Setting up the Zendesk for Salesforce integration

What's my plan?

The Zendesk for Salesforce integration connects your Salesforce accounts to Zendesk accounts. It allows Zendesk tickets to be viewed in Salesforce from an Account, Contact, Lead, or Opportunity page. You can also create and edit Zendesk tickets, and sync Salesforce accounts to Zendesk organization data. For more information about the benefits and the limitations of the Zendesk for Salesforce integration, see Guide to integrating Zendesk and Salesforce.

The Zendesk for Salesforce integration is available if you are using Salesforce edition: Performance, Unlimited, Enterprise, or Developer Edition (or other editions with Salesforce API rights, such as Professional with the API add-on).

You must be a Zendesk Support administrator and Salesforce administrator to set up your integration. You cannot use an API-only Salesforce user to connect the integration.

The setup process requires performing a series of tasks:

1. Checking your Salesforce session settings
2. Connecting Zendesk to Salesforce
3. Setting up user access to Zendesk tickets in Salesforce

Note: The integration will work in both Salesforce Lightning and Classic. However, this article only provides instructions for Lightning, which is the newer interface recommended by Salesforce.

If you are using the Salesforce for Zendesk app in Zendesk Support, following the procedures described below also sets up the app's connection.

If you need to disconnect your integration, see Disconnecting and reconnecting the integration.

Related information:

• Salesforce integration resources
• Troubleshooting steps for the Salesforce integration

Checking your Salesforce session settings

The integration requires your Salesforce session settings to be not set to a locked IP address. If your session settings remain locked, your integration will be disconnected once a session expires.

To disable Salesforce sessions being locked to an IP address

1. Log in to your Salesforce account.
2. Click the cog () in the upper right pane, then click Setup.
3. In the left navigation pane under SETTINGS > Security, select Session Settings.
4. Review and ensure the Lock sessions to the IP address from which they originated checkbox is not selected.
   
   

Connecting Zendesk to Salesforce

Admin Center is where you set up and configure your integration, including the integration location. You should test the integration with your Zendesk sandbox account and Salesforce sandbox account first.

To connect Zendesk to Salesforce

1. In Admin Center, click Apps and integrations in the sidebar, then select Integrations > Integrations.
2. On the Integrations page, click Salesforce.
3. Select the Salesforce instance to set up the integration: Salesforce Production or Salesforce Sandbox.
   
   
   Note: You can only connect one Salesforce account to one Zendesk account. So if you test the integration on a sandbox account, you need to disconnect the integration and reconnect to your production account.
4. Click Install managed package. This opens Salesforce in a new web browser tab. The package installs Lightning and Visualforce components, which are used for the Ticket View feature. You will be asked to log in to Salesforce if you are not already logged in. Do this in a private web browser window to ensure that there is only one active Salesforce session.
   
   
   Note: We recommend selecting Install for All Users. Users who are not granted access cannot view Zendesk tickets in Salesforce.
5. Click Install.
6. When the package has finished installing, click Done.

   You are returned to the Salesforce integration setup page in Admin Center.

7. Accept the Built by Zendesk Terms of Use, then click Connect.
8. On the Allow Access? screen, click Allow.

Setting up user access to Zendesk tickets in Salesforce

After setting up your connection between Zendesk and Salesforce, you need to define which user profiles in Salesforce can view Zendesk tickets.

To select user profiles to view Zendesk tickets

1. In Salesforce, click the cog () in the upper right pane, then click Setup.
2. In the left navigation pane under PLATFORM TOOLS, select Apps > Connected Apps > Manage Connected Apps.
3. Click the Salesforce Integration for Zendesk app.
   
   
4. Click Edit Policies.
5. Under OAuth Policies, set Permitted Users to Admin approved users are pre-authorized and click Save. This is a required setting.
   
   
6. Return to the Manage Connected Apps page, then click the Salesforce Integration for Zendesk app.
7. Under Profiles, select Manage Profiles.
8. Select the user profiles in Salesforce that can view Zendesk tickets. You must select the System Administrator profile. User profiles that are not selected will not be able to view Zendesk tickets.
   
   
9. Click Save.

Your setup is now complete. Next, you can continue with the following:

• Setting up a Ticket View in Salesforce
• Configuring Data Sync from Salesforce to Zendesk

Note: If the Zendesk admin who connected the integration has their role downgraded, the integration will cease to function. It will require the integration to be disconnected, then reconnected in Admin Center by another Zendesk admin.

Disconnecting and reconnecting the integration

The Zendesk for Salesforce integration can be disconnected in the Admin Center. Once disconnected, your configuration settings are still retained if you decide to set it up again. If you're reconnecting the integration, you'll need to enable syncing and activate the Salesforce trigger again.

To disconnect the integration

1. In Admin Center, click Apps and integrations in the sidebar, then select Integrations > Integrations.
2. On the Integrations page, click Salesforce.
3. Click Disconnect in the upper right. Confirmation of the disconnection is displayed.

To reconnect the integration

1. In Admin Center, click Apps and integrations in the sidebar, then select Integrations > Integrations.
2. On the Integrations page, click Salesforce.
3. Click Connect.
4. On the Salesforce integration setup page, click Connect.
5. Re-enable syncing for the following settings:
   • Accounts to organizations sync
   • Contacts to users sync
   • Tickets to cases sync
6. Activate your Salesforce trigger again.