Using macros to start side conversations

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24 Comments

  • Thomas (internalnote.com)
    Community Moderator
    Zendesk Luminary

    Can we get rich text formatting or markdown support for these macro's similar to how it is currently supported when creating side conversations via the Agent Workspace?

    9
  • Dana B

    Hi

    I would like to add text fields in side conversations. We have a macro for a side conversation, which details the required information to be sent to programming when there is an issue. However, we have to place the cursor at the end of the requirement to add information to the ticket. It would save "click's" if we could just tab through the required fields.  One thought I had was to add a table, however, I would like to use something that is native in Zendesk. Thoughts?

     

    1
  • Emilie

    Hi,

    Can we add attachments to the side conversation Macro please?

     

    8
  • Dave Dyson
    Hi Emilie, welcome to the community! We value your feedback, so for visibility to our product team would you mind creating a post in our Feedback - Ticketing System (Support) topic? There's a useful template there that will help ensure our product team has the information they need, and some guidelines as well if those are useful. Thanks!
    0
  • mfg

    Are you able to create more than one side conversation with the same macro? We run two sub processes and I'd like my agent to only use one macro (so they don't forget to run a second).

    I created a macro that allowed me to do so, but when I run it I only get one of the send windows.

    Currently I am testing out a trigger where the macro adds a tag, and that tag triggers another side conversation (I'm also testing out the 'side conversation is created' condition), but this wouldn't allow the agent to customize that second side conversation email. 

    0
  • Hervin
    Zendesk Customer Care
    Hi Matthew,

    That is a good question! Looking into this, I'm getting a bit of a yes/no answer. When going to create a macro with an action to start a side conversation, once you select an option (ex. Side conversation via email) - you are unable to select that option again when adding an additional action. That being said, there is no restriction on adding a different kind of side conversation. In theory, you could set up a macro that allows you to create a side conversation via email and then one via child ticket at once. You will only see one of the side conversations pop up at once; however if you click on the "+" sign by "Side conversations" on the ticket and select the option that didn't automatically pop up, you will see the other side conversation created by the macro.
     
    I hope this gives you an option that can work for your team!
    1
  • Andrea Rodriguez (CD Baby)

    Is there a way to apply multiple macros to one type of side conversation? Use case: We have a team that sends task requests to another department (B to B). These requests are broken down by type, however, it could be 1 account/client that has multiple types of requests. The way we are doing it now is that we need to send 1 side conversation per type. Due to the other company's limited support features, they can only sort their incoming tickets one way. We've chosen newest to oldest. However, we're finding that some of their agents are solving ticket requests for one account/client at different times in different orders. 
    What we are looking for is the ability to apply multiple side conversations or "text" (say a macro) to just one side conversation, this way it would be 1 side conversation - email and the body would have the 1-6 requests within the body of the email. Kind of what we do with macros already but macros cannot be applied to side conversations unless the macro is built WITH the side conversation condition. And we can't apply multiple side conversations because it just replaces each other. 

    1
  • Holly
    Zendesk Customer Care
    Hi Andrea! Right now a macro can be used to start, but not update, a side conversation. There are a couple workarounds to consider:

    1. Create additional macros to support these complex side conversations. Creating macros to support multiple requests in a side conversation will allow you to accomplish your goal by applying a single macro. This also gives you an option to have the macro tag the ticket for tracking purposes.

    2. You can use the free Project Management app to create multiple child tickets from one parent ticket.

    If neither of these options work for you, I encourage you to share some more details of your use case in this product feedback thread where others are discussing ways to improve side conversation functionality. Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts!
    0
  • Marco Antonio Avalos

    Is there a way to create a rich text format template for side conversations in email?

    We are trying to match the format that we have in the emails with side conversations without success.

     

    0
  • DJ Buenavista Jr.
    Zendesk Customer Care
    Hi Marco,
     
    There are certain limitations with the composer of the side conversations: 
     
    • The composer doesn’t support inline images. You can, however, add images as attachments.
       
    • If you paste complex rich text into the composer, you will likely lose some formatting.
       
    • Rich text and Markdown formatting are not supported in email signatures that appear in side conversations.
       
    You can check our article, Using side conversations in tickets for more information about the editiing format for the side conversations.
     
    Thank you and have a wonderful day ahead!
     
     
    Kind regards,
    1
  • Adam MacKenzie

    I agree with Emilie; please allow for attachments in side conversation macro actions. It's currently missing and would be super useful.

    Yes, I am aware I can manually add attachments each time I use the macro. 

    6
  • WhatsApp Connector

    Hello, when do you expect macros to be available within the side conversations themselves? Thanks

    0
  • Jupete Manitas
    Zendesk Customer Care

    Hi Guillermo, thanks for writing in! 

    We can't guarantee a timeframe and provide any information from the road map but for this particular feature, it looks like it is not yet there. We recommend posting this on our Support Product feedback page so you can get engagement with other users needed that functionality and our product managers will also share information. You can post it here: Feedback - Ticketing System (Support). You can also check our product updates page from time to time. Thank you! 

    0
  • Jahn Bronilla
    Community Moderator
    Zendesk Luminary

    Hey Guys, I am trying to figure if its possible to use macro to update an existing child conversation ticket instead of creating one.

    I can't seem to find any condition in the macro that can update existing side conversation ticket. 

    1
  • Dane
    Zendesk Engineering
    Hi Jahn,
     
    As it turns out, only Side Conversation creation is supported via macros. 
     
    However, you can update a side conversation ticket using a macro by opening it directly in Support and treat it as a normal ticket.
     
    Please refer to Building macro action statements.
    0
  • Jahn Bronilla
    Community Moderator
    Zendesk Luminary

    Hi Dane - I know for a fact but what I am really looking is if we can possibly update the side conversation by macro and you've answered it NO.

    Hope we can have this feature in the future and there's no need to go with the child ticket to update the side conversation on the ticket itself. 

    0
  • Tim Barrett

    Is it possible to expose the conversation thread ID so that we can ensure that our third parties can pick it up and put it in their own automated replies? Is the conversation ID available as a placeholder in Macros?

     

    0
  • Jupete Manitas
    Zendesk Customer Care

    Hi Tim, thanks for writing in! To confirm, you are going to send the side convo via email to your 3rd parties, is that correct? and how do you intend to expose the thread ID? However, upon testing, the conversation ID is part of the message ID, and event ID when you look for it in the original email or headers. Looking into the behavior, I'm afraid, this cannot be exposed at the moment. And the conversation ID is not available too as a placeholder in macros

    0
  • Tim Barrett

    Hi Jupete, thanks for commenting. 

    That's right essentially we are raising side conversations that are being responded to by 3rd party ticket management systems that strip out the message header, and create new tickets as a result. I found that with side conversations there is a hidden thread ID which is included as point 1 white text at the bottom of the e-mail. Including that in the response will ensure the thread is matched. But it sounds like this is not something that can be exposed, or altered via the templates and we will have to work with our suppliers around their system messages. 

    0
  • Jupete Manitas
    Zendesk Customer Care

    Thank you for your update, Tim! Yes, that is right, the thread ID is not yet possibly to be exposed. Appreciate your cooperation! 

    0
  • Matan Arik

    Hi, 
    Are there any future plans to allow agents to use a macro to open side conversations via Slack? 

    0
  • Heather Rommel
    Community Moderator
    Zendesk Luminary
    The Product Manager Whisperer - 2021

    I've posted a feature request -- requesting that when we click Send on the side convo when running the macro, let it save the ticket too so our agents don't navigate away from the ticket before saving crucial info on the ticket.

    https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/5577345576730-Save-ticket-updates-on-macros-for-Side-Conversations-and-reduce-clicks-and-errors- 

    0
  • Jay

    Hi,

    Regarding Side conversations via email, 
    If you manually enter an email address into the To field, the email addresses you enter will become the recipients of a side conversation.
    In the event that an external email is added to the
    CC field, is there any chance that the recipient won't be able to receive it? Should the external email always be on the To field?
    We had this instance when an external email was added to the CC field and the recipient claims that they didn't receive it.

    0
  • Paolo
    Zendesk Engineering
    Hi Jay,
     
    Normally, regardless if a user is added in the TO or CC field of the side conversation, that user should be able to receive it. There are several factors that may result into a CC'd user not receiving the email notification. It could be due to the allowlist/blocklist setup, probably you are permitting only added users to submit tickets, or there is an issue with the recipient's server. It would be best if you can provide specific samples and reach out to our Support Team for further checking.
     
    Best,
    Paolo | Technical Support Engineer | Zendesk
    0

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