Keeping Zendesk Tickets Open on Our Website

Hey @zenadm -

While this should technically be possible using the Tickets API, I'd be a bit concerned about the exposure you'd potentially have with ticket data being pushed into your website.  Perhaps you can elaborate a bit more on the use case? 

Between custom agent layouts, custom statuses and view/group gating, host mapping the help center and the Zendesk Support app, Zendesk already offers several ways to surface ticket data to your agents in a secure yet custom way.

If you could share a bit more about your scenario - the community might be able to help more.

Cheers,

Brandon

Hi Zen,

Sorry, but I can not figure out the use case as well. Please add more information or even screen shots.

Thank you in advance.

Regards, 

Stephan

Hey Zen,

We actually have a use case where we do this. One of support teams has a home grown, "light" website, that connects to many systems via API and pulls in information. So they don't have to log in to many places.

It can 100% be done via API to connect to Zendesk.

We first focused on ticket creation from our website to Zendesk Support.

• We made sure all the fields and forms were created first.
• We kept the fields all as text only.
• The field conditions and field restrictions (like length, numbers only, etc) we built into the website and not Zendesk. Allowing for this to be easier to change in the future.
• On submitting from the website the ticket is created and we still route to a GROUP.
• All the Agents still need to have access to Zendesk and be part of the right GROUPs, as this drives proper access controls (they dont actually log in to Zendesk Support, but we keep that logic in Zendesk side and pulled via the API by the website).

Then the next step for us was how to view tickets and manage them.

• This is where we could build it anyway we wanted look and feel, but we made sure Zendesk Support was the source of truth for access controls. If Agent A is part of GROUP X, then they can see these tickets.
• Also to protect your API, we introduce manual refresh and a 15 minute auto-refresh. So the agent can choose to trigger the refresh of tickets.

Hope this helps

Thanks for sharing your solution Heather! This is super helpful :) 

Hi Heather, 

Thank you for your input, as it aligns with our specific requirements. To clarify the use case, customers log into our website, not Zendesk, and initiate conversations using Zendesk AnswerBot and, for queries not addressed by the Zendesk AnswerBot, agents follow up via email.

Our goal is to avoid redirecting agents to Zendesk Support or requiring them to log in there. Instead, we want them to access all ticket information and respond directly within our website. 

Additionally, since we cater to multi-language customers, it's crucial that responses can be translated based on the customer's language. Currently, we use a translator app for outbound emails in Zendesk, as this feature is lacking. Could you confirm if translation would remain consistent with how it operates in the Zendesk agent UI? 

Moreover, would it be possible to share video demo to provide a clearer understanding of your implemented solution? Your help is appreciated. Thanks:)

Thank you for helping @brandon12 @stephan12