Question
Can I switch off inbound calls in Zendesk and only have my agents making outbound calls?
Answer
No, Zendesk Talk doesn't offer the option to disable inbound calls. However, there are some workarounds to achieve this, listed below:
- In Talk, you can create a custom IVR to have no voicemails by leaving the configure route options blank. Record a greeting that explains that you are not accepting calls at this time and an appropriate way to get in contact with your support team. The customer hears the recording three times, and the call ends.
Note: Disable the option for abandoned calls to create tickets to prevent tickets being created for these calls. - In Zendesk Support, add a holiday each year that covers the full year. Holidays can only be scheduled two years in advance which means you need continuous maintenance. With this schedule, route calls based business hours in Zendesk and the calls go automatically to voicemail.
4 Comments
"If you create a schedule, you can effectively set one so that your Zendesk is never 'Open' as such, and the calls would automatically go to voicemail."
When trying to save a schedule that does not have business hours, the button is grayed out preventing it from being created / saved. Although not ideal, the other workaround would be to add a holiday each year that covers the full year. It's not ideal since holidays can only be scheduled 2 years in advance so front loading there will be some continuous maintenance.
Hello DJ,
Thanks a lot for spotting that out! I have amended the article with your suggestions :).
If we just remove the option for 'Talk' from the widget, would that mean that we don't have the phone number or the option to request a callback anywhere? We don't want any inbound calls, we only want to be able to make outbound ones if necessary - so would removing Talk from the widget mean that customers wouldn't see this option anywhere? Thanks!
Hello!
Switching off the Talk option will simply disable the option to request a callback from the Web Widget. The Talk feature in the widget allows your customers to request a callback or view a phone number to call.
For more information see https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000915328.
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