • Collaboration panel: A dedicated space for real-time collaboration with developers via internal chat, with options to attach screenshots or screen recordings.


When a customer reported an API timeout issue, Lila used the technical layout to view the error log, cross-reference it with the knowledge base, and ping the dev team in the collaboration panel. She identified a rate-limiting issue, shared a workaround with the customer, and flagged the ticket for a permanent fix within 15 minutes.

 

The technical layout reduced resolution time for complex tickets by 40%, as agents had critical tools and data at their fingertips.

The Custom Layout – Personalized Productivity

Finally, Chandler met Riya, a senior agent who handled level 1 and 2 tickets. Riya had created a Custom layout to suit her unique workflow:

 

  • Hybrid ticket view: Riya combined elements of the standard and technical layouts, with a compact ticket list and a detailed technical pane for quick switches between complex and straightforward tickets.
  • Pinned widgets: She added widgets for her most-used tools, like a live chat monitor and a shortcut to her favorite response templates.
  • Colour-coded priority: Riya customized the ticket list to highlight VIP customers in red and urgent tickets in yellow.

 

When a VIP client reported a critical issue, Riya's custom layout let her spot the ticket instantly, access diagnostic data, and respond with a personalized message in record time. Thanks to her tailored setup, she could easily pivot to handling a batch of routine tickets without missing a beat.



Custom layouts boosted agent satisfaction and productivity, as veterans like Riya could work in a way that matched their expertise and preferences.

The Transformation

In just weeks, introducing the new help desk system with multiple layouts transformed Help Point's support operations. Agents became more efficient and effective, customers enjoyed prompt solutions, and the team's morale soared. One of Chandler's highlights was when he caught Mike and Lila discussing which layout was most suitable for specific scenarios, indicating that the operations team had developed multiple tailored views. These custom views enabled agents to focus on the particular requirements of each ticket, boosting productivity by reducing unnecessary clutter.

Wrapping up

The key to success? Flexibility. By offering multiple layouts, standard for speed, technical for depth, and custom for personalization, he help desk system met the diverse needs of the support team and turned disorder into a well-oiled machine.



Please stay tuned for more Desk Module stories.

 

Cheers,

 

Kavya Rao

The Zoho Desk Team


    • Recent Topics

    • Edit Permission during and after approval?

      When a record is sent for approval Can a user request for edit permission from the approver? We don't want to give edit permissions for all the records under approval Only on a case-by-case basis How can we achieve this?

    • Zoho web and mobile application not workingn

      Both zoho forms web and mobile application aren't working. I have checked my network connections and they are fine.

    • Introducing the revamped What's New page

      Hello everyone! We're happy to announce that Zoho Campaigns' What's New page has undergone a complete revamp. We've bid the old page adieu after a long time and have introduced a new, sleeker-looking page. Without further ado, let's dive into the main

    • Prevent stripping of custom CSS when creating an email template?

      Anyone have a workaround for this? Zoho really needs to hire new designers - templates are terrible. A custom template has been created, but every time we try to use it, it strips out all the CSS from the head.  IE, we'll define the styles right in the <head> (simple example below) and everything gets stripped (initially, it saves fine, but when you browse away and come back to the template, all the custom css is removed). <style type="text/css"> .footerContent a{display:block !important;} </style>

    • Bulk Moving Images into Folders in the Library

      I can't seem to select multiple images to move into a folder in order to clean up my image library and organize it. Instead, I have to move each individual image into the folder and sometimes it takes MULTIPLE tries to get it to go in there. Am I missing

    • Latest updates in Zoho Meeting | Breakout rooms and End to end encryption

      Hello everyone, We’re excited to share a few updates for Zoho Meeting. Here's what we've been working on lately: Introducing Breakout Rooms for enhanced collaboration in your online meetings and End-to-end encryption to ensure that the data is encrypted

    • Systematic SPF alignment issues with Zoho subdomains

      Analysis Period: August 19 - September 1, 2025 PROBLEM SUMMARY Multiple Zoho services are causing systematic SPF authentication failures in DMARC reports from major email providers (Google, Microsoft, Zoho). While emails are successfully delivered due

    • Accidentally deleted a meeting recording -- can it be recovered?

      Hi, I accidentally deleted the recording for a meeting I had today. Is there a way I can recover it?

    • To Zoho customers and partners: how do you use Linked Workspaces?

      Hello, I'm exploring how we can set up and use Linked Workspaces and would like to hear from customers and partners about your use cases and experience with them. I have a Zoho ticket open, because my workspace creation fails. In the meantime, how is

    • How to access email templates using Desk API?

      Trying to send an email to the customer associated to the ticket for an after hours notification and can't find the API endpoint to grab the email template. Found an example stating it should be: "https://desk.zoho.com/api/v1/emailtemplates/" + templateID;

    • How to render either thumbnail_url or preview_url or preview_data_url

      I get 401 Unauthorised when using these urls in the <img> tag src attribute. Guide me on how to use them!

    • Update Portal User Name using Deluge?

      Hey everyone. I have a basic intake form that gathers some general information. Our team then has a consultation with the person. If the person wants to move forward, the team pushes a CRM button that adds the user to a creator portal. That process is

    • Zoho Bookings No Sync with Outlook

      Zoho Bookings appointments are showing on my Outlook Calendar but Outlook events are not showing on Zoho Bookings. How do I fix this?

    • Unable to retrieve Contact_Name field contents using Web API in javascript function

      Hello, I've added a field in the Purchase Order form to select and associate a Sales Order (Orden_de_venta, lookup field). I've also created a client script to complete some fields from the Sales Order (and the Quote), when the user specifies the related

    • Updating Woocommerce Variation Products Prices Via Zoho CRM

      I can update product prices with this flow: But I can't update variant products. I got a code from Zoho for this, but I couldn't get it to work. It needs to find the product in the CRM from the SKU field and update the variation with the price there.

    • Emails Disappearing From Inbox

      I am experiencing the unnerving problem of having some of the messages in my inbox just disappear.  It seems to happen to messages that have been in there for longer than a certain amount of time (not sure how long exactly). They are usually messages that I have flagged and know I need to act on, but have not gotten around to doing so yet.  I leave them in my inbox so I will see them and be reminded that I still need to do something about them, but at least twice now I have opened my inbox and found

    • Power of Automation :: Automatic removal of project users once the project status is changed.

      A custom function is a software code that can be used to automate a process and this allows you to automate a notification, call a webhook, or perform logic immediately after a workflow rule is triggered. This feature helps to automate complex tasks and

    • Customizing Form Questions per Recipient Group in Zoho Campaigns/Forms

      Hello everyone, I would like to ask if it’s possible in Zoho Campaigns or Zoho Forms to send out a campaign where the form questions can be customized based on the group of recipients. Use case example: I have prepared 20 questionnaire questions. For

    • Automatic category assignment

      Hi, I’d like to ask if there is a way to automatically assign an expense category based on the recognized Merchant. What would be the simplest way to set up automatic category assignment? Alternatively, is there an option to first choose the category

    • Zoho Books - France

      L’équipe de Zoho France reçoit régulièrement des questions sur la conformité de ses applications de finances (Zoho Books/ Zoho Invoice) pour le marché français. Voici quelques points pour clarifier la question : Zoho Books est un logiciel de comptabilité

    • Every time an event is updated, all participants receive an update email. How can I deactivate this?

      Every time an event is updated in Zoho CRM (e.g. change description, link to Lead) every participant of this meeting gets an update email. Another customer noticed this problem years ago in the Japanese community: https://help.zoho.com/portal/ja/community/topic/any-time-an-event-is-updated-on-zohocrm-calendar-it-sends-multiple-invites-to-the-participants-how-do-i-stop-that-from-happening

    • Having Trouble Opening The Candidate Portal

      Recently am having trouble opening the Candidate Portal. It keeps loading but cannot display any widgets. Tried Safari, Chrome and Edge. Non of them work. Please solve the problem ASAP.

    • Forms - Notification When Response Submitted

      How do I set it up to generate an email notification when a response (class request) is submitted?

    • how to use validation rules in subform

      Is it possible to use validation rules for subforms? I tried the following code: entityMap = crmAPIRequest.toMap().get("record"); sum = 0; direct_billing = entityMap.get("direct_billing_details"); response = Map(); for each i in direct_billing { if(i.get("type")

    • Notes Issues

      Been having issues with Notes in the CRM. Yesterday it wasn't showing the notes, but it got resolved after a few minutes., Now I have been having a hard time saving notes the whole day. Notes can't be saved by the save button. it's grayed out or not grayed

    • How to disable user entry on Answer Bot in Zobot

      Hi, I have an Answer Bot in my Zobot, here is the configuration: I only want the user to choose 1 of the 4 the options I have provided: When no answer found, user chooses 'I'll rephrase the question' or 'Ask a different question When answer is found,

    • More admin control over user profiles

      It's important for our company, and I'm sure many others, to keep our users inline with our branding and professional appearance. It would be useful for administrators to have more control over profile aspects such as: Profile image User names Email signatures

    • Please Make Zoho CRM Cadences Flexible: Allow Inserting and Reordering Follow-Up Steps

      Sales processes are not static. We test, learn, and adapt as customers respond differently than expected. Right now, Zoho Cadences do not support inserting a new step between existing follow-ups or changing the type of an existing primary step. If I realize

    • 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.

    • Clear Tag & Linking Between Quotes and Sales Orders

      Hi Zoho Team, In Zoho Books, when a quote is converted into a sales order, it would be extremely useful to have: A clear tag/indicator on the quote showing that it has been converted into a sales order. A direct link in the sales order back to the originating

    • Zoho Books Sandbox environment

      Hello. Is there a free sandbox environment for the developers using Zoho Books API? I am working on the Zoho Books add-on and currently not ready to buy a premium service - maybe later when my add-on will start to bring money. Right now I just need a

    • Add Direct Ticket Link to Zoho Help Center Portal in Email Replies

      Hi Zoho Support Team, We hope you're doing well. We’d like to request a small but valuable improvement to enhance the usability of the Zoho Help Center portal (https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/myarea). Currently, when someone from Zoho replies to a support

    • [Webinar] Deluge Learning Series - AI-Powered Automation using Zoho Deluge and Gemini

      We’re excited to invite you to an exclusive 1-hour webinar where we’ll demonstrate how to bring the power of Google’s Gemini AI into your Zoho ecosystem using Deluge scripting. Whether you're looking to automate data extraction from PDFs or dynamically

    • Connecting Zoho Inventory to ShipStation

      we are looking for someone to help connect via API shipStation with Zoho inventory. Any ideas? Thanks. Uri

    • Subform edits don't appear in parent record timeline?

      Is it possible to have subform edits (like add row/delete row) appear in the Timeline for parent records? A user can edit a record, only edit the subform, and it doesn't appear in the timeline. Is there a workaround or way that we can show when a user

    • New in Cadences: Option to Resume or Restart follow-ups when re-enrolling records into a Cadence, and specify custom un-enrollment criteria

      Managing follow-ups effectively involves understanding the appropriate timing for reaching out, as well as knowing when to take a break and resume later, or deciding if it's necessary to start the follow-up process anew. With two significant enhancements

    • Im Stuck in an EDIT ONLY WITH WIZARD issue

      So I found Wizards to be a really helpful tool in minimizing the exposure of redundant, superfluous fields to staff that would never otherwise have to edit those fields. My issue is, that when the record (in this case a lead) is created with a wizard,

    • Account upgrade

      Good evening, I upgraded my account and paid for it. From standard to professional. Unfortunately after the paiment my account was not upgraded. Please your advise. Best Regards Erik van Staverden

    • How to set ALL default dates of my organization to DD-MM-YYYY format?

      All replies to this question comes from a time where the UI was different. It's extremely frustrating not being able to find how to do this simple setting change. I want everything and everyone in my organizations to have DD-MM-YYYY date format by default.

    • How can I sync from Zoho Projects into an existing Zoho Sprints project?

      Hi I have managed to integrate Zoho Projects with Zoho Sprints and I can see that the integration works as a project was created in Zoho Sprints. But, what I would like to do is to sync into an existing Zoho Sprints project. Is there a way to make that

    • Next Page