Sixth Insight - The Hidden C in Data

Sixth Insight - The Hidden C in Data

The Wheels of Ticketing - Desk Stories

The Hidden C in Data

[Importance of clean data]


Data cleaning

Data cleaning ensures ticketing systems' data is accurate, consistent, and complete. This process includes eliminating duplicates, fixing errors, and addressing missing information.
Quote
Clean data is happy data.

Why is data cleaning so important?

Data cleaning eliminates errors, inconsistencies, and duplicates within data, resulting in increased accuracy. Tools are available to help you swiftly address data issues. Enhancing accuracy enables the extraction of reliable insights. Inconsistent or inaccurate data can lead to misleading results, poor decision-making, and ineffective strategies.

Data hygiene

Data hygiene in a ticketing system refers to the processes and practices involved in maintaining accurate, complete, and consistent information. This is crucial for ensuring that customer support operations run smoothly and effectively.


  • Data accuracy
  • Data completeness
  • Data consistency
  • Data deduplication
  • Regular data audits


By prioritizing data hygiene, organizations can improve the efficiency of their support teams, enhance the quality of customer service, and gain valuable insights from reliable data analytics.

A story for better interpretation

Scrub your data clean

Once upon a time, a small but dedicated team in a tech company managed customer support through a ticketing system called "HelpNow." As the company grew, so did its customer base, leading to an overwhelming influx of support tickets. Although the team worked diligently, the increase in tickets created clutter. 
 
Once efficient, the HelpNow system became cluttered with old tickets, unresolved issues, and duplicate requests. Customer satisfaction started to decline as users waited longer for their problems to be resolved. Frustration lingered not only in the hearts of customers but also within the support team, which they found increasingly challenging to navigate through the cluttered ticketing system.
 
One day, the team lead, Joey, called for a meeting to address the urgent situation. "We need to scrub our data clean," he announced. The team discussed various strategies, but he had a vision of what needed to be done and a systematic approach to decluttering their HelpNow system.
 
The initial step entailed thoroughly reviewing and categorizing all existing support tickets utilizing a custom view. The team reached a consensus to archive tickets over six months old and lacked follow-up, as these were likely associated with resolved issues. To ensure efficient progress, they established a clear deadline for this undertaking, fully aware that collaborative effort and focused teamwork were essential for effectively addressing the backlog. Their strategic approach aimed to organize the current workload and foster a more streamlined process for ticket management.
 
Joey organized a “Scrub-a-thon” a week later, encouraging everyone to join forces. Each team member was assigned a category of tickets to review. Deleting duplicates became a friendly competition. Teams found ways to delete tickets using mass updates and automation, rewarding those who could clear the most entries. They quickly learned that many tickets had been created multiple times due to customers submitting the same request across different channels.
 
During this process, the team discovered an unexpected treasure trove of information. Many old tickets contained insightful feedback about the product, creating a new FAQ section that addressed common user questions. They also realized that some bugs needed urgent attention, leading to prioritized fixes for the product.
 
As the Scrub-a-thon continued, the team also acknowledged the importance of customer communication. They crafted an email update to inform customers about their efforts to improve support quality. Customers appreciated the transparency and felt confident that their concerns were being taken seriously.
 
After two weeks of hard work, their system was transformed. The volume of tickets had been dramatically reduced, and the remaining tickets were prioritized and categorized effectively for quicker solutions. Customer agents could easily navigate the system and focus on resolving issues rather than wading through a digital maze.
 
Reports generated from the cleaned data helped Joey and her team identify trends in customer inquiries and revamp their product support resources accordingly. Inspired by their findings, they implemented a new self-service help widget to empower users with immediate solutions. 
 
The results were incredible: response times dropped, customer satisfaction surged, and the support team thrived in their more organized environment. The HelpNow system became a case study in transforming mess into clarity, demonstrating the power of scrubbing away the unnecessary to unveil the valuable.

Best practices

Scheduled data audits

Scheduled data audits are the systematic process of regularly reviewing and analyzing data within a specific timeframe to ensure accuracy, compliance, quality, and relevance. This practice is essential for businesses and organizations to maintain the integrity of their data, identify errors, and ensure adherence to regulations and standard policies.

Removing inaccurate data entries

Removing inaccurate data entries means eliminating incorrect, erroneous, or misleading information entered into a system. These inaccuracies can occur for various reasons, including human error, technological glitches, data migration issues, or a lack of standardized procedures. 

Setting up field validations

Setting up field validations is crucial in ensuring data integrity and enhancing the user experience in any application. Field validations check users' input to ensure it meets specific criteria before being processed or saved. Validation rules in Zoho Desk help you overcome this problem by arresting incorrect data even before it can enter your help desk. Refer here for more details.

Detecting duplicate data

Duplicate data detection is crucial for maintaining data integrity and accurate records. The deduplication feature in Zoho Desk helps you find duplicate records in bulk and merge them.  Refer here for more details.

Addressing data security

Addressing data security involves implementing measures and practices to protect sensitive information from unauthorized access, breaches, and other cyber threats. Encryption takes the final stand against attempts to steal your data. It completes data protection by ensuring your data can neither be damaged nor stolen in the unfortunate event of a security breach.. Refer here for more details.

Inactive record management

Inactive record management involves managing records that are no longer in active use or required for daily operations. This encompasses outdated documents, files, or data that must be preserved for prospective reference, even though they do not require frequent access. In Zoho Desk, ticket management is simplified by automating the archiving of follow-up-less tickets over six months old by a deadline.. Refer here for more details.

Integrate data with analytics

Data analysis helps identify inconsistencies. Data analytics can automatically identify and flag inconsistencies within datasets. This helps agents quickly pinpoint errors or anomalies that might go unnoticed, improving the overall data quality. Data analytics can assess the quality of the data in real-time. It can provide metrics on completeness, accuracy, and consistency, giving agents the insights needed to ensure that the data they are working with is reliable. Refer here for more details.

Summing up

Ensuring a clean and accurate database is crucial for the effective operation of Zoho Desk. Data cleaning is not simply a one-time task; it requires a continuous effort to maintain the integrity and reliability of customer information. 


Establishing clear protocols and guidelines for data cleaning will ensure that agents understand their responsibilities and take accountability for upholding data quality. Mastering data cleaning practices will enhance your success.


Please stay tuned for more Desk Module stories.

 

Cheers,

 

Kavya Rao

The Zoho Desk Team

    • Recent Topics

    • MS Teams Flow Integration Question

      Where can I find the chat ID for the "Post message to chat" target?

    • Zoho Flow - Access denied to recover recording from call module - OpenAI

      Hi, I am trying to build a Flow to recover recoding when a new call is saved in my CRM. I have integrated my CRM with ringcentral and the recordings are saved in the event. Trigger: When new module entry Step 2: Fetch module entry (Zoho CRM says "permission

    • Unable to send price in big commerce from zoho flow.

      I am creating a flow from zoho flow to create a product in zoho inventory and sending this to big commerce. But the problem is like when ever i send the price its getting error. it require decimal format value if i am sending ${trigger.sales_rate} the

    • Not sending mail to new lead in zoho flow

      I have created a flow in zoho flow and triggered an action to send email notification when the new lead is created but even after user entering the mail id the email is not going to them

    • Access query string from incoming webhook URL in Zoho Flow

      I have a fairly straightforward use case, but cannot find anything conclusive on this subject. How can I simply access the query string of the incoming webhook request in Zoho Flow? I am attaching the Deal ID to the end of the request like: https://flow.zoho.com/762439902/flow/webhook/incoming?zapikey=1001.0dec2d7dd15080c464a13925275f0129.448c23ee219c545c89f5a178456cfc8b&isdebug=false&dealID=${Deals.Deal

    • Unable to access my Zoho forms account

      For some days now, I haven't had access to my Zoho Forms account. I keep getting an error that says, "You are an inactive user in your organization" via the mobile app and "You don't have permission to access this organization" via the web. I was removed

    • Identify Unused Deluge Functions in Zoho CRM

      Hello Zoho Support Team, I would like to request a feature that helps administrators identify unused or rarely used Deluge functions in Zoho CRM. Currently, Deluge functions are distributed across different areas, and there is no centralized overview

    • Update on V2 API End-of-Life Timeline

      Dear Users, Earlier this year, we shared the launch of the V3 APIs and requested users to migrate from the older V2 APIs by December 2025. We have received valuable feedback from our users and partners regarding their migration timelines. We are happy

    • Run a workflow after record merge

      Hello, We are wondering if there is a way to trigger a workflow after two records are merged? We have a sms service that use to text back and forth with Prospects and Contacts. To make it easy for our users, we automatically create them in this other

    • Live webinar | The Evolution of Zoho Show: 2025 Feature Recap

      2025 has been a year of exciting updates and features for Zoho Show. From advanced design and formatting tools to smarter presentation delivery, enhanced collaboration, and AI-powered features—along with the launch of our desktop apps, Show has continued

    • Batch Tracking custom function

      Hi fellow zoho users, We have our ecommerce site setup to shopify. I have some products I want to add batch tracking too, my only issue is that it breaks our shopify workflow (create sales order, invoice, payment, package) because it requires us to manually

    • Include Suggested Articles in New Ticket Email

      When someone creates a new ticket, is there any way to include recommended knowledge base articles (like the ones Zia Suggests) in the email notification to the user? When they're waiting for a reply, it would be nice to have sent them some recommended

    • Zoho Flow + QuickBooks Estimates – Line items not created from CRM subform

      Hi everyone, I’m trying to create QuickBooks Estimates from Zoho CRM Quotes using Zoho Flow. I’m aware that Zoho Flow’s native “Create Estimate” action does not support multiple line items, so I followed the community guidance for Invoices using a custom

    • SAP S/4 HANA Integration via ZOHO Flow

      Hi How do I change the SAP Client ID while creating a new connection ? MY client ID is 421. I believe the client id should be an input field for length 3 numbers rather then a drop down to select from a fixed set of values. Thanks

    • VLOOKUP FUNCTION PROBLEM

         Hello, i have a problem with the VLOOKUP  function in my sheet http://public.sheet.zoho.com/public/tonimoreno/indicemasacorporal2 in cell D2. This function doesn't work correctly and always returns the last content of the range. Can you help me?

    • Zoho Flow Completely Broken?

      Since December 13th, 100% of our flows have stopped working completely. Nothing is working or triggering??? I called support & sat on the line with them for 2 HOURS until they finally concluded it was a back-end problem on their end?? Now i'm calling

    • Print / Export full Dashboard page

      Hello Zoho team, It is currently only possible to print/export one component of a dashboard at a time. Requesting the option to print/export a full dashboard page with all components to a pdf or picture. Doing through the browser doesn't give good results.

    • emails duplicated in my outlook client

      Hello I am just new here and I have a litle problem that I do not find how to solve. I sumarise here after. Your help would be very appreciated. I have just recently contracted this zoho mail servicesservices as an initial evaluation yesterday night. I then:   - opened a free account  - created 1 initial email address ..........@domain.com  - created a second email address ..........@domain.com - proceeded with the config instructions (checking the ownership of my domain, changing MX etc... ) as

    • How to check task starting time in zoho mobile app?

      I am using the Zoho mobile app on my iPhone, and I am not able to see the task's starting and finishing times. When opening the Task information / Details, I can only see the Task start date and due date, but not the time. Is there any way to check a

    • Creating an extension in Sigma: Zoho CRM isn't selectable as a service

      I have 2 Zoho accounts which are part of 2 different workplaces. One workplace is able to select 'Zoho CRM' as a service option when creating a new extension, the other one is not. I'm not sure what the exact differences are between them. What do I need

    • List of packaged components and if they are upgradable

      Hello, In reference to the article Components and Packaging in Zoho Vertical Studio, can you provide an overview of what these are. Can you also please provide a list of of components that are considered Packaged and also whether they are Upgradable?

    • RouteIQ for Zoho FSM

      Beste, Zou wel top zijn dat we een RouteIQ hebben voor FSM aangezien we constant moeten zien wat de beste route is voor onze monteurs. Nu moeten we een speciale aparte programma hebben om de beste route te berrekenen voor onze monteurs aangezien de planning

    • Export Tickets from the Help Center

      Hello everyone! We are now allowing end users to export tickets directly from the help center. The ticket export allows users to: Filter tickets by Department, Priority, and Account before exporting. Download files from Export History (Setup > Data administration

    • Is it possible to remove filtering options?

      My CRM has a lot of custom fields that should not be used in filters or views. Fields that are automated and exist only to store temporary values that get used in functions. These create a lot of noise in the list of fields to filter. Isn't there any

    • Function #18: Associate invoice templates automatically based on customer language

      For businesses dealing with a diverse linguistic clientele, it becomes crucial to send out invoices in the customer's preferred language to ensure effective communication. This requirement can be handled in Zoho Books by creating invoice templates in

    • Changing field types

      Question im a Zoho CRM user and curious, if I change a flied type from single or multi line text to a URL field type will i lose the data in the field or will it be converted to website link automatically. Thanks

    • Quote PDF – Header image stopped rendering suddenly

      Hello Zoho Support Team, We are facing an issue with Quote PDF templates in Zoho Books. Previously, images added inside the Quote header HTML were rendering correctly. However, recently the header image is no longer appearing, while header text still

    • Changing Default PDF Name

      Is it possible to change the default name of a PDF? As of right now, all of my quotes are named 'QT_$QuoteNumber' (i,e: 'QT_19803471298374) - would it be possible to change this to: '$CompanyName - $AccountName - $QuoteNumber' for instance?

    • Tip 2: Recursive functions in Deluge: How to dynamically run a function for a specified number of times.

      Hi folks, As part of the Zoho Creator - Tips and Tricks series every fortnight, we are back today with a new tip on Recursive functions.  Let us first quickly understand what Recursive functions are: A function that calls itself one or more times is known as a Recursive function. That is, you can execute a function to perform a particular action a specific number of times. And, at the end of each iteration, a new output is generated. Recursive functions are commonly used by programmers as it enables

    • Function #48: Manage fixed installment payments using Zoho Books

      Hello everyone, and welcome back to our series! Businesses offer installment payment options to their customers, particularly for expensive purchases, to ease the financial burden on them. By breaking down the total cost into smaller, more manageable

    • Spotlight series #6: The Show app for Android TV has a new look!

      Hello everyone! We are delighted to introduce our revamped and redesigned Show app for Android TV.  Smart TVs are exploding in popularity. Android TV alone has over 110 million active monthly devices. Zoho Show, as part of a constant effort to improve

    • Can’t create alias “Email alias already exists”

      Hi, I’m trying to create the following alias for my domain email. contact@ personal@ private@ But I get a email alias already exists. I had a soho account previously which I deleted which I suspect is causing the issue. Can someone assist? Kind Rega

    • Appraisals - Order of Previous Reviews Should Be Newest to Oldest

      The new Zoho People layout generally does a decent job at providing the necessary information for performing appraisals of employee performance. One example of this is the Previous Reviews section: This information is helpful when conducting a review.

    • Paging through API results. a major gap in your documentation.

      There is no way for me. to get all of my data through a single API call. Typically REST APis have mechanisms for paging through API results. But the documentation for the API I am using: https://desk.zoho.com/DeskAPIDocument#Introduction Has no mention

    • Recurring invoices were generated with old template...

      I have recurring invoices setup. Ones generated on 10.20.2025 used the modified template I had used. But for some reason, on the ones created on 11/20/2025, it seems the invoices created reverted to the previous version of the invoice template. Notably,

    • Tip #54- Exploring the Files Icon in Zoho Assist- 'Insider Insights'

      As we’re already in mid-December, it’s a good time to take a closer look at one of the most useful options in the Zoho Assist remote support dashboard—the Files icon. To get started, log in to Zoho Assist using your credentials. Once you’re in, navigate

    • Tip#47: Estimation planner

      Sprint planning becomes easier, smoother, more collaborative and more accurate with the Estimation Planner extension. Most work items involve multiple users, and each user's role and effort vary. To provide an unbiased and fair estimation point to the

    • Time Tracking on Iphone doesn't stop

      When I start a time tracking session the timer starts as expected. However when I hit stop, the timer remains on that project. The only buttons available are discard and start. Start runs the timer more and discard says it will throw away the data from

    • Zoho Sign - Zoho CRM extension upgrade

      Hi everyone, We've updated Zoho Sign extension for Zoho CRM with significant internal changes. Impact on existing Zoho Sign extension users Users using the extension without customization If you are using the integration without implementing Zoho Sign's

    • Group by Owner/ Owner Kanban /Group by Custom Field

      Hi, We are missing the option of viewing Tasks grouped by their owner, as it is an essential function for us to manage our employees' working tasks. We find it hard to inspect what are the tasks that our employees are working on.  We are seeking an option

    • Next Page