Discussions from Ask The Experts 19: Inside Zoho Desk Spring Release 2025 : Zia in Focus

Discussions from Ask The Experts 19: Inside Zoho Desk Spring Release 2025 : Zia in Focus

Hello everyone,  
We had insightful discussions in both the sessions of Ask the Experts(ATE) 19, diving deep into engaging conversations around Zia and the spring release. Your enthusiastic participation and thought-provoking questions brought the sessions to life!  
In this post, we’re spotlighting the Q&A highlights focused exclusively on Zia.

1. Why are Zia Answer bots not performing as intended after integrating them with the internal Knowledge Base (KB)? Why is the bot unable to provide relevant answers when questions are asked in natural language?

Zia's Answer bot's response is based on how closely the user's query matches the content of your Knowledge Base(KB) articles. Zia operates using Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) technology, which combines AI search and AI-generated responses. For AI search, we use AI training models specifically implemented for your knowledge base, while ChatGPT/Zia is used for generating the responses based on the service you select. Refer Setting up Generative AI Services: Zia or ChatGPT.
A. To improve this, we recommend following our best practices for training Zia Answer Bots. These include:
      i. Use simple and commonly-used phrases rather than jargons/isolated keywords in your help documents.
      ii. Include clear headings or sub-titles within your help documents to improve searchability and matching accuracy.
B. If you still do not receive relevant answers, we offer an improved Zia search powered by a new training model. If you would like to use it, please drop your request to support@zohodesk.com.
Additionally, we have introduced Generative AI powered by Zia, that is powered by open-source and run in Zoho's environment. To enable this, go to Setup(S) >> Zia >> Generative AI >> Services >> select Zia, under Choose service.  This is hosted entirely within Zoho's environment and is included at no additional cost and works with the Enterprise edition or Zoho bundles supporting Enterprise features.
 
2. How to optimize and incorporate the Zia bot within the Professional Edition?
Zia offers its complete range of functionalities exclusively within Zoho Desk Enterprise Edition and Zoho's bundle services.
However, there are specific Zia features available on the Professional Edition:
  a. Zia powered by ChatGPT: This integration is accessible within Zoho Desk, enabling responses based on open-domain data. In the Professional edition, Zia will  respond using information from the public domain, and the "Reply with Knowledge Base" feature is not available.
Additionally, Zia supports enhanced ticket handling through features like Ticket Summary, Zia Insights, Writing Assistance, and AI-generated content.
  b. Content Analysis: Launched in the recent spring update, this feature improves upon the existing spell-check capability and is accessible across all paid editions..
 
3. Is it possible to train Zia to provide answers based on resolutions from closed tickets rather than solely relying on the Knowledge Base?
Currently, Zia can only be trained using your Knowledge Base and not from tickets or their resolutions.
Tickets often contain sensitive customer data and personally identifiable information (PII), which should not be accessible to all agents or customers. Due to this privacy constraint, we currently do not train Zia using ticket data.
However, there's an option to add information from the Resolution under the Ticket tabs. While creating a resolution, the agent can select "Save And Add Article" to add the resolution to the Knowledge Base thereby giving Zia an option to train on the article. 
 


We plan to introduce a feature allowing agents to generate replies based on similar tickets. In this approach, Zia will reference similar tickets and their corresponding responses to suggest an answer. Instead of directly training Zia on potentially sensitive ticket data, this reply assistance feature will help agents by leveraging responses from comparable tickets.

4. Will Zoho offer additional AI models beyond Zia and OpenAI?  
Yes, we plan to introduce more AI models, primarily those hosted and managed by Zoho, considering the B2B nature of our services and ensuring data security and privacy.

5. How is data currently handled with OpenAI and Zia?  

Currently, when using OpenAI, fields marked as PII  are masked on the User Query or KB articles before sending them to Open AI for response generation alone and not for training. Similarly, Zia, powered by open-source models like Lama 3.1, uses data strictly for generation purposes. We've fine-tuned Lama 3.1 specifically for Zoho Desk requirements.

6. Which additional open-source models does Zoho plan to support in the future?  

Besides Llama, we plan to soon support additional models such as Qwen, and Mistral.

7. Will Zoho Desk allow users to integrate their own AI models?  

Yes, we are working towards creating a platform within Zoho Desk that allows users to bring their own open-source models or custom LLMs for various features.
 
8. How do we use the Zia GenAI-powered chat? Do we need to set it up with predefined answers?
To create an Answer bot, navigate to Setup > Zia > Answer Bot.The Answer Bot operates by learning from your existing knowledge base data. The Answer Bot leverages generative AI, which can either be powered by Zia using open-source technology or through OpenAI's ChatGPT integration, for which you would need an API key. In our recent spring release, we extended the availability of the Answer Bot across instant messaging (IM) channels. You can now deploy the generative AI-powered Answer Bot, trained specifically on your knowledge base, across IM channels such as WhatsApp, Telegram, Line, WeChat, Facebook Messenger, and your own website. You can also deploy the Answer Bot through ASAP within your Mobile App (SDK). The AI-powered Self-Service with Answer Bot can be powered with Zia(Llama) or ChatGPT.

9. I'm using Zia to predict the"Issue Theme" field automatically, and it shows as successful. However, when I open a ticket, it doesn't suggest any value for me to confirm. Why is this happening?
Regarding Zia's field predictions, there are two available options:
     i. Auto-update predicted value.
     ii. Allow agents to confirm the predicted values manually ("Let me confirm predicted value manually" option).
        To enable Field predictions, navigate to Setup (S) >> Zia >> Field Predictions >> Create A Field Prediction. In the Field Update mode field, you can choose to  predict the field automatically or confirm the predicted value manually.
If you're using the "Let me confirm" option, you need to manually confirm the predicted values. To do this, navigate to the Field Prediction section within the Ticket Detail View. You'll find a wand (star) icon in the sidebar (ibar). Click this icon to view the predicted values from Zia. Here, you can either confirm or reject the suggested value, and your choice will help improve Zia's training data.
We're actively working on integrating this feature directly into the ticket properties, so that Zia's recommended values will appear directly within the field itself.
 
10. Does Zia learn from our responses to tickets as well?
Currently, Zia does not learn from the responses you send. It does not have the capability to learn from the messages you type and send. We are working on expanding the capability for Zia to respond in the business tone based on the custom instructions added by agents for each feature.

11. Do I need to upgrade all licenses to Enterprise to use the new Zia LLM if I'm currently on Zoho One?
Yes, you have to upgrade Zoho Desk to the Enterprise edition to use Zia powered by open-source models. Zia is available by default in the Enterprise plan and all Zoho bundles supporting the Enterprise edition of Zoho Desk.
 

12. How does Zia determine that an agent needs to intervene in a ticket? Does it instruct the user to contact support, or can it notify agents to own the ticket?
Currently, Zia cannot request an agent to intervene in a ticket.
However, we have a feature called Field Predictions, which uses your historical ticket data to predict and assign ticket ownership. When a customer replies, Zia analyzes the customer's message and, based on its training data, assigns the ticket to an appropriate agent who has previously handled similar conversations. Currently, we do not have a feature that proactively prompts an agent to intervene.

13. While managing multiple departments, can we enable Zia Reply Assistance for just one department?
Currently, the Zia Reply Assistance is configured at the organization level, meaning it applies to all the departments. However, we are actively working on making it department-specific.

14. As I understand, does Zia use ChatGPT for translation purposes?
No, Zoho uses its own translation model. In our recent spring release, we introduced a feature called Writing Assistance. This feature allows you to draft replies in your preferred language (for example, English) and translate them into other languages like Spanish or Italian using Zia. In this scenario, Zia does not utilize ChatGPT. However, for summarizing content or providing reply assistance, we rely primarily on ChatGPT to generate responses directly in languages such as Spanish or Italian.
Additionally, Zia uses open-source models without any associated charges.
 
15. How can we utilize AI to analyze data and generate reports?
Currently, Zia is not available for the Reports module. We do have Zia dashboards to monitor Zia's performance, however, we are developing a feature that will allow you to interact with Zia conversationally to create reports on the go.
If you have a subscription to Zoho Analytics, you can already leverage AI to generate reports. Zoho Analytics integrates with Zoho Desk, allowing you to ask questions in natural language and receive AI-generated reports.

16. Can we obtain customer tone reports from Zia Insights?
Currently, Zia Insights, powered by open-source models, is in its initial phase and does not yet support sending insights directly to reports.
Another way to obtain customer tone reports from Zia insights is using Zia API. Identify the tone and record it on a custom field. Generate reports based on the custom field to get insights on customer tones. We are working on this capability to send Zia Insights results from individual tickets to reports and dashboards. 

17. Could you please clarify how Zoho ensures the protection of personally identifiable information (PII) in relation to data retention and Zia’s learning processes?
Regarding data retention, Zoho does not retain your data for training the generative AI models. Zia and ChatGPT utilize your data temporarily for generating responses. For other features, such as field predictions, all data remains within our Zoho ecosystem and does not share data externally for training purposes. Zoho complies with GDPR and HIPAA and sends data to Open AI only after masking Personally Identifiable information.

18. What permissions can be configured when creating knowledge base articles for use with the Answer Bot?  

The Answer Bot operates on two channels: one for agents and the other for customers, and uses permission-based generation. When creating knowledge base articles, you can set permissions such as "All Users," "Agents Only," or "Registered Users." Agents accessing the Answer Bot through the Ticket Detail view will have access to all articles, while end-users accessing via ASAP will only see articles marked for "All Users." Currently, the "Registered Users" permission is supported only for agents. Based on these permissions, the Answer Bot determines which articles it can use to generate responses.
We also have a private beta available for a new AI training model: New Retrieval System. If you're interested, please email us your details, and we can enable this feature to further enhance your Answer Bot's accuracy.
 
19. I currently have Generative AI enabled. What is the difference between ChatGPT and Zia? Should I switch to Zia under Generative AI?
ChatGPT is an integration with OpenAI, where you need your own API key and add credits to your wallet. With ChatGPT, your Zoho Desk data is sent outside Zoho servers to OpenAI for generating responses. On the other hand, Zia is powered by open-source language models, such as Llama, and your data remains within Zoho's servers.
If you switch to Zia under Generative AI, it will be included in your existing Enterprise plan without any additional cost. Zia also offers greater contextual intelligence regarding your data. For example, ChatGPT supports summarizing only up to five conversations per ticket, whereas Zia can summarize up to 30 conversations. Refer here for details. 

Here are the recordings from our Ask the Experts 19 sessions: 
Stay tuned on the Ask the Experts Community for more updates as we gear up for the upcoming sessions focussed exclusively on Zia and AI in Zoho Desk. 
Regards, 
Lydia | Zoho Desk

      Zoho Campaigns Resources


        • Desk Community Learning Series


        • Digest


        • Functions


        • Meetups


        • Kbase


        • Resources


        • Glossary


        • Desk Marketplace


        • MVP Corner


        • Word of the Day


        • Ask the Experts


          • Sticky Posts

          • 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
          • 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.
          • Ask the Experts 5: Online Q&A on Zoho Desk Extensibility

            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.
          • Ask the Experts 4: A 5 hour online Q&A on agent productivity

            Welcome to Ask the expert 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.
          • Ask the Experts 3: A 5 hour online Q&A on reports and dashboards

            Welcome to Ask the expert 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.

          Zoho CRM Plus Resources

            Zoho Books Resources


              Zoho Subscriptions Resources

                Zoho Projects Resources


                  Zoho Sprints Resources


                    Zoho Orchestly Resources


                      Zoho Creator Resources


                        Zoho WorkDrive Resources



                          Zoho CRM Resources

                          • CRM Community Learning Series

                            CRM Community Learning Series


                          • Tips

                            Tips

                          • Functions

                            Functions

                          • Meetups

                            Meetups

                          • Kbase

                            Kbase

                          • Resources

                            Resources

                          • Digest

                            Digest

                          • CRM Marketplace

                            CRM Marketplace

                          • MVP Corner

                            MVP Corner




                            Zoho Writer Writer

                            Get Started. Write Away!

                            Writer is a powerful online word processor, designed for collaborative work.

                              Zoho CRM コンテンツ






                                ご検討中の方

                                  • Recent Topics

                                  • Dynamically Fetching Lookup Field Display Value

                                    I have an audit trail form, Audit_Changes, that tracks old vs new values across different forms. For lookup fields, the old/new value is the ID, but I also need the display value. What's a best practice for dynamically fetching the display value of the
                                  • Zoho Toolkit Email Signature Generator

                                    I'm having real issues with the email signature generator with no matter where I host the photo, Zoho doesn't seem to show the photo on the link provided?
                                  • Ability to Create New Items When Zoho Trident is Minimized via tray or taskbar icon

                                    Allow users to create new items (emails, calendar events, tasks, etc.) directly from the system tray icon or by right clicking the task bar icon, even when the window is minimized or not actively running in the foreground. This enables quick access to
                                  • I can not see Undeliverable emails from my Mass Email Leads activity in CRM

                                    I am sending email templates and I can not see the Undeliverables? I only receive the "Out of Office" replies and any manual replies from the lead. Can you please let me know where the Undeliverable emails are sent so I can use the information to clean up the database?
                                  • Select Zoho Contacts as Meeting Participants in Zoho Cliq

                                    Hello Zoho Cliq Team, We hope you're doing well. We would like to request an enhancement to the meeting scheduling functionality in Zoho Cliq. Current Limitation: When scheduling a meeting in Zoho Cliq, participants can only be selected from: Organization
                                  • Ability to Select External Users from Participants List When Scheduling Meetings

                                    Hello Zoho Cliq Team, We hope you're doing well. We would like to request an enhancement to the meeting scheduling experience in Zoho Cliq. Current Limitation when scheduling a meeting in Zoho Cliq: External users can be selected from the list only under
                                  • Kaizen #212 - Map Dependency Fields in Zoho CRM using APIs

                                    Hi Everyone!! Welcome back to another week of Kaizen series! Over the past few weeks, we have been addressing your questions and feedback shared through our Kaizen 200th feedback form. Thank you for your continued engagement and thoughtful queries. We
                                  • Outdated state in mexico

                                    Hello Zoho team, the drop down to add the state for customers, when they introduce their state in mexico has a city named “Distrito Federal” that name changed many years ago to “ciudad de mexico”. could you please update this so my clients can find the
                                  • Is anyone using Zoho Flow with airtable?

                                    I need to build a flow that collects data from airtable and uses some of that data to create folders and files in google drive. I have fully function version of this in zapier and want to migrate to zoho. I am trying to perform a very basic fetch from
                                  • AI in Zoho Workplace: A Sneak Peek into What’s Coming!

                                    Hello everyone, We’re super excited to share something we’ve been working on and we want you to be part of it! You may have seen our announcement blog post introducing a major evolution in how AI works within Zoho Workplace. Want to be among the first
                                  • Meet Canvas' Grid component: Your easiest way to build responsive record templates

                                    Visual design can be exciting—until you're knee-deep in the details. Whether it's aligning text boxes to prevent overlaps, fixing negative space, or simply making sure the right data stands out, just ironing out inconsistencies takes a lot of moving parts.
                                  • Best way to share/download presentation files in Zoho without losing formatting?

                                    Hello Zoho Community, I often work with PPT/PDF files in Zoho Docs and share them with colleagues. While PDFs usually give a direct download option, I’ve noticed that PPT/PPTX files sometimes only open in the viewer without a clear download link. Is there
                                  • Workflow Failure - Notifications

                                    Good afternoon, I have just experienced an error whereby a Workflow failed, for a reason currently unknown. The problem is that one of my users had to flag this manually (thankfully he's very thorough) and this otherwise would have flown under the radar.
                                  • Introducing Bin Locations In Zoho Inventory

                                    Hello users, We are excited to let you know that your wait for the Bin Locations feature has now come to an end! Yes, you heard us right! We are here to introduce the much-awaited Bin Locations now in Zoho Inventory. But before we dive into the feature
                                  • Error "Invalid client task found corresponding properties" only when triggered from workflow ?

                                    Hi All, I am facing an error message I never encountered previously: Error in executing On Add - On Load script Error in executing thisapp.get_all_projects_api_call function. Line:(2) Error in executing thisapp.getAccessTokenFromRefreshToken function.
                                  • How to interpret Campaign report statistics - definitions/explanation

                                    I am trying to make sure I understand the Campaign report correctly Do you have a list of definitions for: Delivered - it has reached the recipient's inbox Campaign reach - is this the number that have opened the campaign email? Unique Opens Clicks/Open
                                  • Feature request - pin or flag note

                                    Hi, It would be great if you could either pin or flag one or more notes so that they remain visible when there are a bunch of notes and some get hidden in the list. Sometimes you are looking for a particular name that gets lost in a bunch of less important
                                  • Schedule a Call by Date and Time when a specific lead status is selected

                                    Hi Wanting to create a workflow where a call can be scheduled by date & time when a specific lead status is selected. Can only currently set the date by Due Date - Trigger Date - Plus 'x' day(s) Thanks
                                  • Zoho CRM's Copy Customization functionality now works across DCs, for customized accounts, and more

                                    Availability This feature is available in Standard, Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate editions. These changes have been rolled out to all users in all DCs. For more information, please refer to these help documents: Overview | Instructions Hello
                                  • How can I bold text on Zoho Forms submit buttons?

                                    In the old theme builder, I could bold the text on a form's submit button. With the new theme builder, I can only change the text of the header or fields in the form, and not the button itself.
                                  • Hiding Pre-defined Views

                                    You can enhance Zoho with custom views - but you cannot hide the pre-defined views. Most users focus on 4 or 5 views. Right now for EVERY user EVERY time they want to move to one of their 4 or 5 views - they have to scroll down past a long list of pre-defined views - we don't use ANY of the pre-defined views. Adding the feature to allow a predefined view to be hidden completely or only visible to certain users would be a big improvement in usability for Zoho CRM. This feature is already available
                                  • Rich-text fields in Zoho CRM

                                    Hello everyone, We're thrilled to announce an important enhancement that will significantly enhance the readability and formatting capabilities of your information: rich text options for multi-line fields. With this update, you can now enjoy a more versatile
                                  • [Integration Edition] Deluge Learning Series – Third-Party Integrations with Deluge | October 2025

                                    We’re excited to continue this three-month edition of the Deluge Learning Series: Session 1 – Integrating Zoho Apps with Deluge Using Built-In Integration Tasks Session 2 – Integrating Zoho Apps with Deluge Using invokeURL and invokeAPI Session 3 – Third-Party
                                  • Feature Request: Tag, Search, and Report on Individual Private Comments

                                    Zoho Desk Team, First, I want to say that we are extensive users of Zoho Desk and it is a core part of our support operations. We rely heavily on the private comments feature for internal communication, knowledge sharing, and maintaining a clear history
                                  • Zoho CRM Community Digest - August 2025 | Part 2

                                    Hello Everyone! Here's a quick round-up of handy tips, clever workarounds, and product updates from late August. Product Updates: Meeting Enhancements in Zoho CRM! Track whether a meeting is online, in-office, or at the client’s location using the new
                                  • Assistance Needed: Ticket Status Not Updating and Sorting by Last Customer Reply in Zoho Desk

                                    Hello, I’m facing two issues in Zoho Desk that I’d like your guidance on: Ticket Status Not Updating: When a customer replies to a ticket, the status does not change to Reopened. Instead, it remains in Waiting on Customer, even after the customer’s response
                                  • Round robin

                                    Hi, I'm trying to set up a round robin to automatically distribute tickets between agents in my team but only those tickets that are not otherwise distributed by other workflows or direct assignments. Is that possible and if so which criteria should I
                                  • Time Entry Notifications

                                    Hi All - I have support staff who place notes of their work in the time entry section of Zoho Desk. Is there a specific workflow or setting I need to enable to have the ticket holder updated via email when an entry is saved?
                                  • Change text in help desk

                                    Hi, Please let me know how can i change the this text, see screenshot.
                                  • Customer happiness customisation

                                    Hi, I was wondering if it's possible to somehow customise to whom and when customer happiness request is sent? Can you enable it only for selected tickets for example based on workflow or any other criteria (customer name, tag or anything else)? Also
                                  • No Zoho Support Response in Months

                                    I want to say that I love Zoho FSM, Books, and CRM, but the support is scary bad. About 2-3 months ago, I emailed Zoho FSM support with two specific issues I needed help with, and I have still not received one single response. I also submitted a support
                                  • Has anyone built a custom AI support agent inside Zoho (SalesIQ/Zobot)?

                                    Hi all, I’ve been experimenting with building my own AI support assistant and wanted to see if anyone here has tackled something similar within Zoho. Right now, I’ve set up a Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) pipeline outside of Zoho using FAISS. It
                                  • Null

                                    If a result is null how do I make it so that a custom error pops up instead of the default error? Can someone write an example as if I were using the script builder?
                                  • Format a "return" message

                                    Good day, Is there a way to format the message of the "return" function in CRM deluge script?
                                  • Change Last Name to not required in Leads

                                    I would like to upload 500 target companies as leads but I don't yet have contact people for them. Can you enable the option for me to turn this requirement off to need a Second Name? Moderation update (10-Jun-23): As we explore potential solutions for
                                  • 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.
                                  • Tip of the Week - Spot Risky Sales with Conditional Formatting

                                    In Zoho Analytics, small tweaks can lead to big insights. One such feature is Conditional formatting based on other columns, your key to instantly spotting where sales success is overshadowed by product returns. Our tip this week shows you how to apply
                                  • How do I duplicate / copy a campaign

                                    I am evaluation Zoho Campaigns and sent an email to one of my personal email accounts from Zoho Campaigns.  It went into my junk file in Hotmail. I want to duplicate that same (1-page) campaign and send it to another of my personal accounts to try to
                                  • For a Bill, can "Pay via Check" - Can we also "Pay via Check" when documenting refund for payment?

                                    We really like when we have a Bill in Zoho Books that we can record payment by selecting "Pay via Check" and that will cut the check for us from Zoho Books. However, when we have to write checks as a result of invoice overpayment, we can not select "Pay
                                  • Creator Change History: Ways to improve

                                    Hi Everyone, Recently been working in developing this change history(an idea from Zoho Forms) - unlike forms that you can this with a click but using Creator, we can use "old" keyword. The concept I come up with is to put the result in a table however,
                                  • Next Page