🎄 Jingle, Mingle, and Automate: Spread Christmas Cheer with Zoho Desk Auto-Replies! 🎄

🎄 Jingle, Mingle, and Automate: Spread Christmas Cheer with Zoho Desk Auto-Replies! 🎄

Hello Everyone!

Welcome to this week's episode of the Community Learning Series.

Christmas is in the air, and I’m sure we can all feel the jingle and the mingle of the season! The folks at Zylker Techfix are no exception—they’re busy with holiday plans and festive cheer. But amidst all the celebrations, they also wanted to ensure their customers felt cared for, even while their agents enjoy a well-deserved break.

With Zoho Desk, they found the perfect solution: a simple workflow rule that automates replies to customers during the holidays. By configuring the Holiday List and Business Hours, Zylker Techfix reassured their customers with thoughtful, seasonal messages—spreading festive cheer while letting them know their queries will be handled once the team is back.



Here's how you can configure the automation.
In Zoho Desk, you can configure holidays for the year manually:
  • Go to Setup (S) >> Organization >> Holiday Lists.
  • Click on the New Holiday List tab to create a holiday list for your organization. 


2. Associate Business Hours
  • Within the Holiday List, enable the toggle for Associate Business Hours and link the preferred Business Hours.
3. Link from Business Hours
  • Alternatively, you can associate the Holiday List directly on the Business Hours page.
  • Navigate to Setup (S) >> Organization >> Business Hours and enable the Associate Holiday List toggle.


This ensures your Holiday List and Business Hours work seamlessly together for better holiday management.
Notes
You can associate only one Holiday to a Business Hour. 
Info
To avoid duplicate notifications, disable the Receiving a new ticket toggle under Contact Notifications before configuring this Workflow rule. (Go to Setup(S) >> Customization >> Notifications (Notification Rules) >> Contact Notifications)
Steps to configure Workflow with a Custom Action 
To create the Workflow rule, perform the following steps:
1. Go to Setup >> Automation >>Workflows.
2. In the left panel, under Workflows, click Rules > Create Rule.

In the Basic Information section, perform the following steps:
3. In the Module drop-down menu, select Tickets.
4. Enter a name and description for the rule.
5. To activate the rule immediately, select the Active checkbox. Otherwise, you can activate it later from the Rules page.
6. Click Next.

In the Execute on section, perform the following steps:
7. Select Create and Customer Reply to execute the rule when a ticket is created or a customer replies.
8. Click Next.

Under Criteria:
9. Select the criteria Execution Time, choose on a holiday of, and select the Business Hours to which you have associated the Holiday Lists. Click Next.
10. Add another criteria Execution Time, choose outside of business hours, and select the business hours during which your organization is operational.
Notes
The outside business hours criteria is added to ensure the workflow starts operating either from the holiday eve or once business hours end.
11.  Add an Action 
In the Actions section, You can add an Alert or a Custom Action (Email reply).

I. To Add an Alert: Create/ Edit the Email Notification 
a. You can create or edit an email template by navigating to Setup (S) >> Customization >> Email Templates. To create a new email template, click on the Add tab.
b. To edit the default notification, select the email template Acknowledge Contact on Receiving a New Ticket under Contact Notifications and modify the email message based on your holiday reasons.
c. To add this Alert to the Action in the workflow, Click on the + icon under Action and select Alerts, then click New under Action Type.
d. Enter a name, choose the email template Acknowledge Contact on Receiving a New Ticket under Contact Notifications or a custom alert you’ve created, select the teams or roles you would like to notify, and click Save.
II. Add an Custom Action (Email reply)
i. To add a Email reply  to the workflow rule, click on the + icon under "Action" and select Email Reply under Action Type.
ii. Enter a name. Under From Address, select Email address from the drop-down list.
iii. Under To Address, click on the Insert Placeholder { } option and select the Email placeholder from Tickets, Contacts, or Accounts as required.
iv.  In  the Ticket Reply section, type the customised message that you want to send to your customers. You can use Insert Placeholder as required within the Ticket Reply section. 
v. Click Save to save the Action.
12. Add an Action based on your preference (Alert/ Email reply) within the Workflow rule. 
13. Click Save to save the Workflow.
Info
The alert email will be sent separately to your customer's inbox, whereas the custom action email reply will be threaded within the customer's inquiry email.
Implementation
When a ticket is created or a customer responds to a pending ticket during the Holiday List or outside Business Hours, an automated response is sent to inform them that a ticket has been created and will be promptly handled as soon as business hours resume after the holiday. 
It’s the perfect way to enjoy your holidays and keep your customers smiling. So go ahead—plan your celebrations and let Zoho Desk take care of the rest!

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas filled with joy, warmth, and just the right balance of work and play! 🎅🎄
Christmas wishes from The Zoho Desk Team. 

Until Next week, 
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

      • New Custom View -Sorting the Custom fields

        While creating a New Custom View in invoice , Customers, Bills ,expense etc , the sorting of custom fields are not available , a query function "order by / sort by  " may also be included in  Define new criteria module  which will be more beneficial to

      • Make CAMPAIGNS email look as simple as possible

        Hi there I'm trying to make my Campaigns email look as much like a normal email as possible. I'm a bit stuck with the "justification" of the email email block. Can I LEFT JUSTIFY the "whole email" to make it look "normal"? (Please see screenshot attached)

      • [Webinar] Top 10 Most Used Zoho Analytics Features in 2025

        Zoho Analytics has evolved significantly over the past year. Discover the most widely adopted features in Zoho Analytics in 2025, based on real customer usage patterns, best practices, and high-impact use cases. Learn how leading teams are turning data

      • Sorry! we encountered some problems while sending your campaign. It will be sent automatically once we are ready. We apologize for the delay caused.

        Hello. Lately we are having problems with some campaigns, which show us this error message. Sorry! we encountered some problems while sending your campaign. It will be sent automatically once we are ready. We apologize for the delay caused. We can't find

      • Can I remove or divert certain contacts from an active Campaigns workflow?

        I have created a workflow in Zoho Campaigns, which sends different emails, once contacts have been added to a mailing list. To choose which email to send to the contacts, there are conditions, which divert contacts based on their company type and their company size. There was a subsection of this workflow, where company size wasn't selected correctly, and some contacts have been sent down the wrong path and received the wrong email. The workflow contains a reminder loop and a further series of emails.

      • How to map fields from Zoho Recruit to Zoho People

        I've got these fields from my Job Offer that I'm trying to map to the Work information fields in Zoho People, but they arent showing up. For example, how do I get the department name field (in the job post) to map to the work information field in Zoho

      • UTM in zoho campaigns

        Helloo everybody!!! Someone know how IF ZOHO CAMPAIGNS has UTM for tracking the url of any campaigns. thank u

      • Full Context of Zoho CRM Records for Zia in Zoho Desk for efficient AI Usage

        Hello everyone, I have a question regarding the use of Zia in Zoho Desk in combination with CRM data. Is it possible to automatically feed the complete context of a CRM record into Zia, so that it can generate automated and highly accurate responses for

      • Knowledge base printing

        I saw a posting about printing the knowledge base as I was looking for the answer, but we would like the ability to print out the entire knowledge base with a click, keeping the same organization format.   Bonus would include an index of keywords and

      • Search not working!

        I have items in my notebook tagged but when I search for a tag nothing comes up! Any fix for this?

      • Zoho Books | Product updates | January 2026

        Hello users, We’ve rolled out new features and enhancements in Zoho Books. From e-filing Form 1099 directly with the IRS to corporation tax support, explore the updates designed to enhance your bookkeeping experience. E-File Form 1099 Directly With the

      • Updates for Zoho Campaigns: Merge tag, footer, and autoresponder migration

        Hello everyone, We'd like to inform you of some upcoming changes with regard to Zoho Campaigns. We understand that change can be difficult, but we're dedicated to ensuring a smooth transition while keeping you all informed and engaged throughout the process.

      • Drag 'n' Drop Fields to a Sub-Form and "Move Field To" Option

        Hi, I would like to be able to move fields from the Main Page to a Sub-Form or from a Sub-Form to either the Main Page or another Sub-Form. Today if you change the design you have to delete and recreate every field, not just move them. Would be nice to

      • Sharing my portal URL with clients outside the project

        Hi I need help making my project public for anyone to check on my task. I'm a freelance artist and I use trello to keep track on my client's projects however I wanted to do an upgrade. Went on here and so far I'm loving it. However, I'm having an issue sharing my url to those to see progress. They said they needed an account to access my project. How do I fix this? Without them needing an account.

      • How do i integrate google analytics to Zoho Campaigns?

        Looking to track Zoho Traffic from email Current topic is outdated

      • How do teams manage meeting follow-ups across Zoho tools?

        We’re using Zoho tools for collaboration and tracking, but managing meeting notes, action items, and follow-ups across teams is still challenging. Curious how others are handling this within Zoho workflows. Are there best practices or integrations that

      • Customize Colors used on graphs and charts according to users desire.

        It would be great if we could customize the graph's colors as we see fit. I hate that yellow is always the default color!

      • Let us view and export the full price books data from CRM

        I quote out of CRM, some of my clients have specialised pricing for specific products - therefore we use Price Books to manage these special prices. I can only see the breakdown of the products listed in the price book and the specialised pricing for

      • Mejoras urgentes para ZOHO MEETING

        Tengo unos meses usando Zoho Meeting. En general, es buena, pero hay cosas vitales que no logra cumplir con mínima calidad. 1) Calidad de audio y video: urge mejoras. Audio con retraso, imagen borrosa, mal recorte de silueta con fondos virtuales. Además,

      • Multiple header in the quote table???

        Hello, Is it possible in Zoho CRM to add multiple headers or sections within the Quote product table, so that when the quote is printed it shows separate sections (for example “Products” and “Services”)? To clarify, I’m asking because: This does not appear

      • Saving sent email campaign as PDF

        I'm looking to add all campaigns sent to an archive folder in sharepoint. Is there anyway to accomplish this in Zoho Flow ? I'm falling at the first hurdle ... can I automatically save a sent campaign as a PDF to a folder location ?

      • Exporting All Custom Functions in ZohoCRM

        Hello, All I've been looking for a way to keep about 30 functions that I have written in Zoho CRM updated in my own repository to use elsewhere in other instances. A github integration would be great, but a way to export all custom functions or any way

      • Conditional Layouts On Multi Select Field

        How we can use Conditional Layouts On Multi Select Field field? Please help.

      • Appreciation to Qntrl Support Team

        We are writing this topic to appreciate the outstanding level of support from Qntrl Team. We have been using Qntrl since 2022 after shifting from another similar platform. Since we joined Qntrl, the team has shown a high level of professionalism, support,

      • How can I hide "My Requests" and "Marketplace" icon from the side menu

        Hello everybody, We recently started using the new Zoho CRM for Everyone. How can I hide "My Requests" and "Marketplace" from the side menu? We don't use these features at the moment, and I couldn't find a way to disable or remove them. Best regards,

      • Whatsapp Integration on Zoho Campaign

        Team: Can the messages from Zoho Campaign delivered through Whatsapp... now customers no longer are active on email, but the entire campaign module is email based.... when will it be available on whatsapp.... are there any thirdparty providers who can

      • Mandatory Field - but only at conversion

        Hello! We use Zoho CRM and there are times where the "Lead Created Date & Time" field isn't populated into a "Contractor" (Account is the default phrase i believe). Most of my lead tracking is based on reading the Lead Created field above, so it's important

      • Different Task Layouts for Subtasks

        I was wondering how it would be possible for a subtask to have a different task layout to the parent task.

      • Enable Free External Collaboration on Notecards in Zoho Notebook

        Hi Zoho Notebook Team, I would like to suggest a feature enhancement regarding external collaboration in Zoho Notebook. Currently, we can share notes with external users, and they are able to view the content without any issue. However, when these external

      • Using data fields in Zoho Show presentations to extract key numbers from Zia insights based on a report created

        Is it possible to use data fields in Zoho Show presentations along with Zoho Analytics to extract key numbers from Zia insights based on a report created? For example, using this text below: (note that the numbers in bold would be from Zia Insights) Revenue

      • Free webinar: AI-powered agreement management with Zoho Sign

        Hi there! Does preparing an agreement feel like more work than actually signing it? You're definitely not alone. Between drafting the document, managing revisions, securing internal approvals, and rereading clauses to make sure everything still reflects

      • WhatsApp Channels in Zoho Campaigns

        Now that Meta has opened WhatsApp Channels globally, will you add it to Zoho Campaigns? It's another top channel for marketing communications as email and SMS. Thanks.

      • CRM For Everyone - Bring Back Settings Tile View

        I've been using CRM for Everyone since it was in early access and I just can't stand the single list settings menu down the left-hand side. It takes so much longer to find the setting I need. Please give users the option to make the old sytle tile view

      • Lets have Dynamics 365 integration with Zohobooks

        Lets have Dynamics 365 integration with Zohobooks

      • Add notes in spreadsheet view

        It would be great if we could Add/edit notes in the spreadsheet view of contacts/leads. This would enable my sales teams to greatly increase their number of calls. Also viewing the most recent note in the Contact module would also be helpful.

      • Opening balances - Accounts Receivable and Payable

        Our accounting year starts on 1st August 2013 and I have a Trial Balance as at that date, including Accounts Receivableand Accounts Payable balances, broken down by each customer and supplier. Q1 - do I show my opening balance date as 31st July 2013 or

      • Cancel Subscription

        Hi , Im want to cancel my account but without success please help me to do it

      • Making an email campaign into a Template

        I used a Zoho Campaign Template to create an email. Now I want to use this email and make it a new template, but this seems to be not possible. Am I missing something?

      • Direct Access and Better Search for Zoho Quartz Recordings

        Hi Zoho Team, We would like to request a few enhancements to improve how Zoho Quartz recordings are accessed and managed after being submitted to Zoho Support. Current Limitation: After submitting a Quartz recording, the related Zoho Support ticket displays

      • Multiple Cover Letters

        We are using the staffing firm edition of Recruit and we have noticed that candidates cannot add more than one cover letter. This is a problem as they might be applying for multiple jobs on our career site and when we submit their application to a client,

      • Next Page