Using Microsoft Teams in side conversations

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Side conversations are spaces in a ticket where agents can have a conversation with a specific group of people, or discuss a specific area of concern or course of action. Side conversations are available in email, Slack, and as child tickets.

As an alternative, you can use side conversations in a ticket to initiate and participate in Microsoft Teams threads in channels. The Microsoft Teams side conversations you initiate can be viewed in the ticket and the Microsoft Teams application. Like email, Slack conversations, and child tickets, Microsoft Teams side conversation messages are recorded as ticket events. You can also use them as trigger conditions.

This feature is available only if an admin has installed the latest version of Zendesk for Microsoft Teams and activated side conversations.

This article includes these topics:

• Creating a side conversation with Microsoft Teams
• Adding attachments to a Microsoft Teams side conversation
• About limitations and breaking the link between Support and Microsoft Teams

Related articles:

• About side conversations

Creating a side conversation using Microsoft Teams

You can create a side conversation with Microsoft Teams from within Support.

To create a side conversation using Microsoft Teams

1. In a ticket, open the context panel and click the Side conversations () icon, then click the plus sign (+).
2. Select Microsoft Teams as the conversation type.

   

3. Enter the Microsoft Teams’ team, channel, and your message. You can also add ticket comments.

   

   For more information about the composer, see Rich text editing in the side conversation composer.

   You can start a side conversation in one team and channel at a time. You can't combine Microsoft Teams, Slack, and email conversations.

   If you have a lot of teams and channels, it may take a few moments to display the list. The Team appears before the channel address, for example, Team 1 - General, Team 2 - General, and so on.

4. When you’ve finished composing your message, click Send.

   Anyone in the Microsoft Teams channel can view your message and reply to the thread directly, without logging into Zendesk Support.

   Microsoft Teams replies are automatically included in the ticket’s side conversation. The conversation can continue back and forth, as long as necessary, until you get the information you need.

5. When the side conversation is complete, click Done.
   Note: This action is not reflected in the Microsoft Teams application.

Adding attachments to a Microsoft Teams side conversation

You can add attachments to a side conversation from the Microsoft Teams application by using the bot that appears at the beginning of a conversation. Using the bot allows attachments to appear in both Support and Microsoft Teams.

Note: Attachments sent directly in the Microsoft Teams side conversation do not appear in the ticket’s side conversation in Support. Likewise, attachments sent directly in Support do not appear in the Microsoft Teams side conversation.

To add attachments to side conversations from Microsoft Teams

1. In Microsoft Teams, open a side conversation.
2. Scroll up to the beginning of the conversation where the bot first responded.

   

3. Click Click here and upload the file you want to attach.

   

4. Click Upload files.

About limitations and breaking the link between Support and Microsoft Teams

Note the following limitations when using Microsoft Teams side conversations:

• Deleting messages: You can’t delete a message from a Microsoft Teams side conversation.
• Attachments: Attachments sent directly in the Microsoft Teams side conversation do not appear in the ticket’s side conversation in Support. Likewise, attachments sent directly in Support do not appear in the Microsoft Teams side conversation. For attachments to appear in both Support and Microsoft Teams, see Adding attachments to a Microsoft Teams side conversation.

The following Microsoft Teams features are not supported:

• Direct messages

  As a workaround, the administrator can set up separate channels with only one member (for example, “Team Finance Experts – Support”) and add the Zendesk for Microsoft Teams app to this team.

• Microsoft Teams @mentions
• Emoji reactions
• Typing indicators

If the link breaks between Zendesk and Microsoft Teams (for example, an admin removes the Zendesk app from a Microsoft Teams channel or archives or deletes a Microsoft Teams channel that you used for side conversations), you can still open and view these side conversations in a ticket, but you can no longer use that Microsoft Teams channel to send or receive updates to side conversations.

If you're experiencing issues with the Microsoft Teams app, contact Softserve, a third-party group which owns the Microsoft Teams functionality.