FAQs: Working on Tickets
What are Tickets Tabs in Zoho Desk?
Tickets Tabs in Zoho Desk are designed to organize and provide contextual information about support tickets within the help desk system. These tabs enable users to connect tickets with other standard modules of their help desk, allowing for a comprehensive view of ticket activity, pending tasks, supportive files, resolutions, and related details. Essentially, Tickets Tabs serve as a hub for managing and accessing all relevant information linked to a customer support request, streamlining the support process for agents and improving resolution time for customer inquiries.
Standard fields in a ticket typically include customer name, email, subject, description of the request, and additional information such as product types, priority, and category. These fields are customizable, enabling support teams to tailor the information gathered and displayed according to their specific needs. Fields like ticket owner, due date, status, and others can be filled by agents or through automation rules, facilitating efficient ticket management. The system allows for the creation of custom statuses to reflect the workflow of a business accurately, further enhancing the support process's flexibility and responsiveness.
Moreover, Zoho Desk incorporates features like macros, which automate repetitive tasks such as sending emails, creating tasks, and updating ticket fields, thereby saving time and increasing efficiency. The platform also supports collaboration across different departments, enabling tickets to be shared and managed by multiple teams to ensure comprehensive support solutions.
What is the ticket history in tickets tab of my ZDesk account?
In the tickets tab, the ticket history, also known as the audit trail, documents the complete series of actions associated with each ticket. This includes activities by support agents, customer interactions, and automated system actions.The history allows you to review all actions that have been taken both by your support agents and through system automation, giving you a detailed overview of the entire support process for a ticket, from beginning to end.
The following information is registered on a ticket's history page:
- Agent activities, including sending a reply, editing ticket properties, changing ownership, applying a macro, etc.
- Customer activities, including responding to their ticket, receiving an email notification, updating ticket properties, etc.
- Automated actions, such as a workflow trigger, applying an assignment rule, SLA alerts, etc.
What is a ticket approval tab, and what steps are required for obtaining approval?
At times, agents may require authorization from their superiors before making decisions, like in cases where company policy might not typically allow for actions such as product returns. Should a customer seek a replacement for a defectively manufactured item, the agent might need to obtain approval from a supervisor. This process is facilitated through the approval tab, where the agent can submit the ticket for managerial approval.
To submit a ticket for approval:
- Open the ticket from the tickets tab to view its details.
- Open the Approval tab at the top of the page.
- Click Submit For Approval or click the Add icon (
).
- Enter the To Address (supervisor), Subject and Description for the request.
- Click Submit for Approval.
Upon submitting the request, the approver receives an email with a link to the ticket, enabling them to accept or decline directly from the ticket's details page. The request remains marked as Pending until a decision is made.
What does resolving a ticket involve?
Upon closing a ticket, an agent can document the resolution process and any vital details, which can serve as a reference for handling similar future inquiries. Agents also have the option to share this resolution as a knowledge base article.
To enter a resolution:
- Open the ticket from the tickets tab to view its details.
- Open the Resolution tab at the top of the page.
- Enter the resolution details for the ticket.
- Click Save or Save and Add Solution.
- If you click Save and Add Solution, you will be redirected to the Add Article page.
- After adding a resolution, you can click the More icon (
) to edit or delete your description.
A resolution can also be shared with a customer right away. Instead of drafting an email reply, agents can fill out the resolution field and enable the Notify Contact checkbox.
Please note that you cannot add more than one resolution for a ticket.
What is the Activity tab and how to add/close activity in the tickets module?
The Activity section in tickets allows you to generate and connect tasks, events, and calls directly with specific tickets. These activities are visible both within the Activities module and on the ticket's detail page, enabling the addition of both ticket-linked and independent activities.
To add an activity to a ticket:
- Open the ticket to view its details.
- Open the Activity section at the top of the page.
- Click the Add icon (
) and then select Call, Task or Event.
- In the Add Call/Task/Event page, specify the activity related details.
- Click Submit to create a new activity.
Agents will be notified by email when an activity is assigned to them.
Note:
- The person who creates an activity will be set as its owner. You can use either the drop-down menu or the search bar to assign activities to agents or teams.
- Create reminders for activities to get a notification at the time you want. You can choose to be notified by email, SMS or a browser pop-up. You can only set a reminder if you have specified a due date (tasks) or start time (calls and events).
- Only upcoming scheduled calls can be set with reminders.
Closing Activities
Activities are closed only when their status is updated as Completed.
To close an activity:
- Open the ticket to view its details.
- Open the Activity tab at the top of the page.
- From the Activities List view, hover your mouse over a task/call/event and click the Check-box icon (
) to the right.
The activity will be marked as completed.
What does "Time Entry" refer to in the ticket module, and what are the steps to record a time entry?
The Time Entry allows agents to log the time they spend working on each ticket. Support managers can later generate a report to review and analyze the time spent by the agents.
Time Entry is a useful tool for measuring key metrics in help desk operations, such as:
- Tracking Time per Ticket: Measures the duration spent on each help desk ticket.
- Calculating Agent's Billable Hours: Totals the billable hours for an agent over set periods, like weekly or monthly.
- Assessing Support Costs: Determines the overall cost of support provided by an agent or for servicing a customer account.
To add a Time Entry:
- Open the ticket to view its details.
- Click the Time Entry tab at the top of the page.
- Click Add a Time Entry link or the Add icon (
).
- In the Add Time Entry page, specify the time spent and the associated costs.
- Click Submit to add the entry.
To edit a Time Entry:
- Open the ticket to view its details.
- Click the Time Entry tab at the top of the page.
- Hover your mouse over an entry and click the Edit icon (
).
- Make the necessary changes to the Time Entry and click Save.
To delete a Time Entry:
- Open the ticket to view its details.
- Click the Time Entry tab at the top of the page.
- Hover your mouse over an entry and click the Delete icon (
).
- Click OK to delete.
What are Attachments in ticket module and how to add or remove attachments?
Attachments can be things like customer support materials, quotes or invoices for support, service level agreements (SLAs), and other related documents. These attachments can be linked to support tickets and made available for your customers to see in the Help Center.
To upload an attachment:
- Open the ticket to view its details.
- Click the Attachment tab at the top of the page.
- Click the Add an Attachment link or the Add icon (
).
- Select the file you wish to upload.
- When a file is attached, it will be set as Private and cannot be viewed by your end users.
You can click the More icon () to set the attachment as 'Public.'
To delete an attachment:
- Open the ticket to view its details.
- Click the Attachment tab at the top of the page.
- Click the More icon (
) next to the attachment and then click Delete from the drop menu.
Note: You can upload either a single file or multiple files for each ticket. The size of each file cannot exceed 20MB.
What is an agent's availability status and how can I set it?
In Zoho Desk, the availability status of an agent tells you if they can answer customer questions at the moment. This feature helps organize and share out customer support tasks well. Agents can choose their status to show whether they're available or not available. If an agent is online, it means they are all set to look into new issues or chats. If they are offline, it means they can't deal with any customer problems at that time.
This setup makes sure that help requests go to the agents who can deal with them right away, making the team more efficient and helping customers faster.
To set an agent's availability status in Zoho Desk, follow these steps:
- Click on your Account Photo, which is located in the top-right corner of your Zoho Desk interface.
- There, you will find an option called Channel Status, where you can select Online or Offline, depending on your requirements. If you handle certain channels like chat, emails, or instant messages, you can set your availability to either Online or Offline using the drop-down menu for each specific channel. The changes to your setting will be saved instantaneously.
It is worth mentioning that some automatic features, like the round-robin distribution, might not send tickets your way if you are marked as offline. This functionality helps in better organizing customer support needs, making sure that agents ready to tackle tickets are the ones who get them.
Can an Admin monitor agent's availability in Zoho Desk?
In Zoho Desk, it is not possible to directly monitor an agent's login and logout times. However, an admin can view the current online or offline status of your agents from the Headquarters section in your account, which offers some insight into their availability.
For more information, see Manager Dashboard - The HQ.
Also, the Agent Availability Static report will help you with the details of the agent login and logout time.
To access the report:
- Go to the Analytics module.
- Click Back icon near Overview Dashboard to open the left panel.
- Click Reports from the left panel.
- On the Reports Home page, select the Agent Availability Report.
See Also >> Understanding the Agent Availability Report
What are the standard ticket fields?
Usually, a ticket will include the customer's name, email, subject, and a detailed description of their issue. In addition, there are several standard fields that customers have the option to complete when they submit a ticket. For instance, they might indicate the product version, choose a priority level, and select a category. Some fields, however, can only be updated by agents or automatically through rules. Examples of these include the ticket owner, the due date, and the ticket's status.
Here are the standard fields that are available in ticket module:
- Department: This field helps categorize a ticket according to its importance to a specific business unit or division. It becomes visible only when there are multiple departments within your organization. Both end-users and agents can select a department for a ticket. Furthermore, tickets can be directed to the appropriate department through the use of business rules, such as workflows and macros.
- Contact Name: This field represents the name of the end-user (or requester) who submitted a support request. It's a required field, so every ticket in your help desk will automatically have this information filled in. When a ticket comes in via email, the name shown will be the one linked to the customer's email address, known as the Contact Name. Additionally, agents have the option to manually enter the contact name when recording a new ticket.
- Account Name: Accounts represent the businesses or specific departments in those businesses that you interact with. An account can have one or several contacts linked to it. When you enter an account name while creating a ticket, the system will automatically link the contact to that account. This allows end users to easily see tickets submitted by their coworkers in the Help Center.
- Email: This is the email address used to communicate with your end users. For tickets that come in via email or from your Help Center by users who are logged in, this field will automatically be populated.
- Phone: The contact's phone number is useful for when an agent needs to handle a high-priority ticket. Agents can fill in this field while they are on the phone with a customer by opening the ticket.
- Subject: The ticket's subject ought to be a concise overview of its contents. For tickets submitted via email, the email's subject line usually becomes the ticket's subject. Crafting a clear and informative subject line facilitates the creation of smart automation processes through Workflows and Assignment Rules.
- Description: The description provides detailed information regarding a ticket. In the case of tickets that arrive via email, the description field initially remains blank and must be filled-in manually.
- Status: The status indicates the progress of a ticket from when it is opened until it is closed. Zoho Desk provides four distinct statuses: Open, On Hold, Escalated, and Closed. An agent can set the status manually, or it can be assigned automatically through various automation features. Let's examine each of these statuses more closely.
- Open describes a ticket that has been newly received and signifies that it is being addressed once allocated to an agent. An open ticket may either have an agent assigned to it or remain without an assignment. By default, any new tickets generated in your help desk will be set to Open.
- On Hold applies to tickets where the agent has paused work, waiting for feedback or a solution from someone else. Usually, tickets marked as On Hold are still shown as Open to your customers.
- Escalated is used for tickets that have not been resolved within a set timeframe. Typically, a ticket gets escalated if it breaches a Service Level Agreement (SLA) and activates specific actions related to it. Escalated tickets are generally treated as Open by default.
- Closed indicates that a ticket has been resolved. An agent can close a ticket manually, or it can be closed automatically after a predetermined number of days through a rule based on time. If the customer responds again, a closed ticket will be re-opened.
In addition to these, you can create custom statuses and map them to Open or Closed state as demanded by your support process. - Product Name: You can compile a list of products that your company offers to customers. When submitting a ticket in the Help Center, either an agent can select the product name or customers can choose themselves. Having product information is useful for assigning tickets based on specific products or just to give your agents additional context.
- Ticket Owner: The Ticket Owner is the agent assigned to resolve support inquiries. Initially, a newly received ticket in your help desk will be marked as Unassigned. You have the option to assign it to someone manually or through an automated system. The ownership of a ticket can be transferred as often as needed.
- Due Date: The due date on a ticket assists in upholding service agreements with your customers. This date is usually determined by one of the system's default Service Level Agreements (SLAs) or by a custom SLA linked to a specific account. Agents also can select the due date manually with the help of a date and time selection tool.
- Priority: When dealing with hundreds of tickets daily, figuring out which one to address first can be overwhelming. That's where ticket priorities come into play. Tickets can be tagged with one of four priority levels: High, Medium, Low, or None. Agents can assign these priorities themselves or through automated systems. Also, priorities can be established based on default priority-focused Service Level Agreements (SLAs).
- Channel: These refer to the ways tickets arrive at your help desk. There are seven main sources: Phone, Email, Web, Chat, Forums, Twitter, and Facebook. When an agent creates a new ticket, it's automatically marked as coming from the Phone, but for most other situations, this information will fill in by itself. Knowing where a ticket comes from is especially helpful if you've established business rules based on ticket origins.
- Category and Sub-Category: These extra fields assist in making sure tickets go to the appropriate agent when they need to. You can customize the Category field with specific options and link these to Sub Categories, creating a parent-child setup. For instance, if an end user picks 'Defect' as a Category, you can then offer related Sub Category choices such as Under Warranty, Out-of-Warranty, Extended Warranty, etc. This helps direct the ticket to the most suitable agent, department, or user group.
- Attachment: Attach files related to a ticket. Customers can include attachments in their emails, and these will be attached to the tickets created in Zoho Desk. Additionally, files can be uploaded when a ticket is submitted through the Help Center.
In addition to these standards ticket fields, you can create custom fields as mandated by your customer support process.
How to bulk update a field value in tickets?
You can update a field across several tickets simultaneously using the mass update feature, significantly reducing the time you would otherwise spend editing each ticket one by one.
Keep in mind, changing a field value can activate your preset automation rules, leading to actions like sending out notifications, updating additional fields, or progressing the ticket through various resolution steps. Additionally, any automation that gets triggered will send an alert to the Notifications panel, located in the top right corner.
To perform a bulk update, follow the steps mentioned below:
- Go to the Tickets module.
- Click Views in the sidebar, then select a ticket view from the list.
- Select the tickets you would like to update from the tickets list view.
- Click the Update option displayed at the top of the page.
- In the pop-up that appears, choose the field that you would like to update in bulk and specify the new field value.
- Click Save.
How do I create a read-only ticket view?
Ticket views act as preset filters that enable agents to find certain kinds of tickets easily. They categorize tickets according to specific criteria. For instance, agents can access views of unassigned Open tickets, overdue tickets, or tickets generated in the past week, helping them prioritize tasks and focus on customer needs. Additionally, agents have the option to use List Views to switch ticket ownership, delete multiple tickets at once, or export lists of tickets to a CSV file for further analysis.
Zoho Desk provides you with a list of pre-defined ticket views that can be used by agents out of the box. They can also create their custom ticket views according to their requirements. Likewise, administrators can create shared ticket views that can be accessed by all of the agents in your help desk.
Agents can also create customized views tailored to their specific needs, such as finding tickets related to a particular product or tickets associated with a specific customer account.
Having a read-only ticket view is useful for individuals who need to look at or use ticket information without the ability to change it. For instance, in a software development company, a product manager might need to keep track of customer feedback and problems with a particular software feature. While the product manager doesn't fix customer issues themselves, they rely on this feedback to decide what the development team should work on next and how to make the product better. With read-only access as a light agent in Zoho Desk, the product manager can see customer tickets, grasp the issues they're facing, and give feedback or ask for more details from the support team without directly managing the tickets.
Light agents have limited but useful abilities. They can look at tickets, customer and company profiles, articles, tasks, reports, and dashboards. They are also able to see details about the company, its products, their own settings (apart from their email signature), and contract information in the Setup section. Moreover, light agents can add private notes to tickets, profiles, tasks, and articles, helping in the problem-solving process by sharing insights or advice, all without making any changes to the ticket information itself.
To add a user as a Light Agent , follow the steps below:
- Go to Setup (
) > Users and Control > Agents.
- On the Agents page, click on New Agent.
- Enter the agent's details.
How do I mark tickets as spam in bulk?
Spam tickets are unwanted (often promotional) messages sent in large volumes that can clutter the Ticket View page and also push important tickets down the list, making it difficult to locate. Administrators have the option to activate anti-spam filters within their Zoho Desk account to mitigate this issue.
To enable anti-spam filters, follow the steps below:
- Go to Setup (
) > Customization > General settings.
- In General Settings, click Contacts.
- On the General Settings for Contacts page,
- Toggle on Automatic Spam Detection.
- Check the box next to Do not auto-mark the contact as spam if other valid tickets are already associated with it.
Once the anti-spam filter is enabled on tickets, agents can mark the unwanted tickets as spam in bulk.
Note:
- Up to 50 tickets can be selected at once to be marked as spam.
- You also have the option to mark the associated contacts as spam, so any future tickets from those contacts will be automatically marked as spam.
To mark the spam tickets in bulk, follow the steps below:
- Go to Tickets module in the top bar.
- Select All Departments or a specific Department view.
- Select the tickets to be marked as spam.
- Click Mark as Spam to bring up a dialogue box.
- Check the box next to Mark the associated contacts also as spam if required.
- Click OK.
How can I assign or transfer multiple tickets in bulk?
Agents with the permission to modify ticket ownership can assign or reassign tickets in bulk. This approach saves time when multiple tickets are unassigned or need to be transferred to a specific agent.
To provide agents permission to bulk assign tickets, follow the steps below:
- Go to Setup (
) > Users and Control > Permissions.
- Under Permissions, click on Profiles.
- In the Profiles landing page, click on the agent's profile to bring up their permission page.
- Under Tickets Permissions, toggle on Change Ownership.
- From the dropdown, toggle on the required option.
To bulk assign tickets, follow the steps below:
- Go to the Tickets module.
- Select the required department.
- Select the tickets to be assigned.
- Click Assign to and select the agent's name from the list.
- Tickets will be immediately assigned to the agent.
- Alternatively, tickets can be bulk assigned to a team by clicking Assign to > Team and selecting the appropriate team from the list.
Why can't I locate a ticket in Zoho Desk?
There can be many different reasons why a ticket could not be located in your Zoho Desk account.
The most common causes are as follows:
- Marked as spam: Zoho Desk features an automatic system that detects spam and potentially harmful emails, eliminating the need for you to remove them manually. It is possible that the ticket you are searching for may have been classified as spam. To check, please move to the Spam Tickets view to determine if your ticket is there. If you find it, simply open the ticket and select the Not Spam button to restore it to the correct View. Also, keep in mind that tickets marked as spam are automatically removed every 30 days.
- Filter set to less than <All days>: There are chances that you are looking for a ticket that is older than 30 days. But you have set the filter to display only those tickets received in the last 15 or 30 days. If so, set the Ticket received in filter to All days.
- Moved to other departments: It is possible you are searching in the incorrect department. The ticket might have been moved to another department either manually or via automated processes. Therefore, try checking under All Departments to locate it.
- Deleted and moved to Recycle Bin: It is possible that the ticket was simply deleted from your account. Nevertheless, you can restore it from the Recycle Bin. To restore the ticket, got to Setup > Recycle Bin. Select the ticket that you want to put back and then click Restore.
Why are customers not receiving ticket replies?
There can be many different reasons why your customers are not receiving ticket replies sent from Zoho Desk. The most common causes are as follows:
- The first step is to determine if Zoho Desk attempted to send a reply and was unable to. You can check this on the in-app Email Failure Alerts section under the Notifications panel. You can resend a failed reply from here.
- Your responses to tickets are being marked as spam in your customers' email inboxes. This situation is not caused by a problem with your server or hosting service. Instead, it is because the mail client receiving your messages may have a strict spam filter. Alternatively, send a personal email to your customers, asking them to look in their spam folder.
- Another most common causes of failure are emails getting bounced. If the emails are bounced, you will receive a bounce message from the recipient’s mail server. This message was added to the conversation thread of the ticket.
Should you require additional help, feel free to email us at support@zohodesk.com.
How can I ensure agents complete required fields before they can close tickets?
Ensuring agents complete all essential fields before closing a ticket in Zoho Desk is simple. The platform lets you mark specific fields as required. Agents have to fill out these fields when they are closing a ticket.
The challenge arises with tickets that are generated automatically, for instance, from emails or social media. Such tickets may not always have all the required fields completed, leading to gaps in information. To address this issue, you can use a feature in Zoho Desk called "Blueprint." A Blueprint in Zoho Desk is a set of rules that guide agents through a predefined process. You can configure a Blueprint rule that requires agents to fill in all mandatory fields during a certain stage of the ticket handling process, known as the 'during' transition.
This means that before an agent can move the ticket to the next stage (like resolving or closing the ticket), they must ensure that all required fields are filled in. This process ensures that no essential information is missed, even for tickets created through automated channels.
In Zoho Desk, missed chats are automatically converted into tickets, which makes it easier to track and manage. When all your agents are busy or when visitors try to connect outside of your support hours, Zoho Desk's system captures these missed chats and creates tickets for each. You can access these tickets by following these steps:
- Click the Tickets tab from the top bar in your Zoho Desk interface.
- On the Tickets Home page, find the Views section on the left panel.
- Click on Missed Chats within this section.
This process will display a list of tickets that were created due to missed chats, helping you to keep track and follow accordingly.
We hope that this list of frequently asked questions about Working on Tickets is informative. If you still have questions that haven't been addressed, please let us know here or drop a comment below. We will be happy to discuss them with our subject matter experts and add them in the future. And please don't forget to share your rating below!
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