The Slack for Zendesk Support is a Built by Zendesk integration that allows you to interact with Zendesk Support tickets in your Slack channels. It is available on the Support Team, Professional, and Enterprise plans.
The integration includes the following features:
- Ticket event notifications in Slack: Slack users can see information about Zendesk Support ticket events in specified Slack channels. High-level ticket information is displayed (subject, description, priority, assignee, and creation time). Ticket notifications can be filtered based on event type; and based on groups Support groups. See Viewing ticket notifications in Slack for more information.
- Channel configuration: Slack admins can map Zendesk Support groups to Slack channels. This allows tickets to be routed to the right channel. Additionally, it is possible to choose the specific ticket event types to appear in Slack, reducing noise and letting admins prevent sensitive data from being posted in Slack. See Configuring and editing the integration, below, for more information.
- Creating new tickets directly from Slack: This feature is designed to cater to an internal use case where Slack users want to raise a new Support ticket directly from Slack, which they can do using a slash command. See Creating new Support tickets for more information.
- Creating and assigning a requester: When an unrecognized user creates a Zendesk Support ticket in Slack, a new Zendesk Support end-user is created and assgned to them. Similarly, when an agent creates a ticket on behalf of someone else, they can select a requester from a list of existing users, or choose to create a new end-user for them.
- Side conversations: With the Slack for Zendesk Support integration and the Collaboration add-on, agents can use side conversations in a ticket to initiate and participate in Slack threads. See Using Slack in side conversations for more information.
- Answer Bot for Slack: This integration is included in the Slack for Zendesk Support integration, and utilises Answer Bot to listen on selected Slack channels. It resolves questions by providing article suggestions from your Guide knowledge base.
This article covers the following subjects:
Related articles:
Installing the integration
To install the Slack for Zendesk integration
- Log in to your company Slack workspace.
- Go to the Slack Zendesk integrations page: http://slack.zendesk-integrations.com/slack/install.
- Click Continue.
- Enter your Zendesk subdomain, accept the terms and conditions, and click Next.
- On the Install page, select the channel rules you want to apply.
Note: We recommend you select All Public Channels, which simplifies the post-installation configuration process. You can configure specific public and private channels later.
- Click Install.
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Once the installation is complete, you'll be redirected to Slack, and can begin the configuration process.
Configuring and editing the integration
Channel notifications are configured from Slack via direct conversation with the Zendesk app. Only Slack admins can configure channel notifications.
To configure the Slack for Zendesk Support integration
- In your Slack account, view the direct message from the integration, and click Get started.
- Using the drop-down menu, select a channel to configure. If you're configuring the integration from within a channel, that channel is selected by default, and you can scroll through the Channels list, or type a channel name to filter your options.
- Click Next.
Only channels that the Zendesk app has been invited to appears in the drop-down options. To add additional channels, see To add the app to a private channel and To add the app to another public channel.
- Using the Please choose a type drop-down menu, select the types of notifications you want to receive in this channel. You can select multiple notifications. When you’ve selected your notifications, click Done.
- Using the next Choose an option drop-down menu, select the support group(s) that have permission to post notifications in the channel. Support groups are used to categorize tickets, and restrict agent access based on group membership. By mapping groups to channels, administrators can ensure only relevant ticket events are posted to channels, and can exclude groups that have tickets with sensitive data.
By default, no groups are selected . You must select at least one group so they can post to the channel and for updates to be posted in the channel.
- Click Done.
From the Zendesk app’s direct message stream, you can add the app to another channel, edit existing settings, change the subdomain associated with the app, and provide feedback to Zendesk about the app.
To add the app to another public channel
- In Slack, click Zendesk in the Apps section and send a message to start a direct message with the app.
- Click Add channel.
- Follow steps 2-6 in To configure the Slack for Zendesk Support integration.
To add the app to a private channel
- In Slack, select your workspace drop-down menu and click Administration > Manage apps. The Apps page opens in a web browser.
- In the Apps page, click on the Zendesk app icon.
- Click Settings.
- In the Channel access page, under Which channels can Zendesk access? > Zendesk was individually added to, click Add App to Channel. A drop-down list of private channels are listed.
- Select the private channel, and click Allow on the permissions pop-up page.
- In Slack, click Zendesk in the Apps section, and enter /zendesk settings.
- Click Add channel.
- Follow steps 2-6 in To configure the Slack for Zendesk Support integration.
To edit a channel’s app settings
- In Slack, click Zendesk in the Apps section to start a direct message with the app.
- Click Edit existing settings.
- Follow steps 2-6 in To configure the Slack for Zendesk Support integration, above.
You may need to change the subdomain associated with the integration, if, for instance, you are renaming your Zendesk Support subdomain, or moving the integration from a sandbox to a production instance.
To change your subdomain
- In Slack, click Zendesk in the Apps section to start a direct message with the app.
- Click Change subdomain.
- Enter the new subdomain, read and confirm the Zendesk terms and conditions, then click Next.
Zendesk is collecting feedback about the integration. Your comments and suggestions are welcome.
To provide feedback on the integration
- In Slack, click Zendesk in the Apps section to start a direct message with the app.
- Click Provide feedback.
- Use the feedback form to enter your comments, and answer any or all of the integration-related questions.
- Click Submit.
FAQ
This section covers the following questions about using and troubleshooting the Slack for Zendesk Support integration.
Installation questions
I've installed the Zendesk app in my Slack account and I don't see the Zendesk actions?
The app needs to be invited to a channel to work. You can invite the Zendesk app to a channel by clicking on the settings cog inside the Slack channel and selecting "Add apps".
Is Enterprise Grid supported?
It is not supported in the current version. If the integration is installed on Enterprise Grid, the Zendesk app will work only one workspace.
Configuring the integration
Can I connect multiple Zendesk accounts to a Slack workspace?
The current version allows connecting a single Zendesk subdomain to a workspace. We are planning to support multiple Zendesk subdomains in the future.
Can the ticket notification information be customized?
Notification information is not customizable.
Can the integration be used in a shared channel in Slack?
Unfortunately our integration isn't supported in shared channels due to the integration method used (workspace tokens). We're in the process of moving to another method which will be released later in 2020.
152 Comments
Andrei Kamarouski / David Gillespie I was wondering if you had determined if shared channels were supported or not? I was also trying to add the Zendesk app to shared channel today and found myself unable to do so. Please let me know if you have a moment - thanks!
Dan Gray Not really, actually. I was not able to do it a long time ago and forgot about it :)
Hi Dan Gray and Andrei Kamarouski,
Unfortunately our integration isn't supported in shared channels due to the integration method we use (Workspace tokens). We're in the process of moving to another method which will be rolled out later in 2020.
Thanks,
David
Is it possible to have a Slack channel, that every time a user posts a message in that channel it automatically logs a ticket to zendesk? They don't have to use the command or select create zendesk ticket?
Hi Matt,
Great question, its not something our integration does out of the box but you could potentially do it using a Slack Workflow.
Here's an example from Slack.
Thanks,
David
Hi David Gillespie
Per your comment, do you have any further information around the timeline later in 2020 for shared-channels?
We are huge users of shared - slack channels and know that Slack is not exposing the users email for applications to create a ticket from Slack via your application or another application we're trying called Halp.
This gives me doubts about a fix for this. Is there any more insight you could provide on timing or a fix?
Thanks
Hi Adam,
At this time I can't give you a specific date for the release of the new Slack integration.
What's your use case for the integration in the shared channel? Ticket creation or ticket notifications?
Thanks,
David
David,
I can’t speak for Adam, however we share slack channels with our clients as a support mechanism and we need to generate tickets on their behalf when a request is made in a channel.
Hey David Gillespie
The use case for us is the same as Thomas Brenneke, we use shared Slack channels to support our customer base and create tickets from Slack to Zendesk.
I am sad to see that a Zendesk End-User in slack can still pick who to assign at ticket too or assign the request as a user in another channel. Are there any plans to enable allow us to restrict the requester to members of the current channel only and to obscure the Assignee field to Zendesk Agents only? We would love to adopt this slack integration, but can not due to PII concerns. Our concerns can be addressed by restricting the Slack Guest and Slack Multi-Channel Guest to only open tickets for their specific ORG in Zendesk.
I was hoping by now that the Zendesk Slack integration would mature to meet the External Service Provider use case.
Yuri Mylis still impressive, but sad that my org's needs are still a big feature gap.
-Dave
Hi Adam Reid & Thomas Brenneke - thanks for sharing your use case, it is common one and our new integration will be able to cater for Shared Channels. When we've got a confirmed date for release I'll let this group know.
Hi Dave Kaminsky - unfortunately our integration doesn't have this as a feature. I've noted down your feedback and will let you know if we plan to build this into the new integration.
Thanks,
David
Hi David Gillespie - I'm also interested in hearing about the release date for the Shared Channels integration. Our use case is for ticket creation for troubleshooting.
As a workaround, is there a way to convert submissions from the Slack workflow builder into a Zendesk ticket?
Hi Jackie Napalan,
Unfortunately I can't provide a specific date for when Shared Channels will be available, we are looking at building the new integration at the end of 2020 but don't have a confirmed date yet.
Thanks,
David
Are there any updates about connecting a workspace to multiple Zendesk subdomains?
Hi Mickey Katz,
Unfortunately we don't have any plans to allow for multiple Zendesk connections at the moment. I'll update this group if we bring this into the roadmap and have noted your request for this feature.
Thanks,
David
Hi David Gillespie, I'd also be interested in hearing about the release date for shared Slack channels. The use case for my team would be creating tickets on behalf of our customers.
How can I open a new channel from Zendesk ticket with ticket number?
Hi Brenda Guardado - we are looking to build the new integration at the end of 2020, with an EAP release some time in the first half of 2021.
Hi Jiri Kanicky - this functionality isn't a current feature of the Slack integration.
Thanks,
David Gillespie
Hi David Gillespie, I was able to create macro.
Anyway, you could improve the HTTP web-hook and allow us to add multiple headers. You could also add some scripting mechanism. That way we will not be depending on Zendesk to create something in 10 years.
Thanks Jiri
We are on Zendesk Enterprise and have the light agents option. I would love to see the Slack integration move beyond a ticket creation notification only and offer a connector for all ticket updates. We often query non-support staff for updates and having them be able to see the context of a ticket as it evolves over time in a slack thread would be great. I don't want to have to ask non-support folks to go into Zendesk.
I've been using this integration for a long time but today the Slack integration Endpoint target was disabled in Zendesk automatically for too many target failures. The failure type is listed as Net::ReadTimeout. I can't re-enable the target as it was created by the Slack App. Do I have to uninstall/reinstall the app to get it to reenable the target? Additionally, is there anything I can do to prevent it from failing for this reason going forward?
@Molly - what do you see when you go to Target Failures?
Manage > API > Target Failures
@McCabe A lot of failures listed as Failure Type - Net::ReadTimeout:
@Molly I had this occur, too and I had to reinstall the app. I think I also had to reauthorize the app in Slack.
Yup, that did the trick. Thanks @Kevin!
Just passing along feedback from some of our agents. It would be very cool to get a personalized Slack message from Zendesk if a ticket you are assigned is updated, or at least, re-opened.
Molly Katolas - great to hear you're back up and running!
Nick Wolf - thank you for the feedback, I've captured it as a new feature request for the integration!
We would like to see integration support for shared Slack channels. Our use case involves creating support tickets for help requests that come to us from our external partners. This will allow us to track the types of help requests that are inbound.
Is there any way to customize the interface users will see when submitting a ticket through the Slack integration?
We want to make the "Assignee" mandatory and also change the wording from "Assignee" to "Category" so it is clearer for our use case.
Hi Richard Ly,
Unfortunately because our integration was built using Workspace tokens, we're currently not able to be used in shared channels. This is due to a bug in the Slack API.
We're building a new integration in 2021 and which will resolve this problem.
IT Contact,
Out ticket form in Slack isn't customisable. I've captured this as a feature request and we'll look to build it into the new integration.
Thanks,
David
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