Automation#21: Track Ticket Transfers Across Departments

Automation#21: Track Ticket Transfers Across Departments


Hello Everyone!
With Halloween just around the corner, we'd like to let you know the Zoho Desk team is always there to sweep away your customer service troubles!
This week, we’re excited to introduce a custom function that tracks tickets moved between departments.
While Zoho Desk has simplified customer service, keeping your support team stress-free and your customers happy often requires thoughtful adjustments. Zylker Techfix found a great solution with this feature. They handle services for different gadget types under specific departments, but sometimes tickets accidentally end up in the wrong department. Agents moved them to the correct one, but needed a way to track these transfers. By using the Time Entry feature and a custom function, they generated reports of all moved tickets effortlessly.

Here’s the custom function that utilizes the Time Entry feature to track tickets transferred between departments.
Prerequisites
1. Create Custom Fields
To track tickets moved from one Department (call it Dep A) to the other Department (call it Dep B) or vice versa, 
1.1 Go to Setup (S) >> Customization >> Layouts and Fields. Select Time Entry under Layouts and the Department (let's say Dep B) to which you would like to move the ticket. 
1.2 Create three custom single line fields in the Time Entry layout of the respective department (Dep B) . Click on the layout, 
1.2.1 Add a single line field with a label From department.
1.2.2 Add another single line field with a label To Department.
1.2.3  Add the third single line field with the label Agent Name.
1.3 Note the API names for the the single line fields to insert into the custom function. 
To find the API name, Click on the Gear wheel icon of the single line field. Click on Edit Properties, you will find the API Name under the Edit Field. Refer to Create Custom Fields
NotesIf you would like move the ticket from Dep B to Dep A, create the similar fields in the time entry layout for Dep A.
2. Create a connection
      2.1 Go to Setup(S) and choose Connections under Developer Space.
      2.2 Click Create Connection.
      2.3 Select Zoho OAuth under Default Connection.
      2.4 Set the connection name as ticket_time_entry_add.
      2.5 Under Scope, choose the below scope values:
             Desk.tickets.READ
             Desk.tickets.UPDATE
      2.6 Click Create and Connect.
      2.7 Click Connect and click Accept.
Connection is created successfully.

Create a Workflow Rule
1. Go to Setup(S), choose Workflows under Automation
2. In Workflow Rules, select the Department (Dep B) to which you want to move the tickets. 
3. Under Workflows, click Rules >> Create Rule.
In the Basic Information section,
4. Select Tickets from the drop-down menu under Module.
5. Enter a Rule Name and Description for the rule.
6. If you want to activate the rule right away, select the Active checkbox. Else, create the rule and activate it later.
7. Click Next.
In the Execute on section, follow these steps:
8. Select Create.  
9. Click Next.
10. Leave the Criteria section blank and click Next. 
11. In the Actions section, click the + icon and select New next to Custom Functions.
12. Enter a Name and Description for the custom function.         
                                         
13. In the script window, insert the Custom Function given below:
  1. //----------- User Input -------------
  2. fromDepartmentFieldAPIName = "cf_from_department";
  3. toDepartmentFieldAPIName = "cf_to_department";
  4. agentAPIName = "cf_agent_name";
  5. //----------- Configuration ------------------
  6. logs = Collection();
  7. timeEntryParam = Map();
  8. cf = Map();
  9. historyParam = Map();
  10. historyParam.put("from",0);
  11. historyParam.put("limit",1);
  12. historyParam.put("fieldName","departmentId");
  13. ticketHistory = invokeurl
  14. [
  15. url :deskURL + "/api/v1/tickets/" + ticketId + "/History"
  16. type :GET
  17. parameters:historyParam
  18. connection:"ticket_time_entry_add"
  19. ];
  20. logs.insert("ticketHistory":ticketHistory);
  21. if(ticketHistory != null && ticketHistory.get("data") != null)
  22. {
  23. historyDetails = ticketHistory.get("data").get("0");
  24. logs.insert("historyDetails":historyDetails);
  25. if(historyDetails.get("eventName") == "TicketUpdated" && historyDetails.get("eventInfo").get(0).get("propertyName") == "Department")
  26. {
  27.   departmentDetailsChanges = historyDetails.get("eventInfo").get("0").get("propertyValue");
  28.   previousDepartment = departmentDetailsChanges.get("previousValue").get("name");
  29.   currentDepartment = departmentDetailsChanges.get("updatedValue").get("name");
  30.   agent = historyDetails.get("actor").get("name");
  31.   departmentChangedTime = historyDetails.get("eventTime");
  32.   cf.put(fromDepartmentFieldAPIName,previousDepartment);
  33.   cf.put(toDepartmentFieldAPIName,currentDepartment);
  34.   cf.put(agentAPIName,agent);
  35.   timeEntryParam.put("executedTime",departmentChangedTime);
  36.   timeEntryParam.put("cf",cf);
  37.   logs.insert("timeEntryParam":timeEntryParam);
  38.   createTimeEntry = invokeurl
  39.   [
  40.   url :deskURL + "/api/v1/tickets/" + ticketId + "/timeEntry"
  41.   type :POST
  42.   parameters:timeEntryParam.toString()
  43.   connection:"ticket_time_entry_add"
  44.   ];
  45.   logs.insert("createTimeEntry":createTimeEntry);
  46. }
  47. }
  48. info logs;
Notes
NOTE
a. In Line 2, Replace ".com" with the domain extension based on your Data Center.
b. In Line 3, add the API name of the From Department created in the Time Entry Layout.
c. In Line 4, add the API name of the To Department created in the Time Entry Layout.
d. In Line 5, add the API name of the Agent Name created in the Time Entry Layout.
14. Click Edit Arguments and include the argument mapping as below: 
       14.1 In the Name field, type ticketId and from the Value drop-down list, select Ticket Id under the Tickets Section.
15. Click Save to save the custom function.
16. Click Save again to save the workflow.
Notes
If you would like to move the ticket from Dep B to Dep A, create  the workflow rule in Dep A as well. 
Creating Ticket Tracking Reports
To track the ticket moved from one department, you can generate Reports under Analytics. 
Go to the Analytics module >> Choose Reports >> Add Report >> Select Tickets module and Time Entry under Related modules. Refer to Create Custom Report.
This custom function will help you keep an eye on your ticket movements, ensuring that none of your important tickets go missing!
Wishing you a delightful Halloween filled with joy and treats, along with a wonderful fall season! 🎃🍂
Until next week,
Warm regards,
Lydia Kiruba | Zoho Desk 


    • Sticky Posts

    • Zoho Desk Virtual Meetup: US Central, October 5 - 7, 2021

      After the interactive Virtual Meetups in the other regions, we are starting with the US Central and Midwest regions from October 5 to October 7, 2021. The dates for other regions will be announced soon.  At this event, we will explore the topics which
    • 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
    • Ask the Experts 10: A 5-hour online Q&A on Zoho Desk Best Practices

      Welcome to Zoho Desk's Ask the Experts session! This is a monthly discussion on our  forums; wherein a panel of experts will take on questions  specific to topics related to Zoho Desk. The panel will be available for a 5-hour period and will answer any questions posted here.   Let's begin the year learning some best practices from our experts. In this month's ATE we are opening the floor to questions on how to use Zoho Desk the best way.  If you have a business use case but not sure if Workflow is
    • 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. 
    • Ask the Experts 7: A 5-hour online Q&A on Telephony and Call Module

      Welcome to Ask the Experts session! This is a monthly discussion in forums; each session, a panel of experts will take questions on specific topics related to Zoho Desk. The panel will be available for a 5-hour period and answer any questions posted here. In this month's Ask the Experts, we will take questions on everything related to Telephony and the Call Module in Zoho Desk. We will discuss the following aspects:  Integration with different Telephony vendors Routing calls to agents Converting
    • Recent Topics

    • This mobile number has been marked spam. Please contact support.

      Hi Support, Can you tell me why number was marked as spam. I have having difficult to add my number as you keep requesting i must use it. My number is +63....163 Or is Zoho company excluding Philippines from their services?
    • Update Candidate Status Through Workflow in Blueprint

      Hi Team,  We have a blueprint built out with custom functions that update particular fields based on candidate actions. When particular fields are updated we need to move the candidate forward in the blueprint. We tried to do this through a workflow,
    • Zoho Canned respond do have a huge lag issue.

      Previously the Zoho canned respond works perfectly ... on once server update and all the Canned respond enconter huge lag... in the end cause most of the canned respond just shown code with /xxx and not the sentence....
    • ShipStation and Zoho Inventory

      Hello, I am looking to sync zoho inventory with shipstation ZOHO INVENTORY           SHIP STATION Sales Order  ==>  create ORDERS INVOICE  <==    Shipments What exactly does BETA mean on the Shipstation connector?  This is required for me to sign-on in the next month. Thanks in advance for your efforts
    • Saving slide elements

      I have created grouped items including text and animation that I want to use in later slides. (Like an animated logo) Is there a way to save these grouped elements in my library?
    • Are downloadable product available in Zoho Commerce

      Hi all. We're considering switching to Zoho Commerce for our shop, but we sell software and remote services. Is there a features for downloadable products? I can't find any information about this. Thank you very much Alice
    • Function #10: Update item prices automatically based on the last transaction created

      In businesses, item prices are not always fixed and can fluctuate due to various factors. If you find yourself manually adjusting the item rates every time they change, we have the ideal time-saving solution for you. In today's post, we bring you custom
    • Move site from WIX to ZOHO Sites

      I have a simple website on WIX.  I am wondering if someone is available to help me move this website - https://www.videothreezero.com/ to ZOHO.  Michael  Boston
    • zoho calendar week view - "super compact by default"

      every time i go to my calendar i have to re-engage the "super-compact view" for the week view...is there a way to make "super-compact" a default view so I dont have to keep on setting it manually?
    • Change work hours per day for employees

      Hello, Is there a way to modify the work hours per day for employees in Zoho projects? This would be helpful for resource allocation to more accurately see when an employee who works 35 hours a week vs 40 hours has a full schedule. Thanks.
    • Zoho CRM Automation Help: Send Email When Fault is Marked as Done & Module Relationships

      Hi everyone, I have the following User-Created Modules in Zoho CRM: Clients Assets Faults Handymen Every client can have multiple assets. Every asset can have multiple faults. Every fault is assigned to one handyman. What I Want to Achieve: ✅ I want to
    • Adding New Domain to Zoho mail

      Hi, I have one Zoho account already called for example "Awesome Animals". Under this account I have one domain already setup with zoho mail, example: - awesomecats.com I have another website as well which I want to add under this "Awesome Animals" account,
    • I cannot receive emails.

      I need help, I've tried everything but I still can't receive emails from other people. I can send it but I can't receive emails, When I created the email it was all in order and suddenly I can't get emails from anyone anymore.
    • Incoming Gmail Email Not Coming Into Zoho

      My outbound email from Zoho is working, but when people respond to the email, it's not coming back into Zoho. I can see it when I'm in Gmail, but it's not in Zoho.
    • Não foi possível enviar a mensagem;Razão:554 5.1.8 Email Outgoing Blocked.

      Preciso de ajuda não consigo enviar emails,conta recen criada
    • Expand Zia's Language Support and AI Capabilities

      Dear Zoho Desk Support, I would like to submit a feature request to improve Zia, the AI-driven support assistant in Zoho Desk. Currently, Zia only supports the English language, while other AI agents such as Gemini, ChatGPT, and Claude can work with a
    • Average Costing / Weighted Average Costing

      Hello fellow maadirs. I understand Zoho Books uses FIFO method of dealing with inventory costing, but do you guys have any plans to introduce average costing? We indians need average costing. It's part of our culture. Please. I beg thee. Thanks.
    • Links in Instagram

      Hi there, I have been using Later for a while now but keen to come back to Zoho Social as Later doesn't offer tagging of pages on Facebook but they offer something Zoho doesn't. You can add a link to your bio which opens up your profile feed where images
    • Credit note

      By mistake I issued credit note in Jan 2025 for the invoice related to Dec 2024. Now I want to delete this credit note but anable to do so. Need help in this
    • How to query for Deals record based on Pipeline?

      I want to query for Deals records that matches a specified Pipeline using a Deluge function. When I call zoho.crm.searchRecords("Deals","(Pipeline:equals:" + myPipeline + ")"), I get this error: { code: 'INVALID_QUERY' , details: {...} , message: 'Invalid
    • CRM formula field help

      Hello! i was hoping to get some help with a formula i'm creating within a module. I'm looking to make a formula that changes based on a date field but based upon the present date. This is the formula i have so far: If(Now() < ${Instructors.Start Date},
    • Change to copy/paste functionality in Deluge code editor

      Recently there was a change to the Deluge code etidor where it now inserts backslashes into strings automatically when copying/pasting strings with double quotes, it's a nightmare to have to go delete all these. Is it possible to toggle this on or off?
    • ChatGPT only summarize in English

      Hello i' v enabled chatgpt in salesIQ, it works great inside conversation (revise, Rephrase etc) add tags works well with another language than English. But when I want to summarize it render only in English, despite sales IQ is set to another language.
    • BIN Locations

      Hi, I’m new to Zoho inventory and unless Im missing something, I cannot find BIN locations anywhere in ‘items’? please tell me it’s there somewhere?!? Thanks
    • Send Whatsapp with API including custom placeholders

      Is is possible to initiate a session on whatsapp IM channel with a template that includes params (placeholders) that are passed on the API call? This is very usefull to send a Utility message for a transactional notification including an order number
    • BANK FEED - MAYBANK , provider from YODLEE IS NOT WORKING

      As per topic, the provider YODLEE is not working for the BANK FEED. It have been reported since 2023 Q3, and second report on 2023 Q4. now almost end of 2024 Q1, and coming to 2024 Q2. Malaysia Bank Maybank is NOT working. can anyone check on this issue?
    • Create a custom button to modify custom fields in zoho Inventory

      I am needing a script for two buttons, 1. Button will add todays date to a custom field named cf_sent_to_sov 2. Button will mark a checkbox or unmark a checkbox field named cf_parts_ordered I have been trying to figure out deluge but have not got anywhere
    • Canadian payroll

      Hello ZOHO, is any updates on when payroll for Canada will be available?
    • Default reminders on Emails

      I have seen that it is possible to set, for each email, a reminder when the email remains unresponded for some time. This is very useful, so useful that I would like to set it for all my emails, by default. Because an unanswered email usually requires
    • in zoho assist I would like to temporarliy go into view only mode

      During a zoho assist remote support / remote control session, I would like an option to turn off control, and go into view only mode. Then later, turn back on control, all within the same session. (Many other remote login apps have this feature.) For
    • QR code image is not exported in PDFs

      The new QR code field works fine when I include it in a report template and I choose the print option: https://creatorapp.zoho.com/<username>/<app_link_name>/record-print/<report_link_name>/<record_ID>/ But when I try to save the document to a .pdf file
    • Zoho notes list issue

      Hi team, Suddenly my extension is not working and I could not find the extension in my marketplace list anymore. Extension version deprecated This version of the extension is no longer in use. Please update the extension and try again.
    • Assignment Rule: Immediate Ticket Assignment to Agents Upon Shift Start

      Dear Zoho Desk Team, I hope this message finds you well. Currently, when the option to assign tickets to offline agents is turned off, agents who come online during their shift have to wait for about 30 minutes before any tickets from the queue are assigned
    • Change email template depending on answer from form

      Is it possible to set up the following in Zoho Desk: When a user submits a ticket via the Zoho Help Center's form, they can select an answer from a dropdown field. In this example, the dropdown options are 'Option A' and 'Option B.' If a user selects
    • Kaizen #171: FAQs on COQL API

      Hello all!! Welcome back to another post in the Kaizen series! In this post, we will address some of the most frequently asked questions about Zoho CRM's COQL API from the Zoho CRM Developer Community Forum. COQL API Query API lets you query for records
    • Issue with Date Placeholder Formatting in Ticket ID Customization

      Hello Support Team, I'm experiencing an issue with the date placeholder formatting in Zoho Desk's Ticket ID customization. Specifically, when using the `{{DD}}` placeholder for the day in the prefix or suffix, the output displays the day as a single digit
    • Time Field

      Good Day, I have a question, when I save a draft and reload it. Why does the time field format keeps goes from hh:mm to hh:mm:ss? Is there a way I can force it to load to hh:mm only? I have tried example = totime(input.TimeField, "hh:mm") in the -created
    • Feature Req - See imap emails in Timeline tab of a deal

      In many other CRMs such as pipedrive and hubspot, when you are looking at the timeline of a deal you can also see snippets of emails that have been sent or received and then click to view the full message. This gives users a fast way to catch up on EVERYTHING
    • HOW TO: Searching a thread (email body/text) with a custom function, allowing filtering and specific actions

      We are still trialing out Zoho at this time, but have found a major expected feature to be missing - the ability to search within the text of an email for automation/workflows. NOTE: You need to create a connection for zohodesk under settings -> Developer
    • Partnership Proposal for Supporting Number Porting Services in Singapore

      Dear Zoho Representative’s, I hope this message finds you well. My name is Honelito Gilos, and I represent Borderless Hub Pte Ltd (Singapore). We are a Telco here in Singapore specialising in providing seamless number porting services, and I’m reaching
    • Next Page