When moments in customer support get "spooky"

It’s Halloween again!
Halloween is celebrated with spooky symbols and meanings based on history and traditions, with each region adding its own special touch. While we were kids, we would dress up in costumes along with friends, attend parties, and enjoy the thrills of the season. Growing older, our perspectives and the way we celebrate might may have changed. Now, we might find ourselves watching children enjoy their spooky fun or simply relaxing.

But for those working in customer support, Halloween can reveal different kinds of “spooky” moments. Some moments at work can feel just as haunting as the Halloween characters that test patience, empathy, and presence of mind. This Halloween, let’s talk about how we can turn moments of horror in customer support into delightful experiences.

The “spooks” of customer support  

Overflowing tickets

When you sign in to your Zoho Desk account, you might immediately have more tickets than you can handle. Too many tickets can make you miss your first-response time, drop your metrics, and soon you’re buried under an endless stream of unresolved tickets.

Falling resolution rates

As the workload piles up, your average resolution time can slip. Despite your best efforts, the gap between customer expectations and your responses continues to widen.

Tone gone wrong

With an overwhelming number of tickets, we might rush to reply quickly, which can make the emails sound curt or emotionless. We end up sounding rude or robotic without intending to. The lack of warmth can turn a neutral interaction into a negative experience.

Disappointing feedback

After all this, you work hard to respond to your customers and close all the tickets, aiming to solve their problems, yet the customer leaves a negative rating or an unhappy emoji. These negative rating can affect our CSAT scores leading to a more chilling experience than a Halloween scare.

Endless escalations

You’ve given your best, but tickets keep escalating one after another. Encountering one frustration after another while juggling deadlines is enough to make any support agent feel haunted by unfinished work.

Self-service pages

Imagine the customer's frustration when they're trying to find an answer, but the outdated knowledge base goes unpublished because it is outdated. What could have been resolved turns into a frustrated ticket.

Let's see how we can turn those spooky moments into spectacular ones.

Every “horror moment” in support can be transformed into an opportunity for excellence with the right tools, automation, and teamwork.

Organize your tickets

The prediction tools in Zoho Desk help you identify the high-priority tickets and learn from ticket history in less time. Zia can also detect anomalies and notify your team of tickets that require attention. The summary tools help you understand tickets and conversations quickly.

Use the default views and create custom views to categorize your tickets based on their assigned priority levels and due dates. Use various views under Workmodes to resolve tickets based on status, priority, and SLAs. The ticket notifications also help you view details where your name is tagged (@ mentions), unread, and flagged messages. These will help you resolve tickets quicker, leading to happy customers.

Assignment rules

Assignment rules help you distribute tickets evenly among agents so that one or two agents do not feel overwhelmed. Sharing the workload with fellow agents helps your team respond faster and serve customers more efficiently. The agent collision feature alerts you if two agents are working on the same ticket, thus avoiding duplicate efforts.

Workflow rules

Automate notifications for customer tickets or complaints. A simple response and acknowledgment can reassure customers that their issue is abeing ddressed to offer resolution.

Define service level agreements (SLAs)

Establish clear response and resolution times based on your business hours and ticket priorities. SLAs help you address the most urgent cases while maintaining service quality and consistency.

Update your availability status

Under profile, set your status for each support channel in Zoho Desk. When you’re online, you’ll be notified of new chats or emails to ensure nothing goes unnoticed.

Keep knowledge base (KB) articles updated

Set expiration dates for your help articles so you’re notified when it’s time to review or update them. Updating your knowledge base with the current information helps customers find the right answers faster, reducing ticket load.

Use Zia

Zia can help you sense the tone of the customers' emails. If you miss noticing the customer's emotions, Zia Insights and Zia Reply Assistance are at your service with emoticons and quick references to respond effectively. Zia insights give you an analysis of the customer's tone as well as the topics they discussed. You can also view the customer's CSAT ratings under their contact info.

Every one of these small steps can turn potential “frights” into smooth, positive experiences, both for you and your customers. The spooky moment in customer support can fade away with Zoho Desk's automation tools, AI-powered sentiment analysis, and unified knowledge base. This Halloween, while we celebrate with costumes and candy, let’s also celebrate the courage, creativity, and care of every customer support professional who turns the fright of a long queue into customer delights.

Wish you a happy Halloween! 🎃

Wishes from the Zoho Desk team 

• Topic Participants

• Lydia | Zoho Desk

  

• Ram Freedman

  

• 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

• Is Zoho Shifts included in the Zoho One plan?

  In case the answer is no: there's any plan to make it available via One? Thank you

• Zoho Tracking Image location

  So we've been having an issue with tracking email opens. Specifically in Gmail. Our emails are not that long either, maybe 4 sections of image/250 characters of text/button per section.  But all my test accounts I used via Gmail we're showing opens. But then come to find out the tracking image is at the very bottom of the email. So If the message is clipped (It always just clips our social icons on the bottom) and the user doesn't click the show more button it never tracks the open.  Looking at other

• Is there a plan to integrate zoho voice with zoho books?

  Hello, Is there a plan to integrate zoho voice with zoho books? Right now we are using the Twilio SMS integration into zoho books, but have recently decided to switch to zoho voice for calls and sms. Is there a plan to integrate zoho voice natively into

• Zoho Tables is now live in Australia & New Zealand!

  Hey everyone! We’ve got some great news to share — Zoho Tables is now officially available in the Australian Data Center serving users across Australia and New Zealand regions! Yes, it took us a bit longer to get here, but this version of Zoho Tables

• Delivery and handling of documents e-stamped using Zoho Sign

  Hello everyone! Zoho Sign makes it easy to pay non judicial stamp duty online and automatically attach the digitally generated e-stamp challan to electronic documents. We also manage the delivery of physical e-stamped papers. We periodically receive these

• Introducing Dedicated Modules for Plans, Addons, and Coupons in Zoho Billing

  We’ve enhanced the way you manage Plans, Addons, and Coupons in Zoho Billing. Previously, all three grouped together under Subscription Items. Now, each one has its own dedicated module, giving you a cleaner and more intuitive experience. This update

• Sortie de Zoho TABLE ??

  Bonjour, Depuis bientôt 2 ans l'application zoho table est sortie en dehors de l'UE ? Depuis un an elle est annoncée en Europe Mais en vrai, c'est pour quand exactement ??

• Issue with WhatsApp Template Approval and Marketing Message Limit in Zoho Bigin

  We are facing issues while creating and using WhatsApp message templates through Zoho Bigin, and we request your clarification and support regarding the same. 1. Utility Template Approval Issue Until December, we were able to create WhatsApp templates

• How to install Widget in inventory module

  Hi， I am trying to install a app into Sales Order Module related list, however there is no button allow me to do that. May I ask how to install widget to inventory module related list?

• Zoho Social - Feature Request - Non-US Date Format

  Hi Social Team, I have noticed that there is no option to change the date format from US mm/dd/yyyy to others like dd/mm/yyyy. It would be great to see this added as the platform matures. Thanks for considering this feedback.

• Drop Down Value

  Hi, May I know why Zoho Flow treat this drop down as number and not as string. If so, how can I fetch the right value for filtering. This field is from Creator, in Creator upon checking by default it is a string since it's not a lookup field.

• Zoho CRM's mobile apps: A 2025 Recap

  2025 marked a year of steady progress for Zoho CRM's mobile apps. We rolled out several updates and features to improve usability and make everyday CRM work a lot easier to manage. Here’s a look back at some of the key releases from 2025. Android releases

• Facebook follower count doesn't match FB Analytics

  Hi all, I am wondering if anyone else has issues with follower counts for Facebook not matching FB's native analytics tool. On the Zoho dashboard, it's showing 1,007, but FB shows 1,060. All the other channels match up. Any insights are much appreciated!

• Meta and Facebook data report discrepancy

  I have been currently gathering manually facebook follower data thru meta. In zoho marketing plus the social media reporting only allows for page likes, and so there is a discrepancy with the data. please the difference in files attached. Is there way

• Develop and publish a Zoho Recruit extension on the marketplace

  Hi, I'd like to develop a new extension for Zoho Recruit. I've started to use Zoho Developers creating a Zoho CRM extension. But when I try to create a new extension here https://sigma.zoho.com/workspace/testtesttestest/apps/new I d'ont see the option of Zoho Recruit (only CRM, Desk, Projects...). I do see extensions for Zoho Recruit in the marketplace. How would I go about to create one if the option is not available in sigma ? Cheers, Rémi.

• Unlocking New Levels: Zoho Payroll's Journey in 2025

  Every year brings its own set of challenges and opportunities to rethink how payroll works across regulations and teams. In 2025, Zoho Payroll continued to evolve with one clear focus: giving businesses more flexibility, clarity, and control as they grow.

• Can I export all attachments from Zoho CRM?

  Can I export all attachments from Zoho CRM?

• Please can the open tasks be shown in each customer account at the top.

  Hi there This has happened before, where the open tasks are no longer visible at the top of the page for each customer in the CRM. They have gone missing previously and were reinstated when I asked so I think it's just after an update that this feature

• What's new in Zoho Sheet: Simplify data entry and collaboration

  Hello, Zoho Sheet community! Last year, our team was focused on research and development so we could deliver updates that enhance your spreadsheet experience. This year, we’re excited to deliver those enhancements—but we'll be rolling them out incrementally

• Community Digest — Noviembre y Diciembre 2025

  ¡Hola, Comunidad de Zoho en Español! Cerramos el año de la mejor forma con nuestro último Community Digest de 2025, donde podrás encontrar las últimas novedades de nuestros productos. ¿Todo listo para empezar 2026 con el mejor pie? ¡Vamos a ello! Zoho

• Zoho Projects Plus’ 2025- the year we launched

  We’ve been building project management tools for the past 19 years, and a question we often hear is: Different teams in our organization prefer different project management methods; while the development team prefers agile, the marketing and sales teams

• Why can't we change the Account type from an Expense to an Asset?

  Like the question. Why in QuickBooks for example if I mistakenly created an account as an expenses and I already captured information in those accounts, I can just change the account type from expense to asset

• Zoho Books emails suddenly going to Spam since 11 Nov 2025 (Gmail + now Outlook) — anyone else?

  Hi everyone, We migrated to Zoho Books in July 2025 and everything worked fine until 11 Nov 2025. Since then, Zoho Books system emails are landing in customers’ Spam (first Gmail, and now we’re seeing Outlook/Office 365 also starting to spam them). Impacted

• How do you print a refund check to customer?

  Maybe this is a dumb question, but how does anyone print a refund check to a customer? We cant find anywhere to either just print a check and pick a customer, or where to do so from a credit note.

• Data Import | Zoho Analytics Custom Query Window Size

  Please increase the window size for the Custom Query Data Import. It's impossible to work with such a small query window.

• Company Multiple Branch/ Location Accounting

  Hi All, anyone know whether company can maintain their multiple Branch Accounting in Zoho  Books. It will be chart of Accounts & Master Data will be same but different report available as per per Branch. Thanks & regards, Vivek +91 9766906737

• Zoho Books Invoices Templates

  It would be really helpful to have more advanced features to customise the invoice templates in Zoho Books. Especially I´m thinking of the spacing of the different parts of the invoice (Address line etc.). If you have a sender and receiver address in

• Support for Developing Zoho Recruit Extensions via Zoho Sigma

  Hi, I’m interested in building an extension for Zoho Recruit using Zoho Sigma. However, when I navigate to Sigma and attempt to create a new extension (via the "New Extension" option), Zoho Recruit does not appear as a listed service—only options like

• Email Administrators! Join our tips & troubleshooting series

  Greetings to all the admins out there! This announcement is exclusively for you. As we step into the New Year, we’re excited to start a dedicated series of admin-specific tips curated to support you. These posts will help you overcome everyday challenges

• Notes badge as a quick action in the list view

  Hello all, We are introducing the Notes badge in the list view of all modules as a quick action you can perform for each record, in addition to the existing Activity badge. With this enhancement, users will have quick visibility into the notes associated

• Deprecation of the Zoho OAuth connector

  Hello everyone, At Zoho, we continuously evaluate our integrations to ensure they meet the highest standards of security, reliability, and compliance. As part of these ongoing efforts, we've made the decision to deprecate the Zoho OAuth default connector

• Personalize your booking pages with Custom CSS

  Greetings from the Zoho Bookings team! We’re introducing Custom CSS for Zoho Bookings, designed to give you complete control over the look and feel of your booking pages. With this new feature, you can upload your own CSS file to customize colors, fonts,

• Free Webinar : Unlock AI driven business insights with Zoho Inventory + Zoho Analytics

  Are you tired of switching between apps and exporting data to build customized reports? Say hello to smarter & streamlined insights! Join us for this exclusive webinar where we explore the power of the Zoho Inventory–Zoho Analytics integration. Learn

• No OR Filter for Views with a Related Modules Criteria

  We would like to create a Deal View where the User can see all their deals. For that, we would need an OR to connect the criteria. One of the Fields is a "multiselect User", these (Related Modules Criteria) can only be Filter with an AND. Even between

• Import Function: ONLY update empty fields

  When setting up an import from a spreadsheet to CRM, there is a checkbox "Don't update empty values for existing contacts" (see screenshot below). While I see some limited benefit from this functionality, I think there should also be an "ONLY update empty

• Sales IQ Chat Widget is Only Displaying Last Name

  Can anyone suggest why the widget is only displaying "last name"?! We have the latest version of the wordpress plugin installed. Thanks Thanks!

• Free Webinar: Zoho Sign for Zoho Projects: Automate tasks and approvals with e-signatures

  Hi there! Handling multiple projects at once? Zoho Projects is your solution for automated and streamlined project management, and with the Zoho Sign extension, you can sign, send, and manage digital paperwork directly from your project workspace. Join

• Begin the year with best practices in the Zoho Desk mobile app : Part 2

  In focus: Optimizing collaboration and supervision Let's begin 2026 with Part 2 of our tips series on driving your ticketing operations at your fingertips. In Part 1, we explored streamlining operations within tickets. This helped individuals at Omniserve

• Can we disable add to cart in Zoho Commerce?

  Hello, Our sales happen on the phone. During the call the customer is directed to our website to inspect the products together with the sales rep. So we need a way to present our inventory. I figured Zoho Commerce is a good fit for this use case. However we would have to disable the possibility to purchase products in the shop. Is that possible? Sunny regards, Artjom

• How to update "Lead Status" to more than 100 records

  Hello Zoho CRM, How do I update "Lead Status" to more than 100 records at once? To give you a background, these leads were uploaded or Imported at once but the lead status record was incorrectly chosen. So since there was a way to quickly add records in the system no matter how many they are, we are also wondering if there is a quicker way to update these records to the correct "Lead Status". I hope our concern makes sense and that there will be a fix for it. All the best, Jonathan

• Next Page