Automation#22 Track Ticket Duration at Specific Status

Automation#22 Track Ticket Duration at Specific Status



Hello Everyone!

Welcome back to the Community Learning Series! Today, we explore how Zylker Techfix, a gadget servicing firm, boosted productivity by tracking the time spent at a particular ticket status in Zoho Desk. 

Zylker Techfix customized Zoho Desk’s ticket statuses to align with their servicing process. Here’s their workflow: when a gadget was submitted for service, the ticket entered “Open” status. After an initial examination, it moved to “Service” status, mapped to the “Hold” type while repairs were underway. Once repairs were complete, the ticket progressed to “Billing” and then to “Closed” after payment and delivery. To improve operations, Zylker Techfix wanted to know how long tickets stayed in “Service” status, giving them insights into potential delays and resource use. With a custom function, they tracked this time in a custom field, then used it to generate reports that highlighted areas for process improvement.

With this custom function, you can gain a clear view of your support timeline, identify bottlenecks, and serve clients more efficiently. Let’s dive into how you can implement this custom function to refine your own operations and drive productivity forward.

Prerequisites
1. Create a Custom Field
To track ticket duration at a StatusName (call it In progress) mapped to the Status Type On Hold, 
     
      1.1 Go to Setup (S) >> Customization >> Layouts and Fields.
             Select Tickets under Layouts and the Department in which you would like to track the ticket duration. 
      1.2 Create a custom single-line field in the Tickets layout of the respective department. 
            1.2.1 Click on the layout, add a single-line field with a label StatusTime. 
                      You can label the field with your preferred name. 
      1.3 Note the API names for the single-line field to insert into the custom function.     
            To find the API name, click the Gear wheel icon in the single-line field.
            Click on Edit Properties, and you will find the API Name under the Edit Field. Refer to Create Custom Fields. 

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 Desk under Default Connection.
      2.4 Set the connection name as deskconnection.
      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, choose Workflows under Automation. 
2. Under Workflows, click Rules >> Create Rule.

In the Basic Information section,
3. Select Tickets from the drop-down menu under Module.
4. Enter a Rule Name and Description for the rule.
5. If you want to activate the rule right away, select the Active checkbox. Else, create the rule and activate it later.
6. Click Next.
 
In the Execute on section, follow these steps:
7. Select Field Update, Choose Status.  
8. Click Next.
 
9. Leave the Criteria section blank and click Next. (Add a criteria if you require it.) 
10. In the Actions section, click the + icon and select New next to Custom Functions.
11. Enter a Name and Description for the custom function.
12. Under Argument Mapping, give a desired Method Name. Map the arguments as below: 
      12.1 In the Argument Name field, type ticketId and from the Value drop-down list, select Ticket Id under the Tickets Section.                                         
13. In the script window, insert the Custom Function given below:
  1. ///----<<<< User Inputs >>>>----
  2. deskURL = "https://desk.zoho.com";
  3. //Replace with your custom domain
  4. //Replace your Custom Field API Name to Update Desired Type Status Duration Ex: Open 
  5. durationApiName = "cf_status_name";
  6. // ex: "cf_open_time"
  7. //Replace your Desired Status Type Name Ex: Open
  8. statusType = "On Hold";
  9. // Open or On Hold or Closed
  10. //Replace the Status Name 
  11. statusName = "In Progress";
  12. // Ex: In Progress, Waiting for Reply, etc
  13. // ----<<<< Initial Configs >>>>----
  14. logs = Map();
  15. logs.insert("ticketId":ticketId);
  16. openHoursToUpdate = 0;
  17. openMinutesToUpdate = 0;
  18. onHoldHoursToUpdate = 0;
  19. onHoldMinutesToUpdate = 0;
  20. //---------------------------
  21. try 
  22. {
  23. // ---- start your logic from here ----
  24. ticketStatusLifeCycleInfo = invokeurl
  25. [
  26.   url :deskURL + "/api/v1/tickets/" + ticketId + "/statusLifeCycle"
  27.   type :GET
  28.   connection:"deskconnection"
  29. ];
  30. logs.insert("ticketStatusLifeCycleInfo":ticketStatusLifeCycleInfo);
  31. if(ticketStatusLifeCycleInfo != null && ticketStatusLifeCycleInfo.containsKey("statusLifeCycle") && ticketStatusLifeCycleInfo.get("statusLifeCycle").size() > 0)
  32. {
  33.   for each  statusInfo in ticketStatusLifeCycleInfo.get("statusLifeCycle")
  34.   {
  35.   statusType = statusInfo.get("statusType");
  36.   statusName = statusInfo.get("status");
  37.   if(statusType == statusType && statusName == statusName)
  38.   {
  39.     statusDuration = statusInfo.get("duration");
  40.     if(statusDuration != null && statusDuration != "")
  41.     {
  42.     statusDuration = statusDuration.replaceAll(" hrs","");
  43.     durationCollection = statusDuration.toCollection(":");
  44.     hourDuration = durationCollection.get(0);
  45.     minuteDuration = durationCollection.get(1);
  46.     openHoursToUpdate = openHoursToUpdate + hourDuration.toNumber();
  47.     openMinutesToUpdate = openMinutesToUpdate + minuteDuration.toNumber();
  48.     }
  49.   }
  50.   }
  51.   openHoursToUpdate = (openMinutesToUpdate / 60).toNumber() + openHoursToUpdate;
  52.   openMinutesToUpdate = openMinutesToUpdate % 60;
  53.   logs.insert("openHoursToUpdate":openHoursToUpdate);
  54.   logs.insert("openMinutesToUpdate":openMinutesToUpdate);
  55.   ticketUpdateParams = Map();
  56.   ticketUpdateParams.insert("cf":{durationApiName:openHoursToUpdate + ":" + openMinutesToUpdate});
  57.   logs.insert("ticketUpdateParams":ticketUpdateParams);
  58.   ticketUpdate = invokeurl
  59.   [
  60.   url :deskURL + "/api/v1/tickets/" + ticketId
  61.   type :PUT
  62.   parameters:ticketUpdateParams + ""
  63.   connection:"deskconnection"
  64.   ];
  65.   logs.insert("ticketUpdate":ticketUpdate);
  66. }
  67. }
  68. catch (errorInfo)
  69. {
  70. logs.insert("errorInfo":errorInfo);
  71. }
  72. info "logs: \n" + logs; 
  73. logs.insert("errorInfo":errorInfo);
  74. info "logs: \n" + logs;
NOTE
a. In Line 2, Replace ".com" with the domain extension based on your Data Center.
b. In Line 5, add the API name of the custom field created within the Tickets layout. 
c. In Line 8 and line 11, enter the status type and status name. 
14. Click Save to save the custom function.
15. Click Save again to save the workflow.

Creating Ticket Tracking Reports
You can generate Reports under Analytics to view the time duration of your tickets in one go. 
Go to the Analytics module >> Choose Reports >> Add Report >> Select Tickets module and Time Entry under Related modules. Refer to Create Custom Report 

Let us know how this custom helps improve your ticketing process.

Until next week,
Warm regards,
Lydia | Zoho Desk 

    • 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

    Nederlandse Hulpbronnen


      • Recent Topics

      • Track online, in-office, and client location meetings separately with the new meeting venue option

        Hello everyone! We’re excited to announce meeting enhancements in Zoho CRM that bring more clarity and structure to how meetings are categorized. You can now specify the meeting venue to clearly indicate whether a meeting is being held online, at the

      • Announcing new features in Trident for Mac (1.32.0)

        Hello everyone! We’re excited to introduce the latest updates to Trident, which are designed to reinforce email security and protect your inbox from evolving threats. Let’s take a quick look at what’s new. Deliver quarantined emails. Organization admins

      • Marketing Tip #5: Improve store speed with optimized images

        Slow-loading websites can turn visitors away. One of the biggest culprits? Large, uncompressed images. By optimizing your images, your store loads faster and creates a smoother shopping experience leading to higher sales. It also indirectly improves SEO.

      • SMS to customers from within Bigin

        Hi All, Is there anyone else crying out for Bigin SMS capability to send an SMS to customers directly from the Bigin interface? We have inbuilt telephony already with call recordings which works well. What's lacking is the ability to send and receive

      • Admins cannot see each others' Scheduled Reports?!

        Very frustrating that as an admin I cannot see what my reports my fellow admins have created and scheduled.  After asking about this on the help chat, I was told the issue is trust and security.  By giving someone Admin status, it means we trust them with those responsibilities. Please change this, it is not a good process to have to bother other users to change a report or change users within a report.

      • Writer update results in BitDefender blocking it as malware

        After updating Writer to latest update, Bitdefender blocked the app and writer no longer runs.

      • Missing Import Options

        Hello, do I miss something or is there no space import option inside of this application? In ClickUp, you can import from every common application. We don't want to go through every page and export them one by one. That wastes time. We want to centralize

      • Zoho CRM Portal Field Level Permission Issue

        Hi Support Team, I am using the Zoho CRM Portal and configuring field-level editing permissions. However, we are unable to restrict portal users from editing certain fields. We have created a portal and provided View and Edit (Shared Only) access for

      • Custom Fonts in Zoho CRM Template Builder

        Hi, I am currently creating a new template for our quotes using the Zoho CRM template builder. However, I noticed that there is no option to add custom fonts to the template builder. It would greatly enhance the flexibility and branding capabilities if

      • Collaboration with customers made easy with Zoom Meeting and Zoho Desk integration

        Hello everyone! We are happy to announce that you can now integrate your Zoho Desk account with Zoom Meeting. The integration bridges the gap between digital communication and human connection, empowering teams to deliver timely support when it matters

      • CRM Canvas - Upload Attachments

        I am in the process of changing my screens to Canvas.  On one screen, I have tabs with related lists, one of which is attachments.  There doesn't appear to be a way to upload documents though.  Am I missing something really obvious?  Does anyone have

      • TrueSync regularly filling up my local disk

        Seems that WorkDrive's TrueSync randomly starts filling up my local hard drive space. None of the folders have been set as "Make Offline" but still it seems to randomly start making file offline. The settings of the app is so minimal and is of no real

      • Kaizen #194 : Trigger Client Script via Custom buttons

        Hello everyone! Welcome back to another interesting and useful Kaizen post. We know that Client Scripts can be triggered with Canvas buttons and we discussed this with a use case in Kaizen#180. Today, let us discuss how to trigger Client Script when a

      • [Webinar] A recap of Zoho Writer in 2025

        Hi Zoho Writer users, We're excited to announce Zoho Writer's webinar for January 2026: A recap of Zoho Writer in 2025. This webinar will provide a recap of the features and enhancements we added in 2025 to enhance your productivity. Choose your preferred

      • Picklist field shows "none" as default

        Hello, Is there an option to avoid showing "none" as the default value in a picklist field? I also don't want to see any option displayed. My expectation is to have a blank bar, and then when I display the drop-down list, I can choose whichever I wa

      • Stage-probability mapping feature in custom module

        Hi, I'm building a custom module for manage projects. I would like to implement the stage-probability feature that Potentials has. Is this possible?

      • Field Description is very small

        Hello, The field Description in the activity is very small. Why don't try open a new window, or a bigger popup, or increase the width of the "popup". Example:

      • StatusIQ

        Please add StatusIQ to data sources. We using site24x7 and StatusIQ together and site24x7 integration is already there. Thanks and regards, Torsten

      • In Zoho People, the Operations buttons are frequently not visible or do not appear consistently.

        In Zoho People, the Operations buttons are frequently not visible or do not appear consistently. We request you to please investigate and address this issue, as it is affecting daily HR operations and user access.

      • Marketing Tip #14: Increase cart value with product bundles

        Bundling products is a great way to increase average order value while giving customers more convenience. Think “camera + tripod + memory card” or “soap + lotion + bath salts.” Bundles make shopping easier and feel like a better deal. It’s a win-win for

      • Problem with Workdrive folders

        I'm having a problem a problem accessing files in a Zoho work drive folder when using the Zoho writer app. The problem folder appears grayed out in the Zoho work drive window in both the online and writer application. However I can open the folder in

      • Pre-orders at Zoho Commerce

        We plan to have regular producs that are avaliable for purchase now and we plan to have products that will be avaliable in 2-4 weeks. How we can take the pre-orders for these products? We need to take the money for the product now, but the delivery will

      • Zoho Books' 2025 Wrapped

        Before we turn the page to a new year, it’s time to revisit the updates that made financial management simpler and more intuitive. This annual roundup brings together the most impactful features and enhancements we delivered in 2025, offering a clear

      • Can multiple agents be assigned to one ticket on purpose?

        Is it possible to assign one ticket to two or more agents at a time? I would like the option to have multiple people working on one ticket so that the same ticket is viewable for those agents on their list of pending tickets. Is something like this currently

      • Edit default "We are here to help you" text in chat SalesIQ widget

        Does anyone know how this text can be edited? I can't find it anywhere in settings. Thanks!

      • Feature Request: Sync Leave Tracker to Zoho Mail / Calendar or provide option to download information

        Zoho Leave Tracker offers the option to sync the leave Calendar to Microsoft 365 and Google Calendar. Adding an option to sync to Zoho-Mail Calendar would avoid duplication and add significant value for users. An alternative would be to allow users to

      • Compensation | Salary Packages - Hourly Wage Needed

        The US Bureau of Labor Statistics says 55.7% of all workers in the US are paid by the hour. I don't know how that compares to the rest of the world, but I would think that this alone would justify the need for having an hourly-based salary package option.

      • Multiple currencies - doesn’t seem to work for site visitors / customers

        I am trying to understand how the multiple currency feature works from the perspective of the website visitor who is shopping on my Zoho Commerce site. My site’s base currency is US Dollars (USD) but my store is for customers in Costa Rica and I would

      • Archiving Contacts

        How do I archive a list of contacts, or individual contacts?

      • How do people handle using Outlook and Zoho Project calendar at the same time?

        We have an ongoing problem in our organisation where we use Zoho Projects to plan all of our projects tasks and that also allows us to look forward using the workload report to see which of our consultants are overstretched etc and which are available.

      • 10GB Email Storage Limits in Zoho CRM

        We’ve had Zoho One for almost 5 years and have always synced our emails from Gmail via IMAP… As of late, we’ve run into issues with our emails not syncing, due to being over the 10GB storage cap… What’s very odd is that we haven’t changed a thing? I know

      • Performance is degrading

        We have used Mail and Cliq for about three years now. I used to use both on the browser. Both have, over the past 6 months, had a severe degradation in performance. I switched to desktop email, which appeared to improve things somewhat, although initial

      • How to set page defaults in zoho writer?

        hi, everytime i open the zoho writer i have to change the default page settings to - A4 from letter, margins to narrow and header and footer to 0. I cannot set this as default as that option is grayed out! so I am unable to click it. I saved the document

      • Unable to Send Different Email Templates for Different Documents in Zoho Sign

        Hello Zoho Community, I am facing a limitation with Zoho Sign regarding email notifications sent to customers when a document is sent for signing. Currently, whenever I send any template/document for signing, the email notification that goes to the customer

      • Enable History Tracking for Picklist Values Not Available

        When I create a custom picklist field in Deals, the "Enable History Tracking for Picklist Values" option is not available in the Edit Properties area of the picklist. When I create a picklist in any other Module, that option is available. Is there a specific reason why this isn't available for fields in the Deals Module?

      • Vault crashes on Android Devices

        Vault is continuously closing after entering the master password on my Android device. After several attempts I get a system message that says there is a bug in the app. I've uninstalled and reinstalled the app, and cleared the app cache, but nothing

      • ¿Cómo puedo configurar las contraseñas creadas bajo una directiva para que nunca caduquen y no aparezcan como caducadas en los informes?

        ¿Cómo puedo configurar las contraseñas creadas bajo una directiva para que nunca caduquen y no aparezcan como caducadas en los informes? La razón por la cual contraseña estas no deben caducar es porque su actualización depende de mi cliente y no de mí.

      • Camera access

        My picture doesn't appear in a group discussion. (The audio is fine.) The guide says "Click the lock icon on address bar," but I can't find it. Advise, please

      • Are static links available

        I'm still using Zoho Meeting in trial mode. My previous webinar software provided a static link, and I made the mistaken assumption that I could send out my link and start a meeting later. Mass confusion, but my fault. With a paid version do you get a

      • Why is Zoho Meeting quality so poor?

        I've just moved from Office 365 to Zoho Workplace and have been generally really positive about the new platform -- nicely integrated, nice GUI, good and easy-to-understand control and customisation, and at a reasonable price. However, what is going on

      • Next Page