Automation#25: Move Tickets to Unassigned When the Owner Is Offline

Automation#25: Move Tickets to Unassigned When the Owner Is Offline




Hello Everyone,

Welcome to this week's Community Series!

'Tis the holiday season—a time when work often takes a brief pause. 

The holiday spirit is in full swing at Zylker Techfix too, with employees taking some well-deserved time off. During this period, ticket owners are frequently offline at work.
Amid the holiday hustle and bustle, customers continued responding to tickets. Unfortunately, tickets assigned to agents on leave went unnoticed, as they were not listed under unassigned requests.

Zylker Techfix needed a solution to ensure such tickets were reassigned to "Unassigned," preventing any customer requests from being overlooked. This is where a custom function came to the rescue, just in time!

Here’s how you can use this custom function to move tickets automatically to "Unassigned" when the ticket owner is offline and a customer replies. Follow these steps to implement the custom function within a workflow rule.

Prerequisites
1. Create a connection
  1.1 Go to Setup(S) and choose Connections under Developer Space.
  1.2 Click Create Connection.
  1.3 Select Zoho Desk under Default Services.
  1.4 Set the connection name as deskconnection.
  1.5 Under Scope, choose the below scope values:
Desk.settings.READ
Desk.basic.READ
Desk.tickets.UPDATE
Desk.tickets.READ
  1.6 Click Create and Connect.
  1.7 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 Customer Reply.  
8. Click Next.
 
9. In the Criteria section, select Ticket Owner is not empty. click Next. 

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 select Ticket Id under the Tickets Section.     
                                      
13. In the script window, insert the Custom Function given below:
  1. // ----<<<< User Inputs >>>>----
  2. // --- Replace ".com" with appropriate domain extension based on customer's location/DC --- 
  3. deskURL = "https://desk.zoho.com";
  4. //Replace your Current Configured Department Id
  5. departmentId = "DEPARTMENT_ID";
  6. // ----<<<< Initial Configs >>>>----
  7. logs = Map();
  8. onlineAgentsId = List();
  9. //---------------------------
  10. try 
  11. {
  12. // ---- start your logic from here ----
  13. getTicketInfo = invokeUrl
  14. [
  15. url : deskURL + "/api/v1/tickets/" + ticketId
  16. type : GET
  17. connection : "deskconnection"
  18. ];
  19. logs.insert("getTicketInfo":getTicketInfo);
  20. assigneeId = getTicketInfo.get("assigneeId");
  21. onlineAgentsInfo = invokeUrl
  22. [
  23. url : deskURL + "/api/v1/onlineAgents?departmentId="+departmentId+"&limit=100"
  24. type : GET
  25. connection : "deskconnection"
  26. ];
  27. logs.insert("onlineAgentsInfo":onlineAgentsInfo);
  28. if ( onlineAgentsInfo != null && onlineAgentsInfo != "" && onlineAgentsInfo.get("data").size() > 0 ) 
  29.     {
  30. for each agentInfo in onlineAgentsInfo.get("data")
  31.         {
  32. onlineAgentsId.add(agentInfo.get("agentId"));
  33.         }
  34.     }
  35. logs.insert("onlineAgentsId":onlineAgentsId);
  36. if (!onlineAgentsId.contains(assigneeId.toString())) 
  37.     {
  38. ticketUpdate = invokeUrl
  39. [
  40. url : deskURL + "/api/v1/tickets/" + ticketId
  41. type : PATCH
  42. parameters : {"assigneeId":""}+""
  43. connection : "deskconnection"
  44. ];
  45. logs.insert("ticketUpdate":ticketUpdate);
  46.     }
  47. }
  48. catch (errorInfo)
  49. {
  50. logs.insert("errorInfo":errorInfo);
  51. }
  52. info "logs: \n" + logs;
  53. if(logs.containKey("errorInfo"))
  54. {
  55. throws "Error happen in the CF execution";
  56. }

NOTE
a. In Line 2, Replace ".com" with the domain extension based on your Data Center.
b. In Line 5, add the departmentId of the department where you want to configure this custom function.
How to fetch the DepartmentId? 
To find the departmentId, navigate to Setup (S) >> Organization >> Departments.
Select the department where you want to configure the custom function. Copy the numerical ID at the end of the URL from the address bar.

14. Click Save to save the custom function.
15. Click Save again to save the workflow.

Our Community Series is here to provide practical tips and solutions. If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to reach out to us at support@zohodesk.com—we’d love to hear from you!

Wishing you a joyful and productive holiday season. 

Until next time,
Best Wishes,
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

      • Introducing Withdrawal Reasons for Offers

        We’re excited to introduce a new enhancement to the Offer module that brings more clarity and accountability to every withdrawn offer. The Withdrawal Reason update ensures that each withdrawal — manual or automatic — is backed by a clear explanation,

      • Zoho Creator customer portal users

        Hi, I'm in a Zoho One subscription with our company. I'm running a project now that involves creating a Zoho Creater application and using the Zoho Creator Customer Portal.  At most we need 25 customer portal users. In our Zoho One plan we only get 3

      • GPS tracking only or Check out facility

        Dear Team, Zoho CRM is quite robust CRM but till date i was waiting for the feature of having GPS tracking of Sales employees which is a common demand by all customers for thier field sales executives. We cover them by saying that CRM provides Checkin

      • Appraisals on Employee Information Profile

        Is it possible to show completed appraisals on each employee's "Employee Information" page? I would presume at the bottom - similar to the "Related Lists" concept in Zoho CRM. Obviously view access would be limited to employee and appropriate other roles

      • Kaizen #220: Actions API - Webhooks APIs - Part 2

        Hello all!! Welcome back to the follow-up Kaizen post of Kaizen #219: Actions API - Webhooks APIs - Part 1. In the previous week, we covered how to configure a basic Webhook and how to include Headers, Body, and URL Parameters using both the POST Webhook

      • Standard Payment Term is not pulled from account to quotation

        Hey Team There seems to be something off. I do have "Net 30" as my default payment term in Zoho Books for my customers. If, from the customer overview or quote section, I create a new Quotation, the payment terms field stays blank and doesn't get the

      • Manage your invoices from Bigin's mobile app (iOS)

        Hello everyone! We're happy to announce that users can now integrate Zoho Books with the latest version of Bigin's iOS app. Zoho Books can be integrated with Bigin only via the web application. Users can view the Zoho Books tab in the detail pages of

      • Systematic SPF alignment issues with Zoho subdomains

        Analysis Period: August 19 - September 1, 2025 PROBLEM SUMMARY Multiple Zoho services are causing systematic SPF authentication failures in DMARC reports from major email providers (Google, Microsoft, Zoho). While emails are successfully delivered due

      • Accessibility controls and multilingual captcha authorization for Help Center users ​

        Hello everyone, As part of our ongoing effort to improve user experience, we are excited about the accessibility controls and predefined accessibility personas added in the Help Center, similar to what is already available in Zoho Desk. Help Center users

      • Zoho Sign + Zoho CRM : la solution pour simplifier vos accords de vente

        La conclusion d’un contrat de vente nécessite de nombreuses étapes : préparation de documents, validations successives et collecte des signatures. Les équipes commerciales passent souvent par plusieurs cycles de collaboration et de révision, tout en assurant

      • Item/service subtotal

        Just discovered & really pleased that we can drag to re-order the line items in Sales orders & Invoices, a very nice feature which doesn't seem to be documented? It would be nice to be able to insert a subtotal as a line item to complete this great feature

      • Send email template "permission denied to access the api"

        Hello, Per the title, I'm trying to send a Zoho CRM Email template based on the advice given here: https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/community/topic/specify-an-email-template-when-sending-emails-in-custom-functions (I'd prefer to send right from Deluge

      • how to Solve Conflict Invoices in Zoho POS

        Hello Team, I am facing a repeated issue in Zoho POS while saving a sale that contains service-based items. My products are intentionally created as Service (Non-Inventory) items because I do not want to track stock for them. However, every time I try

      • Copy, Paste, Highlighted text

        when i copy paste text it gets highlighted. Fix this.  WTF is with this black highlight ? Fix copy pasting. Some people pay for using this mail service. 

      • Pricing Strategies: #6 Common Mistakes while Configuring Pricing

        "Why does this month's billing feel messy again?" That was the exact line Priya muttered while staring at the spreadsheet full of edited pricing, one-off discounts and mismatched subscription details. Her business was growing, but the pricing machine

      • Publish to LinkedIn via API

        Hi, Is it possible to publish a job opening to LinkedIn (paid job slots) if creating a job opening via api / deluge function? Or is the user required to manually publish via the job boards process? Many Thanks Adrian

      • FSM - Associating and selecting Contacts based on Service Addresses

        Hi FSM team, I've come across an FSM limitation I wanted to share for improvement. I'm currently configuring FSM for a client who provides heating system install and maintenance services. The are often sub contracted by building management companies to

      • Do Unpublished Products in Shopify Sync to Zoho POS?

        Will an unpublished product in Shopify sync to Zoho POS? I would like to know how Zoho POS handles products that are in draft/unpublished status in Shopify.

      • Problem in Zoho POS frontend ERP.

        We are facing some difficulties in our billing and inventory processes and require your support to resolve them at the earliest. Customer Advance Payments We receive advance payments from customers for upcoming sales. Please guide us on how to record

      • Categorize Items with Item Headers

        Hello customers, Did you ever want to classify items based on specific categories to help your customers understand your invoice better? With the new Item Header feature, you can easily categorize items in your invoices and estimates and give them a common title.  Item Headers are available in the Invoices, the Recurring Invoices and the Estimates module. It can be carried forward from estimates to invoices at the time of converting the estimates.  To add an item header: Go to the Estimates, Invoices

      • Discount on the transaction level in POS

        "Is it possible to apply a discount on the total bill before tax in Zoho POS?" I want to apply a discount on the total transaction amount in Zoho POS, but the discount should be calculated before the taxes are applied. Is there an option to do this in

      • Create Tasklist with Tasklist Template using API v3

        In the old API, we could mention the parameter 'task_template_id' when creating a tasklist via API to apply a tasklist template: https://www.zoho.com/projects/help/rest-api/tasklists-api.html#create-tasklist In API v3 there does not seem to be a way to

      • Send Automated WhatsApp Messages and Leverage the Improved WhatsApp Templates

        Greetings, I hope all of you are doing well. We're excited to announce a major upgrade to Bigin's WhatsApp integration that brings more flexibility, interactivity, and automation to your customer messaging. WhatsApp message automation You can now use

      • Jobs at multiple locations

        Hi A lot of times we have same job open at multiple locations. So I would like an option where we can create a job and choose multiple locations. Currently we have to create individual jobs for each location. If we can create one job and mention multiple

      • Tag Adding Option in Kanban Card Customization Bigin CRM Mobile App

        I would like to request an option to add and display tags on Kanban cards in the Bigin CRM mobile app. This feature would make it easier to categorize deals and quickly identify priorities while working on the go.

      • Empowered Custom Views: Cross-Module Criteria Now Supported in Zoho CRM

        Hello everyone, We’re excited to introduce cross-module criteria support in custom views! Custom views provide personalized perspectives on your data and that you can save for future use. You can share these views with all users or specific individuals

      • Associating a Candidate to a Job Listing

        Hello, I am trying to use Zoho Forms embedded on my website for candidates to apply for a job opening. I want the form then to tie directly with zoho recruit and have the candidate be automatically inputed into Recruit as well as associated with the specific

      • WhatsApp Voice Message Sending Option in Bigin CRM

        I would like to request a feature that allows users to send WhatsApp voice messages directly from Bigin CRM. This would help improve communication efficiency and make it easier for teams to respond quickly to customer inquiries.

      • CRM: hosting a single html file in Zoho and displaying it as a widget

        I have seen that CRM offers the option of uploading a web project to Zoho itself and displaying it as a widget in CRM. The instructions then talk about setting a development environment with Node and developing an application to upload to Zoho. But I

      • How to change position button transtition of Blueprint?

        Hi Everyone, Look at my screenshoot, it is possible move the reject button to the right? I couldn't find that setting in the blueprint. Thank you.

      • Multi file upload

        Hi, I just wonder if one could upload multiple files in one shot, say between one and three files, without adding multiple File Upload fields? Thanks, Alalbany

      • Sorting Descending in a lookup

        I have a case number lookup on multiple forms. I need the most recent added to appear at the top of the lookup or as the list of cases grom it's too much to scroll. Is there a way to have a look up sort descending?

      • Auto-upload Creator Files to WorkDrive

        Hi everyone, I’m working on a workflow that uploads files from Zoho Creator to specific subfolders in Zoho WorkDrive, as illustrated in the attached diagram. My Creator application form has two multi-file upload fields, and I want—on successful form submission—to

      • Asap Widget 2.0

        Where's the documentation for the new ASAP widget? https://www.zoho.com/desk/developers/asap/#introduction this one is outdated How can we dynamically navigate between different views? How can we prefill ticket forms using ASAP 2.0?

      • Can the Trigger be changed?

        I'm afraid I already know the answer, but here goes... After activating a workflow (under Campaigns > Automations), Then later choosing to Edit the workflow, Can the Workflow's Trigger be changed? Currently the entire Trigger section + options are gone

      • Marketer's Space: Proven tips to improve open rates – Part I

        Hello Marketers! Welcome back to another post in Marketer's Space! In this week's post, we'll discuss the ever-important concept of open rates. This will be a multi-part series, as we have a range of topics to cover. Open rates—which measure the percentage

      • Can't send nor receive emails on my external email accounts since this morning

        Greetings, I have two external accounts integrated into Zoho mail through POP3 + SMTP. These accounts have always worked normally since the day I've set them up. Starting 10:30 AM this morning (Western European Time) both suddenly stopped sending and

      • Creating Custom PDF Template from Form

        I am trying to create a custom PDF from form submissions. I have the standard subscription and it indicates that PDF forms are included. I cannot find anywhere to create PDF forms. I try to follow the instructions from here: https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/kb/forms/form-settings/pdf-settings/pdf-editor/articles/creating-your-own-pdf-template#Creating_your_template_from_the_scratch

      • Important Update: Facebook Metrics Deprecation & Impact on Zoho Analytics

        Dear Zoho Analytics users, Facebook has deprecated a set of metrics from the Facebook Pages Insights API, effective November 15, 2025. As a result, these changes will affect any reports and dashboards in Zoho Analytics that rely on Facebook Pages data.

      • Introducing Zoho MCP for Bigin

        Hello Biginners! We're excited to introduce Zoho MCP for Bigin, a completely new way of interacting with Bigin data using AI. With Zoho MCP, you can securely connect your Bigin account with popular AI agents like Claude, Cursor, Windsurf, and VS Code,

      • Next Page