Zendesk Talk Troubleshooting Tips

All web-based software can experience performance issues relating to the connections and environment in which it operates. Existing system or connection issues may not be as noticeable during normal ticketing, but these issues can be much more pronounced with the additional demands of a telephony connection such as Zendesk Talk.

Connection issues with Zendesk Talk may cause a variety of problems that can be frustrating to diagnose. To help you deal with such issues, we have compiled a list of common troubleshooting steps to try first.

Please review the information below, and if you still have issues with your Zendesk Talk connections please submit a ticket to our customer service team [e-mail].

This article contains the following sections:

• Problems with Voice quality (delays, echoes, dropped calls)
• Numbers and billing 

Problems with Voice quality (delays, echoes, dropped calls)

Call Quality

• Issues with Zendesk Talk call quality can sometimes be traced to a disruption of Twilio services, as this is the system handling our Talk connections. To determine the status of Twilio’s servers, please visit http://status.twilio.com/. If Twilio is experiencing a disruption of services, they will update this site with the status of the outage and an expectation of when regular service will resume.
• If you have checked Twilio’s status, found it is operating normally, and are still experiencing connection issues, please review the ports on your network Firewall. Please verify that you have the following ports open with your network administrator:

TCP: 80, 443, 843 and 1935

• Have your affected agents go to http://clientsupport.twilio.com/ and review the information there. This page will point to incompatibilities with your system setup or browser configuration.
• Have your affected agents try another headset and microphone and review their sound card settings. If they are using a browser other than Firefox, they may need to set their default microphone and speaker: See here for more info.
• Have your affected agents try using another browser. Google Chrome uses WebRTC for connections with Zendesk Talk, other browsers use Flash. If the issue is with Chrome, have them test their WebRTC using the tool here: https://apprtc.appspot.com/. Once there, right click and select “Un-mute.” If their microphone sound comes out of their speakers, they are using WebRTC and their microphone and speakers are working properly.

If you are still unable to determine the cause of your quality issues after following these troubleshooting steps, please submit a support request to [e-mail]. When you do so, please have an agent who is experiencing quality issues provide a screenshot from their system of the information at supportdetails.com. Please also provide any example tickets where call quality was an issue. This additional information is very useful.

Receiving an EC# error

EC# errors are often caused by your network or router configuration. They represent an issue with Zendesk Talk not having an adequate network connection. This can occur anywhere along the network, but often they are the result of local network limitations, or from a computer that does not meet the minimum requirements to make the connection. Please follow these steps to troubleshoot an EC# error:

1. Be sure to enable WebRTC if you are using Google Chrome. Zendesk recommends you use a browser that supports WebRTC, and also have a Flash plugin installed.
2. Review the WebRTC Port Requirements:

To use WebRTC, please ensure that the following ports are not blocked:
TCP: port 80 and 443
UDP: all ports between 10,000 and 20,000

If you are still experiencing EC# errors after reviewing these troubleshooting steps, please send a support request to [e-mail]. When you do, please verify that you have the required ports open by sending a screenshot of your firewall and router settings showing these open ports.

Zendesk Talk resetting to Offline status

Refreshing your page will cause the agent to be set to unavailable for Chat or Talk, and the agent will need to manually reset themselves to become available. For now we recommend you do not refresh your page in your browser when you wish to be available for calls or chat.

Numbers and billing 

Billing a spoke account for Zendesk Talk with multi-brand

With the current multi-branding setup, a credit card cannot be added to a spoke account. Billing is normally done through the hub account, and the spokes are sponsored. Because our billing system does not allow a credit card on spoke accounts for use with Talk, you will need to purchase credits in advance by contacting your Account Manager in our Sales team. Please see Talk pricing here.

"Your Zendesk Talk number will expire in 7 days"

Zendesk Talk reclaims unused phone numbers after 60 days of no activity. If your phone number hasn’t been used within that time, you will receive an email notifying you that your number will expire in 7 days. If you are still using this Talk number, you can prevent the deactivation by simply calling your Zendesk Talk number. Any call activity will prevent the number from being deactivated. However, if you haven’t used the number in 60 days you may want to consider canceling this support channel given the low amount of use. 

No button to upload custom greetings

If you want to upload a custom greeting for use with Zendesk Talk, you will first need to click on Record, under the greeting settings. This will then prompt you to either record a file or upload your own.