You can make outbound calls from either your browser or your phone. Keep in mind that while you can initiate outbound calls using your own phone, the call will be passed to, and made from the Talk console. You can make outbound calls regardless of whether your state is online, offline, away, or transfers only. You must be a Talk agent or team lead to make outbound calls. See Talk roles.
This article contains the following topics:
Making an outbound call from the Talk console
When you make a call from the Talk console, the call details are added to a new ticket. If you use multiple lines, you can filter outbound calls to quickly find the specific outbound line you want to call from.
To make an outbound call from the Talk console
- Click the Talk icon (
) in the Support toolbar.
- In the Talk console, click the dial pad icon (
) to enter the phone number you want to call.
The default number that will be used is displayed in the outbound call number drop-down (
). The default number is usually the last one you used. If your browser cache has been cleared, the outgoing line resets to the default number for the account.
If you’ve set up brands, it doesn’t matter which brand is associated with the number.
Tip: A brand is a customer-facing identity, represented by a collection of contact points for your customers. These can include email, help center, messaging Web Widget, and social media. Brands are available in most versions of the Zendesk Suite and the Enterprise version of Support standalone. See Multibrand resources. - Choose a phone line to make the call.
You can use the default number displayed in the outbound call number drop-down or select another number from the drop-down.
If you call from multiple lines, you can filter the options by starting to type in the dropdown and then selecting the line you want from the filtered list. You can filter by name, number, or brand.
Finally, you can enter a phone number on the keypad or in the phone number field.
- When you're ready, click Call.
If you're using your own phone, Talk will call your number and then dial the requester after you pick up.
Making an outbound call from an existing ticket
When you make a call from a ticket, the call details are added to that ticket. An outbound call can be initiated from any ticket that isn’t closed, even if it was not created by an incoming call.
To make an outbound call from an existing ticket
- Open the ticket you want to use to call the requester.
- In the channel switcher menu of the message composer, click Call
<number> or Call Enter a number, then select the displayed
number or select Enter a number to manually enter a new number to
dial.
The Talk console opens. You can then edit the outgoing number or search for and change the outbound phone line. The country code of the number will automatically change to match the number you are calling. When you are ready, click Callto initiate the phone call.
More information about making outbound calls from a number in a ticket
The following list gives you more information about how Talk behaves when you make an outbound call from a phone number in a ticket:
- Talk always uses a line associated with the ticket brand, usually
the one called by the caller. If the line called by the caller is not
available or enabled for outbound calls (for example if it has been deleted
or disabled) or it no longer belongs to the ticket brand, Talk uses the next
available line of the same brand (the first line of the same brand in the
lines list).
If the brand has no available or enabled lines for outbound calls, Talk uses the first available line of any brand (the uppermost line in the lines pick-list).
If you disable a line, it will still be shown as available in the Talk console until you refresh your browser window.
- If the brand of the ticket has been updated and it's now different from the one called by the user, Talk uses the first available line of the new brand for the call.
More information about making a call from a ticket by entering a number
When you choose Enter a number from a ticket, the Talk console opens where you can configure details about the call. For more information, see Making an outbound call from the Talk console in this article.
Making an outbound call from a user's profile
When you make a call from a user's profile, the call details are added to a new ticket.
To make an outbound call from a user's profile
- Open a user's profile.
- Click their number in the Phone field.
- In the drop-down list, select Call this number.
The Talk console opens and calls the selected number. The default number used is the last one used by the agent.
36 comments
Gerardo
Is it possible to pause the recording for outbound calls?
0
Devan La Spisa
Hello @...,
It is possible to pause a recording when an agent chooses to pauses the call recording, which is available on Talk Professional and Enterprise plans. The article below goes into detail on how to set this up and implement these settings. If you run into any issues, please don't hesitate to reach out! :D
Pausing and resuming call recordings with agent recording controls
Best regards.
0
Andrew Chu
Hi Zendesk team,
Is there a way to select from the list of phone numbers to call from one or two numbers as default numbers?
Let's say if we purchase 20 something toll-free numbers and then enable them all for outbound calls then it would be a long list to select.
0
Christine Diego
Hi Andrew Chu,
You can disable outbound calling for all but one phone number. That way, agents don't have the option of selecting a different number in the call console and the outbound caller ID is always the same.
Now, only one number will appear in the Talk console.
Standardizing your outbound caller ID
Hope this helps!
0
Zendesk Admin
Is it possible to create a call list for automated outbound dialing in Talk?
1
Sarah Sabater
Is it possible to place an outbound call while you're currently on a call with an agent?
The screenshot in the last section of this article is of the "old" lay out of the comments field and the option to "Place Call" is not available within a ticket in workspace.
0
Leanne Britton
Hi Sarah,
If an agent is already on a call with another agent, then it is not possible to simultaneously place a call to an end-user directly from a ticket. Instead, the agent would either need to transfer the call to the end-user's external number or need to add the end-user to the shared call via the Talk console. Steps to transfer a call can be found in Transferring calls and steps to add the user to the existing call can be found in Adding a third-party to a conference call.
In either case, once the call to the end user has been completed, the agent(s) can then merge the new ticket into the existing end-user ticket.
Hope this answers your question!
Leanne Britton
Technical Support Engineer
0
Lindsay Horton
My team is currently setting up and configuring ZD Talk. When agents are placing outbound calls when the end-user picks up the call, all that plays is music - the end-user can not hear our agents talking. Even the recording that plays once the end users hang up is nothing but music. Does Zendesk have a recommendation to remedy this?
0
Jason Schaeffer
0
Lindsay Horton
Jason,
Thanks for the response. I ended up logging a ticket to have a ZD support associate review, and it seems that my agent may have been in a hold status (unknowingly) when we were conducting our testing. We will continue testing tomorrow and will let the ZD team know if we continue to have issues for any reason. Thank you!
0
Jason Schaeffer
Ok sounds great, please do reach back out anytime should you need anything else.
Have a great day!
0
Jennifer Swick
Is there a way to choose who shows up on the end callers caller ID?
-1
Brandon Tidd
Hi Jennifer Swick -
Depending on your plan and your use case, one of these two articles might help:
https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408824192026-Adding-Talk-phone-lines#topic_pmh_c5m_j1b
https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408893291930-Standardizing-your-outbound-caller-ID
Brandon
0
Bruno Menezes
Hi ZD team,
I am looking to find a way to avoid agents making outbound calls from the wrong phone number, which has impacted on our reports.
Is there any solution within Zendesk where we could filter internal phone numbers by groups or something similar? Ideally, agents should be able to see only phone numbers within their groups rather than the full list.
Thanks in advance,
Bruno
4
Eric Cheadle
I have agents that use zendesk talk to call customers. Some of these customers have an automated line where the extension has to be pressed. When this happens it never works and it counts presses as multiples sometimes. Ex typing extension 102 will make it 11022 or 10022. it seems pretty random. Is there a reason for this? Is there a way to get this to work?
Thanks,
Eric
0
Brandon Tidd
Hey Eric Cheadle -
Sorry to hear that your agents are experiencing difficulties. There are a few things that might be causing this:
1) Network congestion. You can test this using a free tool.
2) Browser latency. You can troubleshoot this by having the users type on the keyboard vs the virtual soft phone in their browser.
3) Audio feedback. Since the system is 'listening' for the DTMF tones, if the agent's headset volume is too loud or configured in a way where the microphone is picking up the sound (or they aren't wearing a headset), it might be creating an echo effect that's picking up the tone twice. If this is the case, you should be able to hear it on the recording.
If the issue persists and is not limited to one agent, please consider raising a ticket with Zendesk support from within your instance for additional troubleshooting steps.
Hope this helps!
Bruno Menezes - I hear you - we've struggled with this as well - I would recommend cross-posting this in Zendesk's Community Product Feedback section.
Brandon Tidd
729 Solutions
0
Eric Cheadle
Ok thanks, that's a good thought, I wonder if it is #3.
I will try these out thanks!
0
Justin Near
If you have multiple Talk lines, is it possible to set the outbound phone number at an agent level? It seems to reset back to the default for me every day, but I want to always call from a specific number that isn't the default. (Other agents need to call from different numbers as well).
1
Alan Suazo
Can we integrate salesforce outbound calls with Zendesk outbound calls?
0
Aubree
Hi Alan Suazo,
Can you provide more information, please? Are you interested to make calls in Zendesk but the details will also show in Salesforce or vice versa?
1
Alan Suazo
That's right Aubree
0
Aubree
Hello Alan Suazo,
Currently, our Salesforce Integration does not have an option to integrate Salesforce outbound calls with Zendesk outbound calls. However, our integration does have the following two features that could be used to view Zendesk ticket data in Salesforce:
1. Ticket Sync - Allows you to sync Zendesk tickets (including Talk tickets) to Salesforce Case records. You could then report on this data in Salesforce or trigger other business workflows within Salesforce.
2. Ticket View - This feature can be added to the Account, Contact, Lead, and Opportunity pages and it queries Zendesk Support in real-time and displays the list of Zendesk tickets (which can include Talk tickets). This feature does not store any Zendesk data in Salesforce.
I hope this helps!
0
Jason Zajdel
Hello all,
I have two problems:
1 - If we use the ZenDesk phone app to make a call to a customer which does not pick up, the call will disconnect, instead of going to voicemail. Are there timeout settings when outbound dialing? In this case a ticket isn't created in Zendesk to verify that I made a call.
2 - The numbers to press while going through a customer's directory do not work as intended. Such as "Press 4 for Suchandsuch Department" will result in a "I'm sorry, that is not a valid option" from their end, but if I use my cell phone then it's fine. I know the problem isn't on their side if my cell phone works correctly, right?
Any help is appreciated!
1
Sarah Urban
0
Christine
Have you confirmed the current role of the user who doesn't see the
Call
option on the ticket?Is the user assigned as a Talk agent and Talk is enabled on their profile?
Another thing that you can check is if the user has the correct permissions to make calls.
Note that in Talk Admins cannot make and receive calls. See Why can't I place calls as an admin?
If the permissions are correct and you still don't see the Call option on existing tickets, kindly raised a ticket with our support team directly and we'll be glad to look into the issue more. See Contacting Zendesk Customer Support. Thanks!
0
Clifford Swall
In certain states, such as California, both parties (the company and the customer) have to consent to being recorded.
Is there anything that can be played to a customer before connecting them to an agent that says something like "You are now connected on a recorded line" or can we record something that plays before the call is connected?
I would rather rely on some kind of recorded message opposed to relying on agents to convey to customers that they are on a recorded line as they may forget.
0
Shannon Kertis
Within your Talk number settings and under the Call recording tab you have the options for what recording consent greeting you want to play to your callees. We have provided some default messages as well as recording opt-in and opt-out options, but if you prefer you can record your own custom greeting. More details can be found here: Configuring call recording options. Hope that helps!
0
Clifford Swall
Hello Shannon,
Thanks for your reply, I played around with those settings, and it looks like they only affect call recording for inbound calls to our company.
I'm looking for something that can be played as an outbound message to customers when our agents call customers. Is there a setting for this?
1
Shannon Kertis
0
Emily
How is the number populated on the ticket? I saw a note in this article Number used for outgoing calls from a ticket that it pulls the number the user called in from. If a user submitted a ticket via email or the help center, how can I configure a number to show in the drop down for that organization to call the ticket submitter?
0