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Cloud Voice Documentation

Set up Contact Synchronization from Zendesk

Once Cloud Voice is connected to Zendesk, you can have your Zendesk contacts copied into a Cloud Voice phonebook automatically. This is a one-directional sync: records move from Zendesk into Cloud Voice, and the resulting phonebook is read-only.

Before you begin

Section titled “Before you begin”

Make sure you have already integrated Cloud Voice with Zendesk.

Turn on synchronization

Section titled “Turn on synchronization”

  1. Sign in to the PBX (Private Branch Exchange, your phone system) web portal and open Integrations > Helpdesk.

  2. On the Zendesk integration page, switch on Synchronize Contacts Automatically.

  3. Use the Synchronize to Phonebook drop-down to choose where the contacts should land. Pick an existing empty phonebook, or create a new one for this purpose.

    Selecting the destination phonebook for synchronized Zendesk contacts

  4. Decide how you want the Always Query Helpdesk option set. This controls whether Cloud Voice looks up contact details in Zendesk in real time.

    Cloud Voice, the Always Query Helpdesk toggle on the integration page

    • Enabled: Cloud Voice queries Zendesk on every lookup, and extension users can search Zendesk contacts as they dial from the Cloud Voice App.
    • Disabled: Cloud Voice only reaches out to Zendesk when no match is found in your company contacts.

  5. Click Save.

What you get

Section titled “What you get”

In Contacts > Phonebooks, the linked phonebook is marked with a helpdesk label.

The synchronized phonebook tagged with a helpdesk label in the phonebook list

The Zendesk-linked phonebook populated with synchronized contacts

From then on, whenever the linked extension takes an inbound call from a Zendesk contact or dials one, the matching contact record is pulled into the Cloud Voice phonebook automatically.

Some contacts won’t sync

Section titled “Some contacts won’t sync”

Records with missing details can fail to synchronize. Confirm that each contact has the following, then run the directory sync again:

  • A value in either the First name or the Last name field.
  • At least one phone-number field filled in.