In the Zendesk Agent Workspace, agents can work across multiple channels all within the same ticket. Because of this flexibility, the ticket composer includes some rules (logic) for channel switching within a ticket. This logic controls which channels are available to you when you send a reply.
Channel switching options in the composer
The following simplified diagram shows which channel switching options are available for agents, based on the ticket type.
Some examples include:
- After you end a chat with a customer, you can switch to the email channel to send a follow-up email.
- After you receive an email ticket from a customer who needs a detailed, personalized reply for an urgent matter, you can switch to the talk channel and call the customer.
- If you have an email ticket paired with private by default settings in Admin Center, internal note automatically shows in the composer when you open the ticket.
You can use the channel menu to switch channels manually in the composer. See Switching channels in the composer. You can also rely on automatic channel switching logic to help out. When you open a ticket, channel switching logic can automatically present the best channel option, reducing the time it takes to reply to customers.
Channel switching logic varies depending on which channels were used to create the ticket. It also depends on which default privacy settings are set in Admin Center. See below for details. The default privacy settings in Admin Center apply to email, talk, and other channels, but not to messaging and chat. See Changing the default privacy of ticket comments.
Channel switching logic for talk tickets
When you open a talk ticket with the call ended, here are the results. The behavior changes depending on which privacy defaults for ticket comments are set in Admin Center.
| Situation | Condition 1 | Condition 2 | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agent opens a talk ticket | The call has ended. | Set the composer channel to public is selected in Admin Center. | Composer shows Public reply. |
| Set the composer channel to public is not selected in Admin Center. | Composer shows Internal note. |
There’s one exception to the privacy defaults for ticket comments. Tickets that only have internal notes and no public comments will always default to internal notes, even if the Public by default setting is turned on.
Channel switching logic for chat tickets
When you open a chat ticket, here are the results. Because chat is considered a live channel, the privacy defaults for ticket comments that are set in Admin Center don’t apply.
| Situation | Condition 1 | Condition 2 | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Agent opens a chat ticket Note: The default privacy settings in Admin Center don’t apply. |
The chat is active | Composer shows the Chat channel. | |
| The chat is inactive | The chat user has a known email address | Composer shows the Email channel. | |
| The chat is inactive | The chat user doesn’t have a known email address | Composer shows Internal note. | |
Channel switching logic for messaging tickets
When you open a messaging ticket, here are the results. Because messaging is considered a live channel, the privacy defaults for ticket comments that are set in Admin Center don’t apply.
| Situation | Condition | Result |
|---|---|---|
|
Agent opens a messaging ticket Note: The default privacy settings in Admin Center don’t apply. |
The messaging channel has not timed out. It is still available. Timeouts vary from 24 hours to 7 days, depending on the type of messaging channel. | Composer shows the applicable messaging channel. For example, WhatsApp, Facebook, WeChat, Messaging, and so on. |
| The applicable messaging channel has timed out. | Composer shows the Messaging channel. | |
| The customer’s last reply was by email, regardless of channel timeout. | Composer shows the Email channel. |
Channel switching logic for any ticket, light agents
When a light agent opens any ticket, the composer shows Internal note. Light agents can only add internal notes, not public replies. See Understanding what light agents can do.
Channel switching logic for email and other ticket types
For email and other types of tickets, channel switching logic is applied based on the privacy defaults for ticket comments that are set in Admin Center.
There’s one exception to the privacy defaults for ticket comments. Tickets that only have internal notes and no public comments will always default to internal notes, even if the Public by default setting is turned on..