How Zendesk communicates feature removal

Feature removal is not a process that should go by customers unnoticed. Zendesk understands that we have a duty to actively inform our customers and ensure that a proper upgrade process is in place before we begin to remove features and functionality. Because of this concern, Zendesk will actively notify our customers through the channels listed below.

Knowledge base documentation

Every feature that is being removed is announced in Announcements. The removal announcement includes the general announcement, important milestone dates in the removal of the feature, what each phase of the deprecation will include and how it impacts you, and how you can migrate or upgrade to a new feature, if one exists.

Zendesk also maintains a complete list of all features with a pending removal date, as well as the features that have been removed in the past. This article links to the removal announcement for each feature on the list with a pending removal date.

Messaging in Zendesk

When a feature removal has been publicly announced, your Zendesk instance will reflect this in two ways:

In-product message: An alert will be shown to all admins on any accounts that are affected by the removal. It may be difficult to determine exactly who is affected, in which case Zendesk will err on the side of caution by hitting anyone who might be affected.

System alerts: Small yellow warning bar alerts will be displayed within any product that has a removal date. This alert will be permanent and cannot be removed. It will be displayed to both agents and admins (but never end-users). It will link to articles explaining the removal process.

Email communication

Zendesk also uses transactional email to communicate feature removals. Transactional emails are email communication sent out by Zendesk to all owners and administrators listed in Zendesk. These emails are reserved for important communication, such as breaking changes or other announcements that need immediate attention.
For example, we send out notifications of breaking API changes with a custom themed email. We continue to email customers until the removal date or until you take the action to switch to the new feature. These emails includes similar information as, and a link to, the feature removal announcement.

Person-to-person communication

Finally, we do understand that some of our customers have a very large instance of Zendesk, and switching to a new process isn't a one person job. For any account that has an assigned Account Manager or Success Manager, you might receive a personalized communication from your account team in addition to the email and in-product notifications.

This personalized communication might include emails with specific instructions from a trusted source, a phone call to help scope your upgrade process, or a custom engagement with our services team to ensure that all of your essential processes are preserved when you make the switch.