Announced on Rollout starts Rollout ends
November 16, 2023 November 16, 2023 December 14, 2023

As part of Zendesk's continued efforts to expand data locality support, we are excited to tell you that Zendesk Talk has now expanded data locality coverage to Europe and Australia. This important update gives you control over where your voice call data is ingested, processed, and stored. It also means you can now keep personal data entirely within a specific region, both at rest and in transit.

There are two stages to this rollout:

  • Stage One: November 16-21, 2023 - For customers who have not already activated data locality. New data locality requests for Europe and Australia will automatically update your Zendesk Talk region to match the region of the overall Zendesk account.
  • Stage Two: December 11-14, 2023  - For customers who, (prior to November 21, 2023) requested data locality for their Zendesk account for Europe or Australia. The Talk team will update your Talk account region to be in sync with the region of your Zendesk account.

This announcement answers the following questions:

  • What's changing?
  • Why is Zendesk making this change?
  • What do I need to do?
  • Where can I find more information?

What's changing?

Previously Zendesk Talk voice data could only be hosted in the US. Now it can also be hosted in the following regions: 

  • The United States (US)
  • The European Economic Area (EEA)
  • Australia

The type of voice data that can be hosted in the above regions includes; phone number data, call logs, call recordings, and voicemail recordings. 

Limitations

The following limitations apply to customers hosting Zendesk Talk data outside of the US:

  • This update only applies to voice data. It does not apply to text (SMS) data, which will continue to be hosted in the US.
  • You will not be able to use external numbers with Zendesk Talk. However, to overcome this you can request to have numbers ported to Zendesk Talk. See Porting numbers to Zendesk Talk.
  • Historical voice data will not be migrated between regions. For example, if your Talk account region changes from the US to the EEA, all historical call recordings will continue to be stored in the US. 

Why is Zendesk making this change?

Up until recently, Zendesk Talk’s voice service provider did not support data hosting outside the US. This meant that data such as phone number call logs, call recordings, and voicemail recordings could not be stored outside of the US. Thanks to recent updates by our voice service provider, businesses who use the Zendesk Talk product can now store, host, and replicate voice-specific customer data within any one of the three regions listed (the US, the EEA, and Australia). 

What do I need to do?

Whether you are a new customer who has not yet started using Zendesk Talk, or an existing customer of Zendesk Talk, you can opt-in to data locality so that your voice-specific data stays within a specified region. Choose the opt-in option that applies to you:

  • If you have not yet requested data locality for your Zendesk account:
    Talk to your Zendesk account executive or the Zendesk customer support team to activate data locality for your account and store the data in a specific region.
    After the rollout ends on November 21, 2023, if your Zendesk account is moved to a specific region (for example, Europe or Australia) then your Zendesk Talk account will be automatically moved to the region as part of this process. For further eligibility requirements see Data locality eligibility (below). 
  • If you have previously requested data locality for your Zendesk account:
    You do not need to take any action as your Zendesk Talk account will be automatically updated between December 11 - 14, 2023 to the region matching your Zendesk account. Owners of Zendesk Talk accounts that have activated data locality (prior to November 21, 2023) will receive an email about these updates.

Data locality eligibility

Data locality will be included by default or available as an add-on, depending on which Zendesk plan you are subscribed to. 

  • If you are a Zendesk Suite customer -  data locality is included by default with your subscription. 
  • If you are using a Zendesk Support Professional or Support Enterprise plan - you can purchase data locality as an add-on. 

If you are unsure whether data locality is included with your plan, speak with your Zendesk account executive or contact Zendesk customer support. 

Where can I find more information?

For more information about purchasing data locality as an add-on, see About the data center location add-on. To learn more about which functionalities are covered in the different data hosting locations, see Zendesk’s Regional data hosting policy.

For any questions or feedback about our products, post in the Community feedback - Voice (Talk) forum that is monitored by our Product Managers. For further assistance, contact Zendesk customer support.

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