Integrate Cloud Voice with Zoho CRM

Linking Cloud Voice with Zoho CRM (Customer Relationship Management, the app where your team keeps its customer records) lets staff handle calls right alongside those records. Once the two systems are connected and users are matched to extensions, associated staff can dial and pick up calls through their Cloud Voice extensions from within Zoho CRM.

The setup runs in four parts:

Gather your phone system’s connection details.
Register the phone system as a client in Zoho.
Authorize the two systems to talk to each other.
Map Zoho users to Cloud Voice extensions.

Before you begin

You need administrator access to the Zoho CRM account. Only a Zoho CRM administrator can turn on this integration, so confirm your Zoho login has that role before you start.

Step 1. Collect your phone system connection details

Cloud Voice generates a pair of web addresses that Zoho uses to reach your system. You will hand these to Zoho in Step 2, so copy them down first.

Sign in to the Cloud Voice portal and open Integrations > CRM.
Choose Zoho, then pick your Zoho CRM edition.
Under Network, pick a value from the Homepage URL drop-down list. Cloud Voice then fills in a matching address in the Authorized Redirect URI field automatically. (A URI, or Uniform Resource Identifier, is the address Zoho sends the user back to after a successful sign-in.)

The Homepage URL is the web address of your phone system. Zoho CRM uses whichever URL you select here to communicate with Cloud Voice.
Keep both the Homepage URL and the Authorized Redirect URI handy. You will paste them into Zoho in the next step.

The Homepage URL and Authorized Redirect URI you paste into Zoho must match these values exactly. If they differ by even a trailing slash, Zoho will reject the authorization in Step 3.

Step 2. Register the phone system as a Zoho client

Zoho only accepts requests from applications it recognizes, so you register your phone system once as an API (Application Programming Interface) client. This produces the ID and secret Cloud Voice needs to prove who it is.

Sign in to the Zoho API Console and select GET STARTED.
On the Choose a Client Type page, select Server-based Applications.
On the Create New Client page, enter your phone system’s details:
- Client Name: A name of your choosing (for example, “Cloud Voice PBX”). This is only a label to help you recognize the client later.
- Homepage URL: The Homepage URL you copied in Step 1.
- Authorized Redirect URI: The redirect URI you copied in Step 1.
Select CREATE. Zoho generates a Client ID and a Client Secret.
Copy the Client ID and Client Secret. You will need them in the next step.

The Client Secret is like a password for this connection: anyone who has it can access your CRM data. Store it somewhere secure and never post it in a ticket, chat, or screenshot.

Step 3. Authorize the connection to Zoho CRM

Now feed the Zoho credentials back into Cloud Voice and grant it permission to read your CRM data.

In the Cloud Voice portal, go to Integrations > CRM and select Zoho.
In the Authorization section, fill in the fields below.
- Account Server Address: The Zoho accounts server URL.
  
  https://accounts.zoho.com works for most accounts, but the domain depends on the data center where your Zoho account was registered. For example, an account created in Europe uses https://accounts.zoho.eu.
- Zoho CRM Address: The Zoho CRM URL.
  
  https://crm.zoho.com works for most accounts, but the domain depends on your account’s data center. An account created in Europe, for instance, uses https://crm.zoho.eu.
- Client ID: The Client ID from Zoho.
- Client Secret: The Client Secret from Zoho.
Both the Account Server Address and the Zoho CRM Address must point to the same region as your Zoho account (for example, both .com or both .eu). If either one targets the wrong data center, the authorization will not complete and the status stays disconnected.
Select Save. A new browser page opens asking you to grant Zoho CRM data access.

If no new page appears after you select Save, check that your browser is not blocking pop-ups for the Cloud Voice portal, then try again.
On the authorization page, tick the disclaimer checkbox and select Accept so Cloud Voice can access your Zoho data.

You return to the Cloud Voice configuration page, where a pop-up shows the result of the authorization.
Select OK. The Status field now reads Connected, confirming the integration is in place.

Step 4. Match Zoho users to extensions

Associate each Zoho user with a Cloud Voice extension so calls route to the right person.

On the CRM integration page, select the refresh icon next to Zoho User to pull the current list of Zoho CRM users.
Match the Zoho users with extensions using either method below.

Associate automatically

When users have the same email address on both their Zoho account and their Cloud Voice extension, Cloud Voice can pair them for you.
1. Select Associate Automatically.
2. In the pop-up, select OK.
Automatic association is the fastest option and avoids typos. Use it whenever your users share one email address across Zoho and Cloud Voice, then fall back to the manual method only for the users it could not match.

Associate manually

When a user’s Zoho account and extension use different email addresses, pair them by hand.
1. In the Extension / Extension Group field beside the Zoho user, select the edit icon .
2. In the pop-up, choose the extension(s) for that user.
3. Select Confirm.
Select Save.

Result

Cloud Voice and Zoho CRM are now integrated.
Matched Zoho CRM users can place and receive calls with their Cloud Voice extensions.