Extending Zendesk with top integrations

Integrations link Zendesk to external applications, enabling them to share information and features. The Zendesk Suite provides a lot of functionality, but not everyone has the same requirements or uses Zendesk the same way.

You’ve made an investment in both Zendesk and your other applications, so an integration combines the value of these applications. For example, you might want to:

• Create tickets from a Slack message.
• Display Shopify customer details and order information, and process refunds.
• Link support tickets to engineering work.

An integration can remove the need for your agents to switch between applications to gather information or perform tasks. They can function faster and more efficiently. Fortunately, Zendesk and our partners supply a wide range of integrations to extend the functionality of your suite.

You must be an administrator to install apps.

This article contains the following topics:

• Defining integrations and apps
• Discovering integrations in the Zendesk Marketplace
• Getting started with the most popular integrations
• Considerations before installing an integration

Related articles:

• Using the Zendesk Marketplace
• Managing your installed apps

Defining integrations and apps

Integrations link Zendesk to other applications, enabling them to share information and features. For example, with the Shopify for Zendesk integration you can display customer and order details from Shopify in Zendesk, so your agents can quickly and efficiently handle customer queries, manage shipping issues or initiate product returns and exchanges without leaving Zendesk. An integration can exist is Zendesk with it’s own user interface or it may just provide a link between Zendesk and the other application.

Integrations differ from apps, which are custom-built applications that extend or enhance the functionality of Zendesk features. For example, the time-tracking app integrates with your ticketing system to help agents record the time they spend on a ticket. For more information, see Extending Zendesk with top apps.

Public integrations are available on the Zendesk Marketplace for anyone to use.

Private integrations are built by your company and uploaded into Zendesk. They are not listed on the public Zendesk Marketplace and cannot be installed and used by other Zendesk customers.

You can build and run a private integration using Zendesk Integration Services (ZIS). It provides a set of core services to integrate Zendesk with an external system or another Zendesk instance. ZIS is available on the Zendesk Suite Growth plan or above or the Legacy Support Professional plans or above. See Understanding ZIS capabilities for building an integration.

If you know what you want, but don’t have the skills to develop your own integration, you can use a Zendesk partner to create your solution.

Discovering integrations in the Zendesk Marketplace

You get integrations that have been built by Zendesk and our partners, from the Marketplace at zendesk.com/apps.

Many integrations are available for free. Some integrations have a cost (for example, per agent or per month) that are explained in the integration listing. Paid integrations usually offer a free trial period so you can see if the integration is right for you first.

Integration information, screenshots, and user reviews are included in each Marketplace listing so you can make sure an integration is right for you.

Getting started with the most popular integrations

There are many integrations from Zendesk and our partners that you can browse in the Marketplace. To help get you started here’s some recommendations from the most downloaded integrations in the Marketplace:

App	More information
	The Slack integration features message actions for creating, viewing, and taking action on support tickets from any Slack channel. Slack for Zendesk Support simplifies communication and streamlines your workflows to keep your team coordinated and working faster. For more information, see Slack integration.
	With Zendesk Support for JIRA connect your support and engineering teams. Easily escalate and link Zendesk Support tickets to a JIRA issue so critical information is shared and collaboration is effortless. Customize the Zendesk Support for JIRA workflow to your teams’ workflows. For more information, see JIRA integration resources.
	Use the Shopify for Zendesk integration to display customer and order details from Shopify. Unite all your business and customer data by displaying critical Shopify information to your agents while they serve customers - without leaving Zendesk. For more information, see Shopify integration.
	The Salesforce app enables a holistic view of your customers for your sales and support teams with a dynamic two-way integration between Zendesk Support ticket data and Salesforce CRM customer data. Display a real-time Salesforce customer profile next to a live ticket in Zendesk Support. For more information, see Salesforce integration resources.
	With the Zoom Phone integration you can make and receive Zoom Phone calls from within the Support Agent Workspace. Calls will create new tickets and capture Zoom Phone data back into Support once the call is finished.
	Use the Trello integration to create Trello cards from Zendesk tickets. You can add a ticket to an existing card or create a new card, and specify the Board or List it should be added to.

Considerations before installing an integration

Installing an integration to your Zendesk instance and another application may provide you with some great additional functionality, but there a few things to do or consider beforehand:

• Thoroughly read the integration information in the Marketplace listing and any available support documentation.

  Does it do everything you want it to do? Do the features align with your needs? Is there anything it doesn’t do that you need?

• Read the installation instructions.

  Is there anything you need to prepare before you install? Are there any other support articles available you can refer to? Do you understand how you want to transfer and maintain data between Zendesk and the other 3rd-party application? If mapping data fields between applications are you clear on which fields to map? Are the fields the correct format to be mapped?

• Ask for feedback or advise your agents what is about to change.

  Are your users ready for the integration? Do you need to tell them how to use the new integration?

• Consider existing integrations.

  Have you already installed apps to your Zendesk instance? Will a new integration work in conjunction with any apps you’re already using? Could there be any conflicts? Will the new integration, with greater functionality, replace an existing app?

• Only admins can install integrations.

  Do you have admin access to your Zendesk instance and the application you’re integrating with?

• Ensure your Zendesk instance is configured adequately before you add integrations. Have you completed the workflow planning, managing people, and security tasks for your account?
• Test the integration.

  If our plan includes sandbox access, are you able to install the integration in a sandbox or trial instance of Zendesk instead of production?

• Start small to confirm behaviour.

  If you need to import or export data, can you do it in smaller batches?