Update: The EAP has now closed and agent status is part of the omnichannel routing beta.
For details, see About omnichannel routing (beta).
We are excited to announce an early access program (EAP) for a new powerful way for agents to set a single status across multiple channels in Agent Workspace.
What is agent status?
When enabled, agents can set a single status across multiple Zendesk channels (Talk, Messaging, and Support). The status set by the agent determines when and what type of tickets from these channels can be routed to them.
There are four default agent statuses: online, away, transfer only, and offline. Additionally, admins can define custom agent statuses unique to their workflows. When an admin creates custom statuses, they define the way work should be routed for each available channel. For example, if an admin creates a new status called "In a meeting", they may not want the most time-sensitive channels of work routed to agents in this status. In that case, they could set Email (Support) to online, and Messaging and Talk to away. That would result in agents with the "In a meeting" status only receiving tickets generated from Support email.
Who can participate in the EAP?
This early access program is available to Zendesk customers who;
- Have migrated to the Zendesk Agent Workspace.
- Are not using Chat
If you're interested in participating we invite you to sign up: Agent Status EAP sign-up form (closed - see update at the top of this announcement!). We’ll review your eligibility and and reach out with next steps!
16 Comments
Hi Jordan,
Will chat, light agents and custom roles be a deal-breaker for this outside of EAP?
We would be very keen to participate, however, we use the above.
Cheers
@..., we would like to participate in this EAP, but we are using Chat and Messaging (WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Instagram Direct) on Agent Workspace, are we able to participate or using Chat is really an impediment?
hey @...
I have a larger enterprise customer who has 100+ agents on their account and uses ZD Omnichannel. They've asked if you'll be adding in an option to control this feature on a brand level at all? - If so when?
Usecase: The customer has multiple agents who work across multiple brands. There would be scenarios where we would want to apply this setting to all agents on a particular brand v's another brand due to brand behaviour etc.
They often use offshore agents and managing their online availability is always a challenge. Being able to enforce something like this on the offshore agents who work on a particular brand only would be a great help.
Prática Klimaquip Initially we are limiting the EAP only to customers that are using Messaging, but do plan to allow customers who are migrating from Chat to Messaging to participate in the near future. It sounds like you may fit this description, but I'll follow up with you via email to confirm.
Josef Prandstetter Agent statuses will help prevent new tickets from being routed to an agent who's unavailable, but doesn't currently update or re-assign any existing tickets in the way the Out of Office app updates all pending, on-hold, and solved tickets with a tag when an agent is unavailable.
Status syncing has come up in our discussions but isn't currently on our roadmap. Custom statuses will allow agents to indicate when they are in a meeting (as you noted), but will be set by the agent themselves.
@...
https://www.zendesk.com/marketplace/apps/support/49617/out-of-office/
E.g. when an agent is participating on a MS Teams webmeeting prevent routing to him? Or will it be possible by a custom agent status like "In a meeting"?
Hey David Cheung!
Is your customer looking to turn on/off agent statuses all together based on brand? Or limit access to certain statuses based on the agents brand (i.e. only show "in a meeting" as a status option to agents in brand A, but not to agents in Brand B)? We have plans to eventually support the latter - allowing admins to limit certain custom statuses to certain brands/groups.
Not yet Ben Willmott, but thats something we're working on and planning to release later this year!
Hi to everyone who's asked about joining this EAP. The EAP has now closed and agent status is part of the omnichannel routing beta.
For details, see About omnichannel routing (beta).
Would users leveraging SunShine Conversations be able to benefit from this feature?
Hi Riah Lao,
Per the strategic move by Zendesk towards conversational messaging, chat is not currently planned to be supported.
Thank you for sharing your feedback! I'l be sure to update you if anything changes.
@... If we are currently using chat but not in a meaningful capacity, would we be eligible for the EAP program? If we were to be included in the EAP program, in the event agents that are working chat need to set themselves away, they can use traditional OOO option while the reset of our agents utilize the EAP options, would that be an allowable option for us to use the EAP program?
I've applied for the EAP program and not heard anything back. I'm not sure if anyone is actively checking it to be honest as I've applied for another one since then that was semi-related to this and we met all qualifications for and didn't hear back regarding it either.
Hi,
We are interested on this but why is it limited to customers without Chat support?
@... I have recently applied for the EAP program. While we do have light agents enabled in our account, they do not do anything with tickets that have a status of less than solved. We have just transitioned to messaging and the loss of the workspace focus mode where agents could be online for both chat and talk at the same time is a pain point and the support article comments indicated requesting access to the EAP would be the best resolution. Would appreciate it if you're able to reach out to me to discuss this further.
Any chance there's still room in the EAP? 🤞
Does this EAP include the ability to query status by agent through the Support API'?
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