# Zendesk Integration Overview

Linking Cloud Voice to Zendesk brings your phone system and your customer support desk together in one workflow. When an agent handles a call using their Cloud Voice extension, Zendesk can show who is calling, open the caller's profile, surface their past call history, and record call and chat activity against Zendesk records automatically, all without leaving the Zendesk interface. It can also open support tickets on its own based on customer calls, which cuts down on manual data entry. This page covers what you need before you begin, what the integration can do, and the terms used throughout the setup instructions.

## Requirements

Both your Zendesk account and your Cloud Voice system must meet the following conditions.

**Zendesk plan**: one of the following:

- Zendesk Suite: Suite Team, Suite Growth, Suite Professional, or Suite Enterprise.
- Zendesk Support (standalone): Support Team, Support Professional, or Support Enterprise.

**Cloud Voice system:**

- Plan: Enterprise Plan (EP) or Ultimate Plan (UP).
- Firmware: version 84.9.0.18 or later.

:::caution
Check every requirement before you start. If the Zendesk subscription is not one of the plans listed above, or the Cloud Voice system is not on the EP or UP plan running firmware 84.9.0.18 or later, the integration will not be available and setup will fail. Upgrading the plan or firmware first saves a wasted setup attempt.
:::

## Key features

Once connected, the integration adds the following capabilities.

**Click to Call**

Dial any phone number detected on a Zendesk page with a single click, placing the call through the Cloud Voice App.

:::note
Click to Call relies on the Cloud Voice App browser extension for Google Chrome. Install the extension and configure the Cloud Voice App (Web) to work with it before using this feature. Without the extension, detected numbers will not be clickable.
:::

**Call Popup**

When an agent who is signed in to the Cloud Voice App (Web or Desktop) answers an inbound call from a Zendesk contact, or wraps up a call with one, the contact's profile opens automatically in the browser. Agents can also open the profile manually from the call window at any point during a call with a help desk contact.

:::tip
The popup only appears while the agent is signed in to the Cloud Voice App. If profiles are not appearing for an agent, confirm they are logged in to the Web or Desktop client first.
:::

**Contact Synchronization**

Zendesk contacts are copied into the linked Cloud Voice phonebook whenever an agent receives a call from, or places a call to, a Zendesk contact.

**Automatic Contact Creation**

For inbound or outbound calls involving a number that is not already known, a new contact is created in Zendesk automatically.

**Automatic Ticket Creation**

A new ticket is opened in Zendesk automatically for inbound and outbound calls.

:::note
Automatic Contact Creation and Automatic Ticket Creation both fire on inbound and outbound calls, so routine calling will generate new Zendesk records over time. Expect to see fresh contacts and tickets appear without an agent creating them by hand.
:::

**Call & Chat Journal**

Call activity is written back to Zendesk automatically once an agent (linked to a Cloud Voice extension) ends a call with a Zendesk contact. For external chat sessions where the other party's number matches a Zendesk contact, the full chat transcript is synced to Zendesk when the session closes, whether the agent or the system ends it.

:::note
Two conditions govern this feature. A call is only logged after it ends, not while it is in progress. A chat transcript only syncs when the other party's number is an exact match for an existing Zendesk contact, so a number that does not match will not sync.
:::

**Call Recording Playback**

Agents can view and play back recordings held on the Cloud Voice system from the matching call log entry inside the help desk interface.

:::note
Only calls that were actually recorded on the Cloud Voice system show a playback option. The recording is streamed from the Cloud Voice system, not stored inside Zendesk, so call recording must be enabled for the calls you expect to review.
:::

## Terminology

The instructions for this integration use the following terms.

| Term | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| Support admin | A Zendesk support user with administrator-level access. |
| Support agent | A Zendesk support user who is assigned tickets and works with customers to resolve support issues. |
| Cloud Voice extension | The extension number belonging to a Zendesk support user. Agents register the extension on a desk phone or in the Cloud Voice App and use it to make and take calls. |
| Ticket | A support issue raised by a customer that needs to be resolved. |
| Customer | An end user who raises tickets in Zendesk. |