The Voice of Customer (VOC) Patterns app by Zendesk Labs leverages Zendesk AI to identify and explain patterns in your support tickets, helping you uncover pain points, celebrate successes, and reveal opportunities for improvement. 

This article will guide you through setting up and effectively using the VOC Patterns app to uncover customer trends, common issues, and areas for growth.

This article includes the following topics:

  • About the VOC Patterns app
  • Important data security and access requirements
  • Installing the VOC Patterns app
  • Using VOC Patterns
    • Creating and managing categories
    • Understanding and working with patterns
    • Building and managing action plans
  • Best practices
  • Frequently asked questions
  • Need more help?

About the VOC Patterns app

Designed for accessibility, this VOC Patterns app requires no analytics expertise, enabling support leaders and executives to transform ticket data into clear, actionable insights without complex reporting. Within 24 hours of installation, you'll begin seeing results, which automatically update every 12 hours as new tickets are processed. 

Benefits of using the VOC Patterns app include:

  • Save hours of manual analysis and find actionable patterns with root causes and suggested actions.
  • Understand the "Why" behind your customer inquiries. The app finds the patterns that help you understand why something is happening and what customers are actually experiencing.
  • Discover what you are doing right. Find out what your customers love and what works well for them.
  • Connect the dots across tickets and channels. Related issues appear in different forms; our AI finds patterns for you.
  • Works with your existing workflow, no configuration or knowledge needed.

 

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Note: Zendesk Labs applications, such as the VOC Patterns app, do not qualify for certain customer entitlements. These include HIPAA/Advanced Compliance and FedRAMP.

Important data security and access requirements

  • Eligibility: VOC Patterns is available in the Zendesk Marketplace for all users with access to ZAF apps.
  • Ticket threshold: VOC Patterns will begin analyzing your tickets once you have at least 50 solved or closed tickets of a similar nature. Only solved or closed tickets are included in the pattern analysis.
  • Data security: The app operates in alignment with Zendesk’s data security standards.
  • Language: At this time, this app is only available in English.

Installing the VOC Patterns app

Considerations before you install:

  • You must be a Zendesk admin to install and use VOC Patterns.
  • At least 50 tickets must be solved or completed in your environment before patterns are generated.
  • Once installed, you can expect to see your first patterns in several hours or less.

To install the VOC Patterns app

  1. Go to the VOC Patterns app page in Zendesk Marketplace.
  2. Click Install.
  3. Select your Zendesk account, then click Install.

Once installation is complete, the system will begin analyzing your ticket history in the background. Initial patterns will appear within 24 hours. You can then view the latest or pinned patterns.

Using VOC Patterns

Creating and managing categories

Categories let you filter patterns to particular business areas, ticket types, support processes, and more.

To create a new category

  1. Name your category
    • Enter a meaningful name to help your team easily identify the focus area.
  2. Add relevant filters
    • You can add filters relevant to your industry or specific needs to generate the right patterns.
    • For new category creation, tickets in the set filter must belong to the Solved or Closed status. 
  3. Choose a Time Period
    • Select from available preset periods (for example, 3 days, 7 days, 15 days, 30 days) or set a custom range.
  4. Refine using a prompt
    • For more tailored results, add refinement instructions. Mention specific metrics (such as “high CSAT”), behaviors, or sentiment trends to highlight.
    • Click Add a Category to complete the process.
  5. Successful category creation
    • After a new category is created, it can take up to 24 hours for patterns to appear.

You can filter patterns at any time using any available category. To delete a category, make sure there are no pinned patterns attached. If pinned patterns are present, the system will display a warning. If you proceed, both the category and its pinned patterns will be deleted.

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Understanding and working with patterns

The VOC Patterns app summarizes common customer issues or opportunities identified automatically by  Zendesk AI. Each pattern is crafted to describe the real customer problem, process trend, or success story with context for action.

Example: What is a pattern?

A pattern brings together the following information in a unified, clear view:

  • Title and Summary: A concise description of the situation or trend.
  • Root Causes: The main driver(s) behind the issue or positive pattern, plus contributing factors and triggering events.
  • Suggested Actions: Concrete next steps for your team, with direct links to relevant Zendesk tools, including the LMS (Learning Management System), where appropriate.
  • Customer Feedback: Actual comments or complaints collected from tickets.
  • Relevant Tickets: Shows which tickets contributed to the pattern so you can drill into specifics.
  • Generated Date and Confidence: When the pattern surfaced, and how confident the system is in its analysis.

Note: Patterns will be deleted when they fall outside the category's timeframe unless they are pinned.

Pattern actions

  • Sort Patterns: Filter and sort patterns by confidence score to find the most reliable ones.
  • Pin a Pattern: Move it to a pinned tab for easy reference.
  • Copy a Pattern: For sharing patterns or for action planning.
  • Analyze with AI Assistant: Open an AI-powered chat assistant to dive deeper into specific patterns by asking in-depth questions about the tickets or related subjects.
  • Explore related tickets: Clicking a ticket opens the ticket details in Zendesk.

Patterns automatically refresh every 12 hours to keep your data up to date.

Building and managing action plans

For each pattern, you can create an action plan directly from within the app. Action plans help drive improvements and accountability.

To create an action plan

  1. Click the pattern you want to address.
  2. Click Create Action Plan.
  3. Enter the Plan Title, Plan Owner (person responsible), and a Description of the overall goal.
  4. Add one or more tasks:
    • For each task, specify:
      • Task Name
      • Assignee (the team member who will be responsible for the task)
      • Task Description
      • Priority (low, medium, high)
      • Due Date
    • You can create multiple tasks under a single plan to address different facets of the pattern.
  5. After you save the action plan, Zendesk automatically generates and assigns tickets to the respective assignees you specified. Each ticket tracks progress and contains the details you provided.
  6. To review all your existing action plans, use the link labeled View Plans at the top of the VOC Patterns page, which summarizes active and completed plans for your team.

Best practices

Note: Patterns are generated by AI by analyzing tickets. Since mistakes can occur, please validate these patterns before acting on them.

  • Regularly check the app to spot new patterns as they emerge.
  • Pin the most critical patterns to keep them front and center for your team.
  • Use the category filters to focus on the segments that matter most to your objectives.
  • Where relevant, suggested actions link to Admin Copilot, macros, triggers, Relay, omnichannel routing, or LMS; use those tools to build process improvements or targeted training.
  • Always check customer feedback excerpts for context before creating action plans.
  • Use action plans not just for issue resolution, but also to promote successful behaviors.

Frequently asked questions

  • Who can access the app?

    Any Zendesk user with access to ZAF apps can use the VOC Patterns app. Admins can install the app and manage permissions in Admin Center as needed.

  • Is there a cost?

    The app is free for all Zendesk users.

  • How is my data kept secure?

    All data is handled in accordance with Zendesk’s data security standards.

  • How long does it take to see my first patterns?

    First results usually appear 24 hours after installation, depending on your ticket volume.

  • What are Default patterns?

    Default patterns are generated from your account activity over the last 7 days.

  • What tickets are included in a default category?
    • A default category includes tickets created in the last 7 days that are:
    • Solved or Closed
    • Not from voice channels
    • Not AI agent conversations
  • What channels are supported for pattern generation?
    • Supported: Email, Web form, Chat, and Messaging.
    • Not supported: Phone/Voice, Social media, and Help Center article comments.
  • What tickets are included in custom categories?
    • Custom categories use your selected Zendesk view conditions plus a time period you choose. Supported time periods are:
      • Last 3 days
      • Last 7 days
      • Last 15 days
      • Last 30 days
      • Custom date range
    • The app also always applies these filters:
      • Only Solved or Closed tickets
      • No voice channel tickets
      • No AI agent conversations
      • Only tickets solved/closed in the last 90 days
  • Why does my category only show Solved and Closed tickets even though my view includes Open tickets?
    Categories automatically filter to Solved and Closed tickets only, regardless of your view settings. This helps keep the analysis accurate.
  • What date ranges can I select for custom categories?
    • It depends on when the app was activated:
      • If activated less than 90 days ago: from your activation date to today
      • If activated more than 90 days ago: from 90 days ago to today
  • Why can't I analyze tickets older than 90 days?

  • The app keeps ticket data for pattern analysis for the last 90 days only. This helps with performance, relevance, and storage.

  • Why are voice channel tickets excluded from categories?
    • Voice tickets (phone calls and voicemail) are not currently supported for pattern analysis. The app focuses on text-based channels like email, chat, and web forms.
    • My view uses "Hours since opened" conditions. Will they work in categories?
      • No. Time-based conditions using hours since can’t be converted into category filters. The app skips those conditions and uses the compatible ones.

  • What happens if my view has unsupported conditions?

    The app automatically skips unsupported conditions and applies the rest of your view conditions. Your category will still work.

  • How does filtering by multiple statuses work?

    When a category searches for multiple values, it includes tickets matching any of those values. For example, it can include both Solved and Closed tickets.

  • Why don't I see certain tickets in my category?

    Check whether the tickets:

    • Were created within the selected time period
    • Are Solved or Closed
    • Were updated within the last 90 days
    • Are not from voice channels
    • Are not AI agent conversations
    • Match your view conditions
  • Can I use VOC Patterns if my support tickets are not in English?
    Yes, ticket analysis is available for any language. However, only English-language ticket content is currently used to generate patterns.
  • What if I want to share a pattern?
    Patterns can be copied and shared through text, chat, or email, but not exported as files. Action plans can be shared by assigning Zendesk tickets to team members.

 

Need more help?

Contact your Zendesk admin for setup support. You can also use the in-app help section for troubleshooting and tips.

Empower your support team to make data-driven improvements and deliver a better customer experience with VOC Patterns.

 

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