Fifth Insight - Maximize the role of Departments

The Wheels of Ticketing - Desk Stories

Maximize the role of Departments

What are Departments?

Departments represent the various business divisions within your organization, each serving distinct functions that align with your products, geographical locations, or specialized teams. With Zoho Desk, you have the power to create and manage departments tailored to your customer support needs, enabling you to provide dedicated assistance for each division.

Every department can have its own set of agents, customizable mailboxes, live chat support, community forums, web forms, and social media channels. This ensures that each division can operate independently and effectively, addressing its customers' unique queries and concerns.

You can also implement specific automation processes, service agreements, and business hours tailored to each department. This level of customization allows you to design a support workflow that aligns perfectly with each division's goals and dynamics, enhancing overall efficiency and customer satisfaction. 

By managing departments independently, you can streamline your support process and maintain efficiency for all aspects of customer support across your organization.

Role of Departments in Zoho Desk

Zoho Desk departments play a crucial role in enhancing customer support by effectively organizing support tickets. By grouping specialized agents into dedicated teams, each department can focus on specific types of queries. This targeted approach improves the accuracy and quality of ticket handling and significantly reduces response times. By ensuring that each customer receives expert assistance tailored to their needs, this structured method provides a smoother overall customer service experience and fosters greater satisfaction and loyalty.

Users can seamlessly transfer agents and email traffic to another active department. If a department is disabled, agents and emails can be reassigned to ensure that any messages sent to the transferred addresses continue generating tickets within the new department. The service captures emails directed to support addresses, routes them to Zoho Desk, and converts them into actionable tickets. While the service does not create tickets directly, it guarantees customer emails are readily available for ticket generation.

How do departments work?

• Categorization—Tickets are classified based on the issue's nature, product line, or service area. 
• Routing—The system routes tickets to the relevant department, ensuring that inquiries are handled by experts in that particular domain. 
• Workload Management—Departments help manage the support workload efficiently, improving response times and overall customer service. 
• Collaboration—Departments facilitate team collaboration by providing a structured environment for handling and resolving issues. 
• Tracking—Departments allow stakeholders to track the status and progress of tickets throughout their lifecycle,
  

A story for better understanding

Optimizing the Support Workflow with Departments

In a company called Help Always, departments often found themselves working in silos. The customer support, product development, and product management teams all had separate priorities, leading to occasional miscommunication and delays in addressing customer needs. Each department was focused on its metrics, often overlooking the broader picture of customer satisfaction.

Recognising the need for better alignment, the leadership team implemented a new strategy called "Departmental Synergy." This initiative aimed to break down walls and create a more cohesive work environment where departments could collaborate efficiently and prioritise the customer experience.

The first step was to establish weekly cross-departmental meetings. Representatives from each department came together to discuss ongoing projects, share insights, and identify challenges they were facing. During one such meeting, Pheobe from customer support highlighted a recurring issue where customers were confused about product features, leading to a spike in support tickets. Mark from product management realized that the confusion stemmed from a recent update that hadn't been communicated to users.

Inspired by this divulgence, the team created a unified communication plan. They launched a “Clarity for All” project where the marketing team would develop clearer messaging for new product features. In contrast, tech support and product management collaborated to create comprehensive FAQS and help articles. The departments worked together, turning the helping hand of ASAP’s help widget into a powerful tool that provided real-time guidance to customers on the latest updates.

As they implemented these changes, they noticed a shift in customer interactions. Support tickets began to decrease, and customer feedback improved significantly. Customers expressed appreciation for the clarity in communication and the easy access to information through the help widget. They felt supported and valued, which boosted customer loyalty and created a win-win resolution.

The success of the "Clarity for All" initiative sparked a transformative shift in how departments approached customer experience. As a result, key metrics, such as customer satisfaction scores, ticket resolution times, and user retention, became collective goals embraced by all supporting departments. This new focus encouraged each team to work together, collaborating across functions, to ensure that every customer interaction contributed positively to overall service.

The result was a more cohesive approach to customer support, where departments actively collaborated, used shared metrics to drive performance, and ultimately created a better customer experience.

In this environment of continuous improvement and shared goals, teams found an increased sense of purpose and motivation, knowing that their collective efforts made a tangible difference in customer experience and business outcomes.

As the months went by, Help Always work culture transformed. Silos crumbled, and a unified approach took its place. Pheobe's overall strategy was much appreciated. The departments developed a shared language focused on customer needs, and this synergy extended beyond just internal communication—it resonated with clients who felt they were now at the heart of the Help Always operations.

Ultimately, improving the journey towards departmental synergy exemplifies that excellent customer service isn’t just a single department's responsibility but a collaborative effort that elevates everyone involved.

Benefits of Departments

More knowledgeable answers and happier customers

Support significantly improves when tickets are directed to the appropriate agent within the right department. Skilled agents who deliver exceptional service can elevate customers' support experience and overall satisfaction. This, in turn, can result in increased sales, greater customer loyalty, and positive recommendations.

Rapid response times

When a help desk ticket reaches the appropriate agent in the respective department, they can respond without delay. Rather than searching for answers or checking with colleagues, they will immediately know how to address the issue, enhancing both resolution and response times. This ultimately leads to greater customer satisfaction.

Clear responsibilities and more direct workflows

Organizations that establish clear responsibilities within departments streamline ticket management and enhance agent workflows and efficiency. When tickets are assigned to specific departments, this targeted approach eliminates the need for agents to rummage through a cluttered inbox in search of tickets they can assist with.

Additionally, leveraging a knowledge base creator empowers businesses to organize and present valuable information systematically. This resource makes helpful content readily accessible, benefiting customers seeking solutions and support agents who require quick reference materials. Companies can foster a more effective support environment by prioritizing responsiveness and clarity.

Multiple layouts and multiple departments can complement each other in a support system by enhancing communication, organization, and overall efficiency.  The benefits of this approach include:

• Structured support environment   
• Clear role assignments   
• Centralized information access   
• Enhanced user experience   
• Feedback and improvement loop   
• Tracking and analytics   
• Cohesive branding and messaging   
• Cross-department collaboration 
  

Wrapping up

By streamlining the inquiry process, departments enhance the overall effectiveness of customer support, reduce response times, and foster higher satisfaction rates among users. 

Please stay tuned for more Desk Module stories.

 

Cheers,

 

Kavya Rao

The Zoho Desk Team

Also read:

• Fourth Insight - The power of Multi-Layouts
• Third Insight - The Importance of Data Segregation
  
• Second Insight - Let's talk Layouts
• First Insight - Find your Fields
  

• Topic Participants

• Kavya Rao Addepalli

  

• Recent Topics

• Download Google Drive Shared Image/File Using Deluge – Complete Guide

  Download Google Drive Shared Image/File Using Deluge – Complete Guide When working with Google Drive share links inside Deluge, many developers face a common challenge: 👉 How can we download a Google Drive file directly using Deluge? This article explains

• How to update Acuity appointment fields from Zoho Flow?

  Hi, I need help with Zoho Flow → Acuity Scheduling integration. What I’m doing Appointment created in Acuity Zoho Flow creates a Zoho Calendar event I want to send the Zoho Calendar Event UID back into Acuity (into a custom form field) This is so that

• When will Zoho Learn be able to support SCORM files on the mobile app?

  When I click the SCORM content, I just get a message saying it's not possible yet. Yet implies that it will be coming soon. All I'm asking for is a realistic timeline so I know whether or not to invest my time in using it. If it will be soon, then I will

• No horizontal scroll bar in reports

  Hi support team, I created a pivot table report which contains many columns (in my application about 15). The problem is that there is no bottom scroll bar to display colums that does not fit within the browser page. I saw that it was possible to resize colums, but colums sizes are not saved within the session. So could you add scroll bar, and eventually make colums sizes stored in the user session ? Best regards,

• Zoho Map integration tasks have changed - you need to "Locate all instances of Zoho Map integration tasks in your Deluge scripts by searching for the v1 marker... before 16 January 2026"

  Details of an issue specific to Zoho CRM + Deluge Functions (originally posted in this forum) can be found here: https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/community/topic/zoho-map-integration-tasks-have-changed-you-need-to-locate-all-instances-of-zoho-map-integration-tasks-in-your-deluge-scripts-by-searching-for-the-v1-marker

• Ask the Experts 25: Experience the full spectrum of Zoho Desk’s autumn and spring releases for 2025

  Hello Everyone, We’re on the 25th episode of our ATE series! It's a true milestone in our live community interactions! It’s been an amazing journey since we started in October 2018. Zoho Desk has come a long way, evolving with the support of a wonderful

• filter broke my data

  I uploaded a file recently from Sheets and it has top 2 rows frozen, with table headers in second row and each one is filterable. somehow my first 2 columns became unfiltered and no matter what I do I cannot reapply the filter?? also didn't realize they

• Request to remove domain "greentechcoatings.vn" from previous Zoho account

  Hello Zoho Support, I would like to register the domain "greentechcoatings.vn" in my new Zoho Mail account, but I receive the message "This domain is already associated with another account". Please remove the domain from any previous/unknown account

• Introducing Multi-Asset Support in Work Orders, Estimates, and Service Appointments

  We’re excited to announce a highly requested enhancement in Zoho FSM — you can now associate multiple assets with Work Orders, Estimates, and Service Appointments. This update brings more clarity, flexibility, and control to your field service operations,

• Trigger actions in third-party apps using Zoho Flow

  Greetings, I hope you're all doing well. We're excited to share an enhancement to Bigin's workflow capabilities. Zoho Flow Actions are now available in Bigin, enabling you to automate tasks across third-party applications directly from your workflow and

• Enroll, Script, Win: Hackathon 2025!

  Hello CRM Developers! Are you ready to create some magic with Client Script, Widgets and Functions in Zoho CRM? Let’s make Hackathon 2025 an unforgettable adventure! The Zoho Developer Community Hackathon 2025 is here, and it’s your time to shine! REGISTER

• Reupload and rename from one field to another field (file upload)

  Hi Everyone, Sorry, i have question to use invoke url for rename and reupload attachments file to another field. Tested on development mode. Zoho C6. Refer to https://www.zoho.com/creator/help/api/v2/upload-file.html look my error notification. Does anyone

• Zoho Help Desk - Not receiving emails

  Hello… I am on your trial version of help desk… and I am having trouble getting emails from Zoho Help Desk to my MS Outlook Exchange Server… So when a customer sends ticket request I am not getting an email with a notification? I have read your articles

• Export History timeline

  Hi, I have an idea, bout zoho desk history of the ticket it would be great if the agent or admin of the zoho desk can export the timeline of the ticket history for agent report or on other matter.

• Almost all Flows are being queued

  A few days ago I saw one of my Flows status was Queued. This was the first time this had ever happened. Now, almost every Flow that triggers is Queued for at least a few minutes. If I re-trigger the Flow (which causes separate problems) they sometimes

• Cancellation of written-off invoice

  Hi, Can I know when we cancel the write off (write back), in which FY, the reversal is recorded. It doesn't ask as to when the write off should be cancelled to reflect!. It shouldn't reflect in the year in which the invoice was written off since the Year

• How Do I Refund a Customer Directly to Their Credit Card?

  Hi, I use books to auto-charge my customers credit card. But when I create a credit note there doesn't seem to be a way to directly refund the amount back to their credit card. Is the only way to refund a credit note by doing it "offline" - or manually-

• How to restrict user/portal user change canvas view

  Hi , I would like to restrict user / portal user change their canvas view because I hide some sensitive field for them. I dont want my user switch the canvas view that do not belong to them But seems Zoho do not provide this setting?

• Employment Contract / HRMS Documents - Zoho People

  How do I create customized HR documents for disbursal from Zoho People ? Example, say offer letters ? appointment letters ? Memos ? We want to be able to preset these in one or ther other form and issue them to employees who are in Zoho People.

• Custom validation in CRM schema

  Validation rules in CRM layouts work nicely, good docs by @Kiran Karthik P https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/kb/crm/customize-crm-account/validation-rules/articles/create-validation-rules I'd prefer validating data input 'closer to the schema'

• Send Zoho Forms Link using Zoho CRM Email Templates

  I have set up Zoho Forms and CRM integration to pre-populate data from Zoho CRM to Zoho Forms. The setup is working fine. I have also created an email template in the Zoho CRM deals module to send Zoho forms links. So when I send an email using that template

• Live webinar: Craft and deliver impactful slides with Show’s desktop apps

  If you love the comfort of working on your desktop and want a setup that keeps you focused and uninterrupted, this session is made for you. We’re excited to invite you to our upcoming live webinar: "Craft and deliver impactful slides with Show's desktop

• Enhancements to Bigin's forms

  Greetings, I hope all of you are doing well. We're happy to announce a few recent enhancements we've made to Bigin's forms. We'll go over each one in detail. Merge field support in auto-filled forms The auto-fill option in Bigin's forms lets you predefine

• Table dimensions

  I try changing the dimensions of the table on my computer but it doesn't change. Do I have to be a premium member or does it only work on the app?

• Direct link to Record Summary

  Hi everyone, In one of my reports, I have built a Record Summary template to display the details of one record. I would like to be able to link directly to this Record Summary once I submit a new record, without having to go to the list of records first and click on View. Is there a possibility to do so ?  Should I use the URL by passing some parameters ? Thank you very much for your help ! Guillaume

• Amendment effective date

  Hi everyone, I noticed that the amendment effective date mentionned in my amendment is not right. Indeed, when a contract is amended several times, it states the previous amendment and their effective date. However, the effective date stated is always

• STOCK history in zohosheets

  is it possible to get historical stock value using stock function in zoho sheets? i could not see from and to period in the helper document.

• Auto sync Photo storage

  Hello I am new to Zoho Workdrive and was wondering if the is a way of automatically syncing photos on my Android phone to my workdrive as want to move away from Google? Thanks

• Can't add a sender adress from zoho campaigns

  hi, I need to change the sender address for a campaign.  When i try to add it i get a message to say 'duplicated email address found while adding your sender address'.  This is the first campaign i'm sending so I don't understand why this message is displayed? Thanks Jane 

• Zoho Webinar custom registration fields into Zoho CRM

  I am pushing webinar registrations into zoho crm as leads and this is working fine. I have added a few custom fields to my webinar registration and I wish for these fields values to get mapped into the resulting CRM lead record. I am not seeing anywhere

• Condition based aggregate fields in subforms

  Hello everyone, We're excited to inform you about the latest enhancements made to our aggregate field capabilities in subforms; create aggregate fields based on conditions! An aggregate field is a column on which a mathematical function has been applied.

• Zoho Desk Training

  Hello, We've had Zoho desk for a while now, but we run into issues occasionally, and I was wondering if there was a customer who currently uses it and really enjoys the functionality, that would be wiling to chat with us?

• Introducing parent-child ticketing in Zoho Desk [Early access]

  Hello Zoho Desk users! We have introduced the parent-child ticketing system to help customer service teams ensure efficient resolution of issues involving multiple, related tickets. You can now combine repetitive and interconnected tickets into parent-child

• Text/SMS With Zoho Desk

  Hi Guys- Considering using SMS to get faster responses from customers that we are helping.  Have a bunch of questions; 1) Which provider is better ClickaTell or Screen Magic.  Screen Magic seems easier to setup, but appears to be 2x as expensive for United States.  I cannot find the sender id for Clickatell to even complete the configuration. 2) Can customer's reply to text messages?  If so are responses linked back to the zoho ticket?  If not, how are you handling this, a simple "DO NOT REPLY" as

• Agent password reset

  Hi Zoho support, I would like to ask if there is a way the admin can reset a password of an agent? Regards

• Group Calendar as Default for adding new events, etc?

  Hi, I want to make the group calendar (that I created, if that makes a difference) the default for anything new I add to the calendar. How can I do that? thanks.

• Can receive but not send messages in Zoho Mail

  Hello! I was able to configure my email client successfully in that I can receive messages just fine. However, when I send messages out, they seem to go out fine (I don't receive any errors or anything), but the recipient does NOT receive those messages.

• 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

• Mail is sent twice!

  Been using Zoho for a while now. Installed Zoho for someone else and some weird things are happening. Mails are being sent twice. He is using Thunderbird as an email client. I already read about email being duplicated in the sent folder. But in my case

• Can't login IMAP suddenly

  Since this evening I'm getting the error: You are yet to enable IMAP for your account. Please contact your administrator... IMAP always been enabled in my account and was workign fine for the past 7 years. Already tried turning IMAP off and on again.

• Next Page