Automation#21: Track Ticket Transfers Across Departments

Automation#21: Track Ticket Transfers Across Departments


Hello Everyone!
With Halloween just around the corner, we'd like to let you know the Zoho Desk team is always there to sweep away your customer service troubles!
This week, we’re excited to introduce a custom function that tracks tickets moved between departments.
While Zoho Desk has simplified customer service, keeping your support team stress-free and your customers happy often requires thoughtful adjustments. Zylker Techfix found a great solution with this feature. They handle services for different gadget types under specific departments, but sometimes tickets accidentally end up in the wrong department. Agents moved them to the correct one, but needed a way to track these transfers. By using the Time Entry feature and a custom function, they generated reports of all moved tickets effortlessly.

Here’s the custom function that utilizes the Time Entry feature to track tickets transferred between departments.
Prerequisites
1. Create Custom Fields
To track tickets moved from one Department (call it Dep A) to the other Department (call it Dep B) or vice versa, 
1.1 Go to Setup (S) >> Customization >> Layouts and Fields. Select Time Entry under Layouts and the Department (let's say Dep B) to which you would like to move the ticket. 
1.2 Create three custom single line fields in the Time Entry layout of the respective department (Dep B) . Click on the layout, 
1.2.1 Add a single line field with a label From department.
1.2.2 Add another single line field with a label To Department.
1.2.3  Add the third single line field with the label Agent Name.
1.3 Note the API names for the the single line fields to insert into the custom function. 
To find the API name, Click on the Gear wheel icon of the single line field. Click on Edit Properties, you will find the API Name under the Edit Field. Refer to Create Custom Fields. 
NotesIf you would like move the ticket from Dep B to Dep A, create the similar fields in the time entry layout for Dep A.
2. Create a connection
      2.1 Go to Setup(S) and choose Connections under Developer Space.
      2.2 Click Create Connection.
      2.3 Select Zoho OAuth under Default Connection.
      2.4 Set the connection name as ticket_time_entry_add.
      2.5 Under Scope, choose the below scope values:
             Desk.tickets.READ
             Desk.tickets.UPDATE
      2.6 Click Create and Connect.
      2.7 Click Connect and click Accept.
Connection is created successfully.

Create a Workflow Rule
1. Go to Setup(S), choose Workflows under Automation. 
2. In Workflow Rules, select the Department (Dep B) to which you want to move the tickets. 
3. Under Workflows, click Rules >> Create Rule.
In the Basic Information section,
4. Select Tickets from the drop-down menu under Module.
5. Enter a Rule Name and Description for the rule.
6. If you want to activate the rule right away, select the Active checkbox. Else, create the rule and activate it later.
7. Click Next.
In the Execute on section, follow these steps:
8. Select Create.  
9. Click Next.
10. Leave the Criteria section blank and click Next. 
11. In the Actions section, click the + icon and select New next to Custom Functions.
12. Enter a Name and Description for the custom function.         
                                         
13. In the script window, insert the Custom Function given below:
  1. //----------- User Input -------------
  3. fromDepartmentFieldAPIName = "cf_from_department";
  4. toDepartmentFieldAPIName = "cf_to_department";
  5. agentAPIName = "cf_agent_name";
  6. //----------- Configuration ------------------
  7. logs = Collection();
  8. timeEntryParam = Map();
  9. cf = Map();
  10. historyParam = Map();
  11. historyParam.put("from",0);
  12. historyParam.put("limit",1);
  13. historyParam.put("fieldName","departmentId");
  14. ticketHistory = invokeurl
  15. [
  16. url :deskURL + "/api/v1/tickets/" + ticketId + "/History"
  17. type :GET
  18. parameters:historyParam
  19. connection:"ticket_time_entry_add"
  20. ];
  21. logs.insert("ticketHistory":ticketHistory);
  22. if(ticketHistory != null && ticketHistory.get("data") != null)
  23. {
  24. historyDetails = ticketHistory.get("data").get("0");
  25. logs.insert("historyDetails":historyDetails);
  26. if(historyDetails.get("eventName") == "TicketUpdated" && historyDetails.get("eventInfo").get(0).get("propertyName") == "Department")
  27. {
  28.   departmentDetailsChanges = historyDetails.get("eventInfo").get("0").get("propertyValue");
  29.   previousDepartment = departmentDetailsChanges.get("previousValue").get("name");
  30.   currentDepartment = departmentDetailsChanges.get("updatedValue").get("name");
  31.   agent = historyDetails.get("actor").get("name");
  32.   departmentChangedTime = historyDetails.get("eventTime");
  33.   cf.put(fromDepartmentFieldAPIName,previousDepartment);
  34.   cf.put(toDepartmentFieldAPIName,currentDepartment);
  35.   cf.put(agentAPIName,agent);
  36.   timeEntryParam.put("executedTime",departmentChangedTime);
  37.   timeEntryParam.put("cf",cf);
  38.   logs.insert("timeEntryParam":timeEntryParam);
  39.   createTimeEntry = invokeurl
  40.   [
  41.   url :deskURL + "/api/v1/tickets/" + ticketId + "/timeEntry"
  42.   type :POST
  43.   parameters:timeEntryParam.toString()
  44.   connection:"ticket_time_entry_add"
  45.   ];
  46.   logs.insert("createTimeEntry":createTimeEntry);
  47. }
  48. }
  49. info logs;
Notes
NOTE
a. In Line 2, Replace ".com" with the domain extension based on your Data Center.
b. In Line 3, add the API name of the From Department created in the Time Entry Layout.
c. In Line 4, add the API name of the To Department created in the Time Entry Layout.
d. In Line 5, add the API name of the Agent Name created in the Time Entry Layout.
14. Click Edit Arguments and include the argument mapping as below: 
       14.1 In the Name field, type ticketId and from the Value drop-down list, select Ticket Id under the Tickets Section.
15. Click Save to save the custom function.
16. Click Save again to save the workflow.
Notes
If you would like to move the ticket from Dep B to Dep A, create  the workflow rule in Dep A as well. 
Creating Ticket Tracking Reports
To track the ticket moved from one department, you can generate Reports under Analytics. 
Go to the Analytics module >> Choose Reports >> Add Report >> Select Tickets module and Time Entry under Related modules. Refer to Create Custom Report.
This custom function will help you keep an eye on your ticket movements, ensuring that none of your important tickets go missing!
Wishing you a delightful Halloween filled with joy and treats, along with a wonderful fall season! 🎃🍂
Until next week,
Warm regards,
Lydia Kiruba | Zoho Desk 


    • Sticky Posts

    • Zoho Desk Virtual Meetup: US Central, October 5 - 7, 2021

      After the interactive Virtual Meetups in the other regions, we are starting with the US Central and Midwest regions from October 5 to October 7, 2021. The dates for other regions will be announced soon.  At this event, we will explore the topics which

    • 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

    • Ask the Experts 10: A 5-hour online Q&A on Zoho Desk Best Practices

      Welcome to Zoho Desk's Ask the Experts session! This is a monthly discussion on our  forums; wherein a panel of experts will take on questions  specific to topics related to Zoho Desk. The panel will be available for a 5-hour period and will answer any questions posted here.   Let's begin the year learning some best practices from our experts. In this month's ATE we are opening the floor to questions on how to use Zoho Desk the best way.  If you have a business use case but not sure if Workflow is

    • 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. 

    • Ask the Experts 7: A 5-hour online Q&A on Telephony and Call Module

      Welcome to Ask the Experts session! This is a monthly discussion in forums; each session, a panel of experts will take questions on specific topics related to Zoho Desk. The panel will be available for a 5-hour period and answer any questions posted here. In this month's Ask the Experts, we will take questions on everything related to Telephony and the Call Module in Zoho Desk. We will discuss the following aspects:  Integration with different Telephony vendors Routing calls to agents Converting

    • Recent Topics

    • Archive Option in Conversation View

      Hello, I have a suggestion\request to add an "Archive Thread" button in conversation view of Zoho Mail. The best suggestion I have is to put an "Archive Thread" button next to the "Label Entire Thread" button in conversation view. Most users don't just

    • Possible to backdate Stage shifts in Deals module?

      I want to enter my organisation's historical dealflow data into the CRM and it's important that the Stage history is showing the correct dates in the past of when it happened. Is there a way for me to modify the "Modified Time" in the Stage History Related

    • Layout Prompt when creating an oportunity

      Hi There, Is there a way to create a pop-up prompt when I create a new Deal giving me the option of what layout to use based on a certain requirement? So, if the prompt had two options 1. is a new business Deal 2. is a renewal Deal Thanks in advance

    • Conditional layouts - support for multi-select picklists

      Hi, The documentation for conditional layouts says the following: "Layout Rules cannot be used on the following field types: Auto Number Lookup Multi Select Lookup User Lookup Formula File Upload Multi Line" I have a custom module with a multi-pick list

    • Elevating Email Security on Zoho Desk: DKIM Now Mandatory

      Hello Zoho Desk Users! It has been a wonderful journey with you on Zoho Desk. As we welcome 2025, we are strengthening our efforts to ensure a secure and seamless experience for you. To enhance email security, DKIM configuration will be mandatory for

    • How to upload mass inventory quantity adjustment with batch number?

      I wanted to clean-up our inventory list; however, I have trouble performing the task as I don't know how to mass upload inventory adjustment with batch numbers. I don't want to do it manually as there are if not thousands at hundreds of inventory tr

    • Product sale report with margins

      we unable to get the data as per product sale report with margins so we need help in this

    • CLIENT PORTAL (If clients can place orders directly on the portal)

      Zoho client portal is excellent. Everything is there except one thing. Client should be able to place orders directly on the portal. This would enhance the portal and end users will be extremely happy. This suggestion infact came from one of our client.

    • Is there provision to charge the attendees to join the webinar?

      We want to host some webinar of public interest and want to charge them to participate in this. Does this feature in-build in the application? Offcourse, we will be having Razor pay account activated for these purpose.

    • Emails take up to 14 hours to arrive and often never arrive at all.

      I've been on hold on your support phone for two hours. I spent an hour waiting to talk to somebody somebody finally picked up. They asked me to give them my ID number and when I found it, they were gone they didn't hang up. They just walked away from

    • Emails take up to 14 hours to arrive and often never arrive at all.

      I've been on hold on your support phone for two hours. I spent an hour waiting to talk to somebody somebody finally picked up. They asked me to give them my ID number and when I found it, they were gone they didn't hang up. They just walked away from

    • Print PO receipt

      Hi I would like to print the PO receipt. There does not seem to be any way to do this. I track batch numbers and printing the PO does not show this. Only the receipt would show the details of the receipt. Currently I print the screen which does not have

    • How can the direct link to a ticket be created from ticket #?

      Our agents will be using ZDesk but we will have to create direct link to tickets in another ERP by providing the Desk Ticket # Is there a way to create the direkt links from the ticket # alone? Do we have to use the API to get the direct links?

    • Allow standard layout to be used/edited as a starting point for canvas

      Hello, I would really love to improve the look of our CRM interface using Canvas but we have spent so much time customising the screens already (in standard view) that the thought of starting from scratch and building everything again, field by field,

    • How to link to/displaya png stored in workdrive in a Creator HTML snippet?

      How to link to/display png stored in workdrive in a Creator HTML snippet? I've tried it as a plain external link and as an iframe. The iframe works but is kinda slow...and I'd prefer to be able to do finer-grained positioning but referencing the png as

    • Has anyone built a ticket export that allows Help Center users to export the tickets shown in the My Area list they are looking at?

      Hi, We are moving to Zoho Desk soon. Our current support system displays an option in our help center allowing customers to export their Open, Closed, or all tickets based on which list they are looking at. We need to offer the same in Zoho Desk help

    • Contemplating moving my site from WordPress to Zoho Sites

      Hi Everyone, We currently find ourselves in a situation where we ant to review and update our current sites content. We are small business owners, not developers. We currently use a wide range of Zoho products. We sometimes think about the possibility of either moving or just starting from scratch on Zoho Sites. I would like to know if anyone has done this and of course the things that need to be considered. We have spent quite a bit of time getting our current site positioned organically and I guess

    • Using AVG in SQL Query

      My current SQL Query is: SELECT "Client Info", avg("Revenue") FROM "Funded Deals" GROUP BY "Client Info" The current table that this is creating: Client Info avg(Revenue) Previous 4175 1st - New 3411 1st - Old 3013 Renew 3069 While this works as I had

    • Unified customer portal login

      As I'm a Zoho One subscriber I can provide my customers with portal access to many of the Zoho apps. However, the customer must have a separate login for each app, which may be difficult for them to manage and frustrating as all they understand is that

    • Tracking Implementations

      We create Opportunities (Renamed Deals) with associated Quotes (renamed Products and Services). When we close the deal, we want to be able to track the implementation of each product separately. For instance, the client may have ordered Item A, Item B

    • Is this link the transparent pixel used to track opens?

      Could someone please help me identify this highlighted link? It is automatically created by Zoho and a lot of contacts receiving campaigns will click on this link. I don't believe that it is the "update your preferences link" because on the Link Clicks

    • Zoho desk desktop application

      does zoho desk has a destop applicaion?

    • How can I view Help Center articles in 'Sandbox' mode?

      I have published some help center articles but when I try to preview the knowledge base page, it says 'We have no content to display'.

    • Is this possible with Campaigns?

      My company is currently moving CRM's from Monday to Zoho One. Currently, our marketing lead process is send out 7 sms messages over 14 days if the lead is in a certain status. If we don't get a response the lead is put into a "Closed" status. Do we buy

    • Tracking leads through the sales process

      Our leads are being generated via paid google ads and are arriving to us with UTM data showing lead sources, campaign mediums and campaign names. I want to track the progress of those leads as they migrate through our sales funnel while maintaining a

    • Error 403: Forbidden When Updating Email Signature via API

      Hi Zoho Desk team, First, congratulations again on the excellent Zoho API. But, I’m encountering an issue while attempting to update an email signature via the API. Whenever I make a request to update the signature, the response returns an HTTP 403 Forbidden

    • Opening & working multiple tickets

      We work in multiple tickets at the same time. Currently to do this, we have to open multiple instances of Desk.  Is there a way to do this by just opening multiple ticket tabs within 1 instance of Desk?  

    • Different content per social media account..

      Is there a way to add different content per social media account on one post?

    • Merge tickets

      Hello, I am attempting to merge two tickets; however, the option to merge does not appear to be available. Could you kindly confirm if this feature has been relocated or removed? Additionally, could you please provide guidance on the correct process to

    • Add "Merge by Ticket ID" Option on Ticket Screen

      Dear Zoho Team, We would like to request a new feature for the ticket interface in Zoho Desk. Specifically, we propose adding a button to the ticket screen that allows users to merge the current ticket with another ticket by directly providing the second

    • Using tickets to train Zia

      Hi Team, I would like to know if there is any way that Zia can also learn from previous tickets in addition to the articles from the knowledge base. Since we have most of our knowledge curerently in the tickets and that this is hard to combine into a

    • Unable to delete Junk Lead and Not Qualified from the Lead Status field

      Are Junk Lead and Not Qualified default fields or something that cannot be deleted? I have gone into the Leads module and made sure there are no records using these values. Other values have a minus sign that allows me to remove them, but these two fields do not have that option.

    • Welcome Link Expired

      Hi The links sent to the users didn't get clicked on in time and now all the links have expired. Is there a way to send a new link without deleting them and re-adding them>

    • Zoho Developer Community Monthly Digest - December 2024

      Hello everyone! As we step into the new year, let’s reflect on the strides we’ve made together and gear up for the exciting opportunities 2025 holds. This month’s digest highlights key updates, engaging discussions, and upcoming events designed to keep

    • Allow "add new" option to picklists and multiselection fields from add or edit pages

      Hello zoho, please insert an add option (ie +)sign) to pick and multiselect fields so we can add new options while entering or editing records. For example. in my lead module, while adding a new record, I realized I had a new lead source. I went to my

    • Enhancements to Zoho Corp Help Center "Team Requests" View

      Dear Zoho Team, I hope this message finds you well. The ability to view both my tickets and my team’s tickets in the Zoho Corp Help Center is a fantastic feature, especially as the focal point for Zoho in our organization. However, we’ve encountered a

    • We've revised the pricing model of CRM portal user licenses

      Hello everyone, We’re making important updates to our pricing structure for portal user licenses, effective from the next payment cycle. The new slab-based pricing is as follows: Previously, these portal user licenses were priced at $5/ user/ month. As

    • Zoho and Hostaway webhok integration.

      I want to receive data coming from hostaway webhook and receive it in zoho crm to create or update record in a module based on conditions. The hostaway webhook sends data every time a reservation is created or modified or cancelled. The hostaway sends

    • Unable to create custom fields for shipment order

      I'm unable to create custom fields for shipment orders, even though the custom fields are set up correctly. A request to the following endpoint: https://www.zohoapis.com/inventory/v1/settings/preferences/customfields?organization_id=${ZOHO_ORGANIZATION_ID}&entity=shipment_order

    • Records per page in New UI

      It seems the new UI lack of "Records per page" function, it is very handy if you are looking for a data that you don't know the exact search term, but you know it may "between" few entries. without a "page" function, we kind of have to keep page down and page, the autoload is not that fast, and you are dealing with thousands of entries. Could we please have the "records per page" function back to New UI (also it shows total counts of the record) Looking forward to hear from you.

    • Next Page