Seventh Insight - Organize your data using Modules

Seventh Insight - Organize your data using Modules

The Wheels of Ticketing - Desk Stories

Organize your data using Modules


What are Modules?

Modules in Zoho Desk are powerful organizational tools that facilitate efficient help desk operations. There are eight standard modules, each designed to manage a specific aspect of customer support. These modules allow businesses to align the user interface with their help desk processes and provide a tailored experience for support agents and customers.

The customization of module settings enables teams to adjust the system based on their unique workflows and requirements. This flexibility ensures that the support system is not only practical but also aligned with the organization's specific goals. 

However, it is essential to note that only users with administrator privileges have the authority to perform these customizations. This ensures that the system's integrity is maintained and modifications are made thoughtfully to support effective customer service operations.

What are Custom Modules?

Modules in Zoho Desk are specialised to hold different types of information related to customer service. For instance, the Tickets module is dedicated to managing customer inquiries, requests, and issues, while the Contacts module gathers and organizes detailed customer information to facilitate personalized interactions.

Given the unique demands of customer support in different industries, it's crucial to have the flexibility to customize these modules. In the health and wellness sector, for example, relevant modules might be tailored to specific stakeholders or assets, such as hospitals, doctors, ambulances, and medications. In contrast, the travel and tourism industry might benefit from modules dedicated to packages, destinations, travel vendors, and bookings.

Zoho Desk enables users to create custom modules tailored to their specific business prerequisites. This customization can be further enhanced by adding custom fields that capture unique data points, implementing data validation to ensure accuracy, and creating field dependencies that conditionally display specific fields based on user selections. 

Organizing data into sections can also significantly enhance the usability of forms, providing a more intuitive experience. This level of adaptability enables every business to optimize its customer service processes for increased efficiency and customer satisfaction.
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Managing access to Custom Modules 
Whenever you create a module, the option to define module permissions is available, which allows you to select specific users or roles. Additionally, data sharing is also available for custom modules. If a module is designated as private in data sharing, agents assigned to that particular role will only have access to records owned by them or agents with subordinate roles. 

Working with Modules

Organizing modules 

Organizations can display only the relevant modules and hide the unnecessary ones. The hidden modules will not be shown to your users, irrespective of their profiles. You can also drag and drop modules to change the order in which they are displayed in the menu bar.

Renaming modules

The Zoho Desk system allows module names to be renamed according to industry-specific terminologies. For instance, an e-commerce business might rename the “Knowledge Base” module “FAQ.” Only users with administrator privileges can change module names. 

Unveiling the Desk Modules

When teams implement Zoho Desk, it's important to review each module, understand their functions, and configure the right mix of standard and custom modules to deliver practical support to customers.

Tickets module

The Tickets module in Zoho Desk is designed to organize and present relevant information about support tickets within the help desk system. It enables users to link tickets with other standard modules, providing a detailed overview of ticket activities, outstanding tasks, associated files, solutions, and other relevant information. This module acts as a central point for managing and retrieving all necessary details related to customer support requests, which enhances the support workflow for agents and accelerates response times for customer inquiries.

Accounts module

The Accounts module helps organize tickets and contracts by company to manage support effectively at the organizational level. You can associate an account with specific contacts (individuals) to ensure they receive the agreed-upon service level whenever they submit support tickets through one of the many channels enabled in Zoho Desk.

Contracts module

Most service providers establish a formal agreement with their customers that details the specific types of services to be provided and other requirements, such as response times. This not only sets clear expectations for both parties but also promotes a sense of trust and accountability. The Contracts module makes it easy for support teams to ensure compliance with these agreements and deliver the agreed-upon service levels.

Custom modules

Organizations with unique needs may want to implement additional capabilities not found in the standard modules. In this case, custom modules are invaluable for tailoring solutions that align perfectly with how a company does business. For example, generic modules such as "Customers," "Products," or "FAQs" may not be effective in serving the education sector. Instead, educational institutions can develop bespoke modules, such as "Students," "Teachers," and "Admissions," which directly correspond to their audience and operational needs.

Custom modules can seamlessly integrate with core Desk modules through the use of lookup fields, which makes them much more than stand-alone components. Beyond that, custom modules bring a multitude of benefits, including tailored field customization, automated workflows, and the ability to establish precise access controls to enhance overall operational efficiency and user experience.

Knowledge Base module

The Knowledge Base (KB) module is a self-serve online library of information that enables your customers to access solution articles for addressing various product or service-related queries. Agents can create articles related to your product or service and organize them under custom sections for easy access. 

Dashboard module

Finally, we have the Dashboard module. It serves as a centralized interface that provides users with an overview of key metrics, activities, and performance indicators related to support tickets and customer interactions. 

As teams adopt these modules, they often find many ways to improve their customer support experience, such as using custom fields in their Custom Modules. This allows users to add fields that capture specific information to make their service even more personalized.

Conclusion

A well-structured support system makes a world of difference in customer service. The modules not only simplify workflows but also help teams deliver exceptional service to every customer. Support teams that implement Zoho Desk can transform their customer interactions, resulting in quicker resolutions, more efficient management, and satisfied customers who feel valued by their providers.

 

Please stay tuned for more Desk Module stories.

 

Cheers,

 

Kavya Rao

The Zoho Desk Team