Turn chat conversations into real action with Integration Blocks in Guided Conversations

Turn chat conversations into real action with Integration Blocks in Guided Conversations


When a Guided Conversation fails, it's usually not because the logic is wrong. They fail because the conversation stops moving.

A customer starts a chat with a clear goal: report an issue, check a status, or confirm something. At first, the flow does exactly what it was designed to do: It asks the right questions. It captures the right inputs.

Then nothing happens.

From the builder’s point of view, the flow is complete, and from the customer’s point of view, it feels unfinished. This gap is where most frustration comes from.

Why progress matters more than answers   

Customers rarely start a chat because they want information alone. They want momentum. They want to know that what they just shared led to something real: a request logged, a record updated, or a confirmation sent.

If the conversation ends without that signal, customers assume they will have to explain everything again somewhere else. Guided Conversations need to close that gap.
 

How  Integration Blocks maintain the flow   

Integration Blocks are not about adding more automation. They are about preventing dead ends.

An Integration Block connects a point in the conversation to an action in another system. While the chat continues, work is already happening in the background.

This is the moment where a conversation becomes operational.

A practical example from day-to-day support   

Consider a simple flow for reporting a billing issue:
  1. The customer shares their email address and describes the problem.
  2. The bot acknowledges it and ends the chat.
Technically, this is correct. Emotionally, it feels risky.

Now compare that with the same flow using a Desk Integration Block:
  1. As soon as the customer submits their details, a lead or ticket is created in Zoho Desk.
  2. A ticket reference number is generated, giving the customer immediate confirmation that their request is being tracked
  3. The customer receives a confirmation and may later get a follow-up from the team for an issue resolution.
The chat did not just listen, it acted. The customer feels the difference because progress is visible, even if the backend work is hidden.
 

The role of confirmation in reducing anxiety   

Even when an action is taken, customers still look for reassurance. Did their request actually go through?

This is where the Email Integration Block fits naturally into the flow.

A short email sent at the right moment changes how the entire conversation is. This is where an Email Integration Block fits naturally. A short, well-timed email changes how the conversation is perceived:
  1. The system has not just captured the issue, it's already working on it.
  2. Customers feel confident that the next steps are already in motion.
You don't need to send any long emails; the point is just to close the loop.
 

Designing for handoff, not escalation   

Some conversations end with automation; others end with a person. A common mistake is treating agent handoff as a fallback.

A better approach: make handoff intentional. Using Zia Context Blocks, you can summarize the conversation so far, then transfer it to an agent seamlessly.

Integration Blocks allow the context, actions, and confirmations to travel forward. The agent starts where the bot left off, not from scratch. Customers experience continuity, not repetition.
 

Thinking in outcomes, not blocks   

It is easy to think about Guided Conversations as a sequence of blocks: a question block, a choice block, an integration block.

Customers do not experience blocks. They need to see results.
  1. Was my issue captured?
  2. Was something sent to me?
  3. Does someone know about this now?
Integration Blocks help you design for those outcomes.

The quiet success of a good conversation   

When Guided Conversations work well, customers do not notice the flow. They leave without reopening the chat. They don't need to send any follow-up emails or repeat the story to another team.

From the outside, nothing dramatic happened.

But the conversation never stalled, and that is often the difference between a chat that looks complete and one that actually feels that way to a customer.

So let me ask you:

Where do your Guided Conversations usually stop moving?
Have Integration Blocks helped turn chats into real action?
What worked, and what didn’t?

Share your thoughts below. Let’s talk.
 
Prabin | Zoho Desk

    • Topic Participants

    • Raj R

    • Sticky Posts

    • Zoho Desk Partners with Microsoft's M365 Copilot for seamless customer service experiences

      Hello Zoho Desk users, We are happy to announce that Zoho Desk has partnered with Microsoft's M365 to empower customer service teams with enhanced capabilities and seamless experiences for agents. Microsoft announced their partnership during their keynote

    • WhatsApp pricing changes: Pay per message starting July 1, 2025

      Starting July 1, 2025, WhatsApp is shifting from conversation-based pricing to per-message billing. That means every business-initiated message you send will count. Not just the first one in a 24-hour window. Pricing updates on the WhatsApp Business Platform

    • Live Webinar - Work smarter with Zoho Desk and Zoho Workplace integration

      Hello customers! Zoho Desk and Zoho Workplace are coming together for a webinar on 14th May, 2024. Zoho Workplace is a suite of productivity apps for email, chat, docs, calls, and more at one single place. Zoho Desk is closely integrated with a few tools

    • Apple iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 updates for Zoho Desk users

      Hello Zoho Desk users! Apple recently announced the release of iOS 17 and iPad OS 17. These latest OS updates will help you stay productive and efficient, through interactive and seamless user experiences. Zoho Desk has incorporated the updates to help

    • Zoho Desk Cheat Sheet For The Year-End

      Check out these Zoho Desk best practices to end this year on a high and have a great one ahead! #1 Set Business (Holiday) Hours - If you have limited working hours, please make sure you restrict your business hours or set them as holidays for the coming days. Let your customers know when you will, and won't, be available. #2 Update the Annual Holiday List - Check the holidays for the new year and update the holiday schedule. Usually, holidays from the current year will be carried over for the next

    Nederlandse Hulpbronnen


      • Recent Topics

      • Getting Project Template List using the REST API

        I am trying to confirm that I can use the REST API to create a project using a project template. The API documentation indicates this is possible by providing the Template ID, but it is not clear at all how to get a list of available Project Templates

      • How to display the CONTACT ID in the Contact page

        Hi, I've seen this conversation below and it is exactly the same question I'm raising now, but unfortunately the last message is not solved https://help.zoho.com/portal/community/topic/show-contact-id-while-editing-contact-form I need to show the ContactId and I don't know how to do this. The last message included in the conversaton shows the way but not it is not completed. "I am sorry by default we do not have the option to show the record ID for the contacts in the field in a record. When you

      • How to change margins in templates

        Hi, I'm new to Zoho Campaigns, and am trying to figure out how to adjust the margins within an email template.  The default margins make the text go all the way to the edges of the page.  Please advise.

      • Create Canvas list view templates from images powered by Zia

        Currently available for all paid editions of Zoho CRM in the US, EU, IN, JP & CN DCs. Designing a personalized CRM interface just got even easier. In today’s fast-evolving digital landscape, AI is transforming the way we work by automating complex tasks

      • Painfully Slow Zoho mail

        Since yesterday Zoho Mail seems to have starting functioning very slowly and having a few bugs. It's slow to open mails, slow to send, slow to change between email accounts. Sometimes clicking on a particular folder (eg Sent folder) stops working and

      • "Wrong password or login" Problem to configure Zoho on MAIL App on my Macbook

        Hi, I'm having problems to configure my e-mail on my MAIL App(Macbook pro). My e-mail is hari@trespontoum.net Actually was working perfectly, and still working on my Iphone. My MAIL App prompt me that my login or password is wrong. I tried to change 3

      • "User already exist in your org"

        Hello, I've just read a discussion about this issue, which didn't solve my problem. I'm trying to add the following emails: sales@kiss-my-boutique.co.uk returns@kiss-my-boutique.co.uk orders@kiss-my-boutique.co.uk I'm getting an error message each time I try and add them. None of them are primary or secondary emails and none of them have been created as users before. I know this as when I try and login and do 'forgot my password' all I get is an error message saying 'user invalid'. Please advise.

      • Operation Not Permitted

        Hi, I have problem in adding user after verifying the domain but it seems like error appeared which is "operation not permitted". For your information, I had delete other domain before did it.

      • Email forwarding setup fails

        I'm trying to set up email forwarding from my Zoho email to my gmail address. I followed the directions to set up email forwarding here: https://www.zoho.com/mail/help/email-forwarding.html. I did only steps 1-6. After doing this, rather than setting

      • Shopify store email issues- Not getting emails

        Hi We have migrated from Microsoft outlook to Zoho back in March, we have a shopify store, the domain is hosted on namesilo, not shopify, I have seen some people here complaining about not getting emails from customers who fill out the contact form on

      • How do I fix this? Unable to send message; Reason:554 5.1.8 Email Outgoing Blocked.

        How do I fix this? Unable to send message; Reason:554 5.1.8 Email Outgoing Blocked.

      • Invoice Discount Account

        Is there a way to change the account used for Discounts applied to an invoice? The current Discount account (ZB native account) type is an "Income" type. I would like to change it to "Other Income", but that is not possible, I am assuming because it contains

      • Need Inactive accounts to be visible in Reports in Zoho Books

        I N=need Inactive accounts to be visible in Reports in Zoho Books to do recons of the accounts but when i see the same they are not visible in the Accountant - Account Transactions report

      • javax.mail.authenticationfailedexception 535 authentication failed

        Hi, I am facing 535 authentication failed error when trying to send email from zoho desktop as well as in webmail. Can you suggest to fix this issue,. Regards, Rekha

      • Phantom Opening Balance

        While experimenting w/ creating a composite item, Zoho added funds to Petty Cash and added Bank Account equal to previous day's balance. I'm unable to undo the adding of funds. Attaching screenshots of both bank account and petty cash transactions.

      • Importing customer comments and multiple shipto addresses

        I am evaluating Zoho Books and have most of my data imported with two exceptions: (1) Import customer comments - in my current system I have several comments of different types, and I need to bring these into Zoho. Preferably Books customer records, but

      • Detailed Account Reports - Add Running Balance

        When one clicks into an account from a report (say P/L or Balance Sheet), the default reports have the Debit, Credit, and then the Amount. The Amount column (last one) is duplicate information. It would be far better and fit more peoples' use cases if

      • How to Billed from two different GST Numbers

        How to Billed from two different GST Numbers. Suppose ABC & Co had GST registration in Delhi and Haryana and Zoho account is created with Delhi GST Registration number. Now i also want to issue invoice from Haryana GST Registration number. How can i proceed ?

      • Zoho IP blocked by SpamHaus

        ERROR CODE :550 - 5.7.0 Your server IP address is in the SpamHaus SBL-XBL database, bye

      • IMAP Communication Problems - IMAP Down Again

        We are experiencing the same problems over the last week or so that were supposedly 'solved' according to this thread. Zoho Imap Down Again This is affecting attempts to use IMAP on multiple ISPs and users so is definitely narrowed down to Zoho problems.

      • Can't login to Zoho mail

        I'm logged into Zoho but when I try to go in zoho mail I get: Invalid request! The input passed is invalid or the URL is invoked without valid parameters. Please check your input and try again. I just set up my mx records and stuff with namecheap a few

      • Hotmail is STILL blocking the zoho mail IP

        Greetings, as I already mentioned in my last message, my Zoho IP has been blocked by Hotmail for more than 15 days. Although someone said that the issue was "solved," it still isn't, and this amount of time seems neither normal for a "serious" company,

      • Keyboard shortcut M key

        I'm trying to customize my keyboard shortcuts and assign the "m" key. But it says the key is already assigned. I've looked through all my shortcuts and can't see any assigned "m". When I select an email and press the M key, nothing happens. What is the

      • Manage customer access across multi-brand help centers

        Hello everyone! Managing customer's access across multiple brands has been streamlined with the ability to invite, reinvite, approve, reject, and deactivate contacts individually for each help center brand . This enhancement gives administrators precise

      • White Label certificate

        Hi all, About 72 hours ago, we fulfilled all steps for white labeling (CNAME to point to mail.cs.zohohost.eu), but since then the configuration page is now stuck at "generating certificate" since 3 days. When I execute an NSLOOKUP mail.webfoundry.be it

      • Unusual activity detected from this IP. Please try again after some time

        When i try to create new addresses on my account i am getting this error, it has been 24 hours now and i am still getting this error can anyone help

      • How to add a new domain in my account?

        Probably zoho has the worst UI in the market. Cannot add a new domain to manage a new email address.

      • Report sorting not working

        I make extensive use of Summary reports and Pivot Tables. Most of these reports are structured such that I have several columns of "information" data that I want displayed, followed by one or more "Data" summarizations. For example, I have the following

      • New Enhancements in Wizards

        Dear All, Wizards help you break a long form into a series of smaller forms on different screens, making it less overwhelming. We are thrilled to introduce a couple of enhancements to wizards in Zoho CRM: Enhancements for conditional rules in Wizards

      • Find and Merge Duplicates to trigger webhook

        My sales team uses the Find and Merge Duplicates feature often to cleanup records in the CRM. We use webhooks to signal to our internal tools database when new Contacts are created, updated, or deleted, in order to keep our DB in sync with Zoho CRM. However,

      • Charting the 2025 Voyage: Zoho Invoice's Year in Review

        2025 has been a year of progress, productivity, and purposeful growth for Zoho Invoice. From expanding into new regions to refining everyday workflows, each update was designed to help businesses stay compliant, get paid faster, and work with confidence.

      • How to Hide System-DefinedTemplates in Service Report

        Is there any option available to hide system-defined templates? these templates are causing confusion for field users.

      • WhatsApp Report in Bigin CRM

        Reporting feature for Bigin CRM’s integrated WhatsApp that provides insights such as: Number of WhatsApp conversations closed Number of messages sent and received Number of conversations replied to Response and closure metrics for WhatsApp chats More

      • Issue with Azure DevOps Integration in Zoho Flow

        Hello, All workflows between Zoho Flow and Azure DevOps have stopped working for several days now. Upon further investigation, it seems that the connection to Azure DevOps is no longer directly supported. Indeed, Microsoft has deprecated the Azure DevOps

      • Narrative 16: Simplify with workflows

        Behind the scenes of a successful ticketing system: BTS Series Narrative 16: Simplify with workflows What is a workflow? A workflow organizes business tasks in a defined sequence that makes each step clear to all participants. This ensures work is completed

      • Zoho Invoice Customer Login Portal

        Are there any plans for a customer portal to Zoho Invoice, ala Freshbooks?  I would like customers that I invoice to be able to login to review invoices and invoice history.  I have not switched from Freshbooks for this very reason.

      • Random Leads are being created

        Hi, Every few days I am getting random leads that are being created with no form interactions at all. The email addresses are from obvious spam, such as 'Easymerchantsx'. When I look at the timeline, there is a Visit record and then a Lead Created record,

      • Print a price list or price book

        Hi Community. Am I right in concluding that Zoho has no functionality to print a price list from either Zoho CRM, Zoho Inventory or Zoho Books? I won't get stuck on the fact that Zoho doesn't sync price books between Zoho CRM and Books/Inventory (more

      • Bar Chart -- sort X-axis

        Hi! I created a bar chart ("Top 10 Products by Revenue") X-axis: Product Name Y-axis: Revenue Filter: Revenue - Top 10 Here's a picture: http://screencast.com/t/ZTJlZTdkNz The x-axis is sorted alphabetically by Product Name. How can I force it to sort numerically by Revenue?

      • ZoHo Flow Custom Function not Processing JSON

        JSON is being escaped and converting all the quotes in the JSON to '"' Here's the Code: void InsertRowInE123EligibitySheet(map input) { rawData = get("data",""); decodedData = rawData.htmlDecode(); data = decodedData.toMap(); sheet_id = "ID GOES

      • Next Page