# Zendesk tickets and contacts

Work with Zendesk customer profiles, tickets and public or private comments beside an INSIDE conversation.

*Release 3.3 · operator, visitor*

**Settings › General Settings › Zendesk**

## What it is

INSIDE can show a visitor's Zendesk profile and tickets during a conversation. You can edit customer details, create or update tickets, and post either a **Public Reply** or an **Internal Note**. An associated ticket can also receive the conversation transcript automatically.

## Who uses it and why

- Operators handle customer issues without switching between the chat and Zendesk for each change.
- Visitors receive public replies according to the Zendesk ticket's notification setup. Internal notes remain private to agents.

## Where to find it

Open the visitor's **Tickets** panel and select a ticket. **Open in Zendesk** opens the full record. In ticket details, use **Click here to view comments**, then **Add Comment**.

Customer profile actions are available through the **Visitor** menu, including **Edit Contact**. Powerfront manages forms and automatic-comment privacy at **Settings › General Settings › Zendesk**.

## How it works

INSIDE uses the visitor's linked Zendesk user, or searches by email when no link is available. If a recognised website member email points to another Zendesk user, INSIDE can update the link to that user.

You can list the user's tickets, load further results and search for tickets. Select a ticket to inspect the configured details, edit it where available, or view comments.

To add a comment:

1. Select **Add Comment** and enter **Comment**.
2. Choose the resulting ticket status in **Submit as**.
3. Select **Public Reply** for a customer-visible comment or **Internal Note** for a private agent note.

When an active conversation ends with an associated Zendesk ticket, INSIDE can append the transcript as a ticket comment. These automatic comments are private by default and exclude system messages.

## Configure it

Ask Powerfront to connect Zendesk and configure the contact and ticket forms. A user with the **Settings** or **Manager** role should check each operator's **Zendesk Email** mapping at **Settings › Account › Operators**.

Ask Powerfront to keep **Make automated comments private** on for private transcript exports, or turn it off if those exports should be public. This setting concerns automated comments; you choose the visibility of each manually posted comment with its button.

### Settings

| Setting | Where | Applies to | Default | Who can change it | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Make automated comments private | Settings › General Settings › Zendesk | website | On | Powerfront, on request | Save automatically exported conversation transcripts as private Zendesk comments. Turning it off makes them public. |

### Fields

| Field | Where | Required | What it is for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Zendesk contact form | Yes | Set the customer's name in the supplied contact form. |
| Email | Zendesk contact form | Yes | Set the customer's email in the supplied contact form. |
| Phone | Zendesk contact form | No | Set the customer's phone number. |
| Contact | Zendesk ticket form | Yes | Identify the ticket's customer. |
| Assignee | Zendesk ticket form | Yes | Show the assigned Zendesk agent in the supplied form. |
| Subject | Zendesk ticket form | Yes | Give the ticket a short subject. |
| Description | Zendesk ticket form | Yes | Describe the issue. |
| Priority | Zendesk ticket form | Yes | Choose Low, Normal, High or Urgent in the supplied form. |
| Type | Zendesk ticket form | Yes | Choose Problem, Incident, Question or Task in the supplied form. |
| Status | Zendesk ticket form | Yes | Choose the ticket's status. |
| Comment | Add Comment | Yes | Enter the public reply or internal note. |
| Submit as | Add Comment | Yes | Choose New, Open, Pending or Solved when posting the comment. |

## Limits and good to know

- The default contact form requires **Name** and **Email**. Ticket forms can have different required fields after customisation.
- Updating a Zendesk user's details also reflects selected name, email and phone details locally. The local phone value is limited to 16 characters in this path.
- A changed email that already belongs to a Zendesk user can cause INSIDE to use that existing user. Check the customer before saving.
- The ticket edit control is hidden for closed tickets.
- After editing, check the saved status, assignee and comment. Some updates complete through a Zendesk background job.
- These are Zendesk tickets. Native INSIDE email tickets are a separate feature.

## Depends on and works with

### This feature uses

- **Requires** [Zendesk connection and operator setup](CRM-018.md): Zendesk actions need the connection and a usable operator mapping for operator-driven changes.
- **Configured in** [CRM form field configuration](CRM-020.md): Configured contact and ticket forms select the displayed and submitted fields.
- **Configured in** [Customer identity and conversation visibility permissions](SEC-016.md): Personal-data permissions and configured view fields affect CRM profile display.
- **Works better with** [Starting, ending and expiring chats](CHAT-001.md): Ending an active conversation can export its transcript to an associated Zendesk ticket.
- **Works better with** [Customer contact details](CRM-001.md): Editing a Zendesk user reflects selected details into the INSIDE contact.
- **Works better with** [Visitor data mapping for customer identity](CRM-002.md): A recognised member email can cause INSIDE to change the linked Zendesk user.

### Used by

- **Enhances** [Visitor and conversation information panels](CON-017.md): An enabled Zendesk integration can provide external ticket context.
- **Enhances** [Offline help for visitors](VX-011.md): Enabled Zendesk ticket creation sends the request to that integration.
- **Enhances** [Zendesk connection and operator setup](CRM-018.md): The connection and operator mapping support Zendesk user and ticket actions.
- **Enhances** [CRM form field configuration](CRM-020.md): Zendesk user and ticket actions use these forms.
- **Enhances** [Custom CRM integration](CRM-022.md): Zendesk ticket creation and updates can use custom behaviour.

## FAQ and troubleshooting

### Will the visitor see my note?

**Internal Note** is private. **Public Reply** is public. Automated transcript comments follow **Make automated comments private**.

### Why are no tickets listed?

Check the visitor's email and linked Zendesk user. The customer may have no tickets, or the connection may not be able to read them.

### Why can I not edit the customer's profile?

Your operator needs a Zendesk agent mapping. Ask a user with the **Settings** or **Manager** role to check **Zendesk Email** at **Settings › Account › Operators**.

### Why did the linked customer change after an email update?

INSIDE can match the new email to an existing Zendesk user. Check the profile in Zendesk before making further changes.

### Why is the transcript missing from a ticket?

Check that the conversation was associated with the intended Zendesk ticket and that the operator mapping and connection work. Give Powerfront the conversation and ticket identifiers if the export remains missing.