Using Vonage Contact Center in Zendesk

Using Vonage Contact Center (VCC) in Zendesk, all inbound and outbound calls are logged against the ticket that you select or create. When you receive an inbound call or make an outbound call, you must ensure that you open or create an appropriate ticket against which VCC can log the call. You can access an existing ticket through a screen pop, by searching Zendesk, or through the associated user record.

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For more information about what VCC logs for inbound and outbound calls, see Vonage Contact Center call logging in Zendesk.

How do I use ContactPad in Zendesk?

Whenever you log into Zendesk, ContactPad appears in the top-right corner. If you do not see ContactPad, click the VCC icon in the top right navigation bar of Zendesk. ContactPad appears below.

If you cannot see the icon, contact your supervisor as you might not be in the required user role.

To use ContactPad, you must log in. For information about logging into ContactPad, see Logging in to ContactPad.

Using ContactPad you can now operate Zendesk and handle VCC phone calls in a single browser window. For information about using ContactPad, see Getting started with ContactPad.

Click the VCC icon again to hide ContactPad without logging you out.

What happens when I receive an inbound call in Zendesk using VCC?

When you use ContactPad to receive calls using VCC in Zendesk, you get the same functionality as you would using ContactPad outside of Zendesk. For information about receiving calls using ContactPad, see Receiving an inbound call.

In additional to this standard functionality, VCC also logs the inbound call against a Zendesk ticket. You must open or create the appropriate ticket for the call. You can access an existing ticket by searching Zendesk or through the associated user record.

When VCC connects the inbound call to an agent, VCC looks for any existing user records that are associated with the inbound telephone number in Zendesk. If one or more records are found, VCC pops a list containing the record or records.

If no record is found VCC pops an empty list.

You can then perform one of the following tasks:

Open one of the existing user records, if found. For information about opening a user record, see the How do I open an existing user record while on a call in Zendesk using VCC? section in this page.
Search for an existing user record or ticket. For information about searching for an existing user record or ticket, see the How do search for user records or tickets in Zendesk while on a call? section in this page.
Create a new user record to associate with the inbound telephone number. For information about creating a new user record, see the How do I create a new Zendesk user record while on an inbound call? section in this page.
If available, use Link to Current Ticket in ContactPad to link the call to the currently open case.

How do I make an outbound Click to dial call using VCC in Zendesk?

Using VCC in Zendesk you can make outbound calls using ContactPad in the standard way. For information on making outbound calls using ContactPad, see Making an outbound call.

In additional to this standard functionality, you can also make outbound calls using the Click to dial feature. The Click to dial feature in VCC in Zendesk saves you time, and avoids you making mistakes when manually entering the phone number. VCC also logs the call against a Zendesk ticket—if you use Click to dial from a ticket, VCC automatically logs the call against that ticket. If you use Click to dial from a user record, you must open or create the appropriate ticket for the call. You can access an existing ticket by searching Zendesk or through the associated user record.

When you open a user record or a ticket relating to a user record that contains a phone number field, the following elements appear below ContactPad:

the name of the user in the open or associated user record
a list containing the available number or numbers on the open or associated user record.
a Click to Dial button

Updating the Click to dial numbers

A refresh icon appears alongside the Click to Dial button.

You must click the refresh icon to update the name and numbers above the Click to Dial button in the following situations:

If you open a different user record or ticket
If you have a new record
The Click to dial feature is not immediately available for new records—unless you create them through a screen pop—because telephone numbers on the new records are not available until you save the record.
If you amend the phone number on a record
Click to dial only works on the numbers that are available when you open a record.

You can also click the VCC icon in the top-right of the navigation bar of Zendesk to close and reopen ContactPad to refresh the list.

To use Click to dial, click the name of the phone number in the list, and then click Click to Dial. In the same way as if you click Make Call in ContactPad, your state changes to Busy Outbound. Next your telephone rings and, when you answer, you hear ringing until you are connected to the number that you clicked to dial.

If you are viewing a ticket when you make the Click to dial call (and therefore Click to dial got the outbound telephone number from the ticket),VCC logs the call against the open ticket.

If you are viewing a user record when you make the Click to dial call (and therefore Click to dial got the phone number from the user record), you must open or create an appropriate ticket against which VCC can log the call:

For information on opening an existing ticket, see the How do I open an existing Zendesk ticket while on a call? section in this page.
For information on searching for an existing ticket, see the How do search for user records or tickets in Zendesk while on a call? section in this page.
For information on creating a new ticket, see the How do I create a new Zendesk ticket while on a call? section in this page.
If available, use Link to Current Ticket in ContactPad to link the call to the currently open case.

How do I create a new Zendesk user record while on an inbound call?

While on an inbound call, VCC searches Zendesk for user records relating to the inbound telephone number and then pops a list containing the user records, or an empty list if no records are found. From this list, you can create a new user record. Even if VCC found an existing user record, you might want to log the call against a different record, for example, if two different customers live at the same address and have the same telephone number.

To create a new user record, in the popped list click Create New User. A message appears in the upper-right corner of the window to inform you that the new user has been created. For information on creating Zendesk users at other times, see Zendesk help.

The new user record has a default name of 'NVM Caller:' followed by the inbound telephone number. Each user record has a unique User ID so you can differentiate between user records with the same inbound number.

You can edit the new user record using standard Zendesk functionality. For information on editing Zendesk user records, see Zendesk help.

The popped list automatically updates to show a list of existing tickets associated with the user record. A new user record is unlikely to have any existing tickets. You can then perform one of the following tasks:

Search for an existing ticket. For information about searching for an existing ticket, see the How do search for user records or tickets in Zendesk while on a call? section in this page.
Create a new ticket. For information about creating a new ticket, see the How do I create a new Zendesk ticket while on a call? section in this page.
Return to the popped list of user records. To return to the list, click Back.

How do I open an existing user record while on a call in Zendesk using VCC ?

When you receive an inbound call, if VCC locates one or more existing user records in Zendesk relating to the inbound telephone number, VCC pops a list that contains the record or records. In addition, if you perform a search while on a call (inbound or outbound) VCC pops a list of results that can contain both user records and tickets.

To open an existing user record, click the record you want to open in the list.

VCC looks for any existing tickets that are associated with the user record you select. If one or more tickets are found, VCC pops a list containing the ticket or tickets.

If no ticket is found VCC pops an empty list.

You can then perform one of the following tasks:

Open one of the existing tickets, if found. For information on opening a ticket, see the How do I open an existing Zendesk ticket while on a call? section in this page.
Search for an existing user record or ticket. For information on searching for an existing user record or ticket, see the How do search for user records or tickets in Zendesk while on a call? section in this page.
Create a new ticket. For information on creating a new ticket, see the How do I create a new Zendesk ticket while on a call? section in this page.
Return to the list of user records. To return to the list, click Back.

For information on opening Zendesk user records at other times, see Zendesk help.

How do I open an existing Zendesk ticket while on a call?

When you select a user record on an inbound call, or use Make Call to perform an outbound call from a user record, VCC searches for Zendesk tickets relating to the user record selected. VCC then pops a list of—up to the last 100—tickets, or an empty list if no tickets are found. Alternatively, you can search for a ticket yourself. For information on searching for tickets while on a call, see the How do search for user records or tickets in Zendesk while on a call? section in this page.

To open an existing ticket, click the ticket that you want to open in the list of tickets—you cannot select a closed ticket.

The ticket appears. You can perform various tasks on this ticket such as add notes, attach files, change status, and when you are finished you can submit the ticket. For information about the tasks you can perform on tickets, see Zendesk help.

VCC logs call details against the ticket that you have open during the call.

Click to dial from a ticket

If you Click to dial from a ticket you cannot log the call against another existing or new ticket. VCC logs the call against the ticket from which you clicked to dial.

Merging Zendesk tickets

If you have created a new ticket for your call in error you can merge the new ticket with another existing ticket—this is standard Zendesk functionality. For more information, see https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/203690916-Merging-tickets

How do search for user records or tickets in Zendesk while on a call?

While on a call, at appropriate times, VCC displays lists of Zendesk user records or tickets. From these lists you can directly or indirectly open a ticket against which VCC can log the call. Alternatively, you may wish to search for a different ticket for VCC to log your call against, if your caller has changed their telephone number for example.

For information about when VCC might search for and display user records or tickets, see the What happens when I receive an inbound call in Zendesk using VCC? and How do I make an outbound Click to dial call using VCC in Zendesk? sections in this page.

To search for an existing user record or ticket, in the popped list click Search. A search box appears.

Type the text you want to search for.

You can use any standard Zendesk search terms: text, numbers, keywords, and so on. For further information on searching in Zendesk, see Zendesk help.

As you type, VCC performs a search. Any matching user records or tickets appear.

If your search returns the required user record or ticket, click to open the user record or ticket. If you open a ticket, VCC logs the current call against that ticket. For information on opening user records or tickets, see the How do I open an existing user record while on a call in Zendesk using VCC? and How do I open an existing Zendesk ticket while on a call? sections in this page.

If your search does not return the required user record or ticket, either try searching again or click the icon in the upper-right corner of the popped search box to close the search box and return to the original list.

For further information on searching in Zendesk, see Zendesk help.

How do I create a new Zendesk ticket while on a call?

When you receive an inbound call or make an outbound call, VCC searches Zendesk for tickets relating to the selected or open user record. VCC then pops a list of the tickets, or an empty list if no tickets are found. From this list, you can create a new ticket. Even if VCC found an existing ticket, you might want to log the call against a different ticket, for example, if this call relates to a new request or problem.

To create a new ticket, in the popped list click Create New Ticket. A message appears in the upper-right corner of the window to inform you that the new ticket has been created.

On an inbound call, if the inbound telephone number does not match any number in the user record to which the new ticket belongs, a dialog box appears asking if you want to update the user record with the current telephone number.

Perform one of the following tasks:

Click Open to leave the user record unchanged.
Click Update to update the record. If VCC uses more than one phone number field on a user record, a menu appears—select the telephone number field you wish to update. The user record is updated. In future, if you receive an inbound call from this number, VCC will find this user record. In addition, you can now make a Click to dial call to this number.

The new ticket appears. The ticket opens with a default name of 'Outbound call to: telephone number', or 'Inbound call from: telephone number'. You should change the ticket name to something more meaningful. You can perform various tasks on this ticket such as add notes, attach files, change status, and when you are finished you can submit the ticket. For information about the tasks you can perform on tickets, see Zendesk help.

VCC logs call details against the ticket that you have open during the call.

How do I end a call if the enforced disposition codes feature is enabled?

If the enforced disposition codes feature is enabled for your account, when you release a call, VCC sets your state in ContactPad to Logging the call. While in this state, you cannot receive or make any new calls. You must either manually change your state to Ready, or save a ticket to automatically change your state to Ready.