Collaboration overview

<div class="article-banners">
<div id="docs-wmp-link"><a href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/5411234991258-plan" rel="noopener" target="_blank">What's my plan?</a></div>
<div class="article-banner" id="suite_all">
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
<strong>All Suites</strong>
</td>
<td>Team, Growth, Professional, Enterprise, or Enterprise Plus</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
<div class="article-banner" id="support_with_collab">
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
<strong>Support with</strong>
</td>
<td>Collaboration add-on</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
</div>
<div class="body">
<div class="p">
<div class="div">
<p class="p" dir="ltr">Zendesk Support and Ticketing System Functionality within Zendesk Suite include
several collaboration features that help administrators, agents, and end users communicate
with each other and monitor ticket-related information. This article briefly describes the
collaboration features available and includes some guidance on when to use each one. It
also includes a simple example of how these features can work together. For complete
documentation about light agents and side conversations, review the links in the
corresponding sections
below.</p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">Collaboration features include:</p>
<ul class="ul" id="topic_d5y_k4y_fdb__ul_ffc_tvq_4fb">
<li class="li" dir="ltr">
<strong class="ph b">Light agents</strong>: Light agents have limited permissions but can stay
informed about tickets and, when needed, provide subject matter expertise and advice by
adding private comments. </li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">
<strong class="ph b">Side conversations</strong>: Side conversations enable you to bring in other
people from internal and external teams to collaborate on tickets without interrupting
the main conversation flow within the ticket.</li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">CCs and followers</strong>: With this feature, Zendesk tickets can include both <strong class="ph b">CCs
</strong>and <strong class="ph b">Followers</strong> fields. By default, followers can be agents, light agents, or
admins. CCs can be agents, admins, or end users. CCs work just like email. They're
public to your end user. Followers are invisible to end users and get ticket update
notifications.</li>
</ul>
<div class="note note">
<span class="notetitle">Note:</span> All references to <em class="ph i">Zendesk Support</em> in this article apply to both Zendesk
Support, the product, and the Ticketing System Functionality included in the Zendesk
Suite.</div>
<p class="p">This article includes the following sections:</p>
<ul class="ul" id="topic_d5y_k4y_fdb__ul_edg_cwq_4fb">
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_cvn_xxq_4fb">When to use light agents</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_qk4_yxq_4fb">When to use side conversations</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_kzy_zwq_4fb">When to use CCs and followers</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_gks_gch_3gb">Collaboration example</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title2" class="topic nested1" id="topic_cvn_xxq_4fb">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title2">When to use light agents</h2>
<div class="body">
<div class="note note">
<span class="notetitle">Note:</span> Light agents are included in Zendesk Suite Growth and above. You can purchase <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/6510562911770#topic_dzr_hf5_5zb" target="_blank">additional light agents</a> for any Suite plan. They are also
available as a <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408834152730" target="_blank">Collaboration add-on</a> for Support Professional plans
and above. </div>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">Not all Zendesk Support users in your company need full agent capabilities, so
Zendesk created a <em class="ph i">Light Agent</em> role. As a light agent, team members can access
Support, view tickets, and leave internal notes.</p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">For example, typically agents can handle most technical questions, but sometimes
the Engineering team needs to provide advice. By making the members of the Engineering team
light agents, they can be added as followers on a ticket. The engineer can then sign in to
Support to view all the details and leave internal notes.</p>
<p class="p">For more information, see <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408846501402-Understanding-and-setting-light-agent-permissions" target="_blank">Understanding and setting light agent
permissions</a>.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title3" class="topic nested1" id="topic_qk4_yxq_4fb">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title3">When to use side conversations</h2>
<div class="body">
<div class="note note">
<span class="notetitle">Note:</span> Side conversations are included in Zendesk Suite Professional and above. They are also
available as a <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408834152730" target="_blank">Collaboration add-on</a> for Support Professional plans
and above.</div>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">Many larger companies have complex workflows that require agents to reach out to
other departments, partners, and vendors. Instead of resorting to complicated workflows,
like changing the requester on tickets multiple times, or managing multiple tickets, you can
use side conversations to collaborate with anyone (inside or outside your company) in a
separate self-contained conversation within the ticket. </p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">Side conversations make it easy and natural to get more people involved in
tickets and centralize communications within Support. Agents can choose what customer
information to share with collaborating teams to ensure important information stays within
the ticket. </p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">Sample use cases include:</p>
<ul class="ul" id="topic_qk4_yxq_4fb__ul_rk4_yxq_4fb">
<li class="li" dir="ltr">
<strong class="ph b">Internal collaboration</strong>: Side conversations make it easy to reach out to
people in other teams or departments via email, child ticket, or Slack. For example,
suppose an agent needs to check with the finance team and the legal team before replying
to the requester. If they have a group in Zendesk, a child ticket makes the most sense. If
Slack is a more natural place, that is available, and if neither of those work, email is
always an option.</li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">
<strong class="ph b">External collaboration</strong>: Some workflows require an agent to regularly
work with external partners and vendors. Side conversations enable them to send emails to
these partners directly from the ticket rather than leaving Support or managing separate
child tickets. For example, an e-commerce company may need to reach out to suppliers for
product information and shipping estimates.</li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Marketplace business</strong>: Businesses that act as a middleman between end users and
suppliers must regularly act as the liaison between the two parties. Side conversations
allow the agent to communicate with both sides in one ticket. For example, a freight
company may need to communicate with both the shipper and the driver to coordinate a
job.</li>
</ul>
<p class="p">For more information, see <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408844206746-Using-side-conversations-in-tickets-add-on-" target="_blank">Using side conversations in tickets</a>.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title4" class="topic nested1" id="topic_kzy_zwq_4fb">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title4">When to use CCs and followers</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">CCs and followers give you better control over how you can manage public and private
comments within the ticket. Agents can add and remove CCs just like in email. Agents can
follow the ticket without exposing their identity to end users. Followers receive
notifications when ticket updates occur, and they can view and create internal notes. </p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">Refer to the following table to help you decide when to include users as CCs or
as followers:</p>
<div class="tablenoborder">
<table border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" class="table" frame="border" id="topic_kzy_zwq_4fb__table_zd3_gxq_4fb" rules="all" summary="">
<colgroup>
<col style="width:50%">
<col style="width:50%">
</colgroup>
<thead class="thead" style="text-align:left;">
<tr class="row">
<th class="entry cellrowborder" id="d52e214" style="vertical-align:top;">Followers</th>
<th class="entry cellrowborder" id="d52e217" style="vertical-align:top;">CCs</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody class="tbody">
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d52e214" style="vertical-align:top;">Available for light agents, agents, or admins.</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d52e217" style="vertical-align:top;">Available by default for agents, admins, or end users. Available as an option
for light agents. Anyone you include as a CC in the ticket must have a Support
profile, but there are no restrictions if you add someone as a CC in an email
client. </td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d52e214" style="vertical-align:top;">Visibility is private by default:<ul class="ul" id="topic_kzy_zwq_4fb__ul_mh4_vmh_3gb">
<li class="li">Followers can watch tickets without exposing their address. It works like a
persistent BCC on the ticket.</li>
<li class="li">End users don’t see followers listed when they view their requests from the
Help Center.</li>
</ul>
</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d52e217" style="vertical-align:top;">Visibility is public and always transparent:<ul class="ul" id="topic_kzy_zwq_4fb__ul_klq_ymh_3gb">
<li class="li">The names and email addresses of CCs appear in email notifications. </li>
<li class="li">End users see the names of CCs when they view their requests from the Help
Center.</li>
</ul>
</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d52e214" style="vertical-align:top;">Followers can be added by agents or admins, but not end users. Followers
receive a private email when the ticket is updated with public replies or internal
notes.</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d52e217" style="vertical-align:top;">CCs can be added by end users (using email) or agents and admins (using email
or Support). CCs receive emails (with visibility to the requester and other CCs)
when the ticket is updated with a public comment. </td>
</tr>
<tr class="row">
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d52e214" style="vertical-align:top;">If desired, agents and admins who are followers can issue public comments by
replying to a CC email or adding a public reply to the ticket. They can also comment
publicly by replying to a follower notification if it was sent for a public
comment.</td>
<td class="entry cellrowborder" headers="d52e217" style="vertical-align:top;"> </td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
<p class="p">For more information, see <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408822451482" target="_blank">Using CCs and followers</a>.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title5" class="topic nested1" id="topic_gks_gch_3gb">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title5">Collaboration example</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">The following is a simple example that shows how to use collaboration features available in
Zendesk Support.</p>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title6" class="topic nested2" id="topic_qg3_sch_3gb">
<h3 class="title topictitle3" id="ariaid-title6">Customer requests a new SSL certificate</h3>
<div class="body">
<div class="p" dir="ltr">In this example, a customer uses Zendesk Support to request a new SSL
certificate for their website: <ul class="ul" id="topic_qg3_sch_3gb__ul_rg3_sch_3gb">
<li class="li">Victoria is a Customer Support representative who works for Certs, Inc., a company
that sells SSL security certificates for websites. When a customer needs to update a
certificate on their website, they file a Zendesk Support ticket to request a new
certificate.<p class="p" dir="ltr">Victoria has an agent role in Zendesk Support because she
needs full access to manage and reply to tickets.</p>
</li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">Victoria’s boss, Venkat, is the VP of Customer Support. He manages all the
Customer Support representatives and makes sure that customers receive their
certificates in a timely manner. <p class="p" dir="ltr">Venkat has a light agent role in Zendesk
Support. He doesn’t need full agent access, but he needs to supervise account
activity and view reports to make sure things are running smoothly.</p>
</li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">
<p class="p" dir="ltr">Ken is the IT manager for a small e-commerce business, e-Fun!, Inc. He
buys his website certificates from Victoria’s company and he works with a
third-party vendor, Service, Inc., to host the e-Fun! websites.</p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">Ken has end-user access to the Zendesk Support account at Victoria’s
company.</p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">Ken receives a notification that one of his website certificates will expire in
30 days. Ken creates a new Zendesk Support ticket with Certs, Inc. and requests a new
certificate for the site. </p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr"><img class="image" id="topic_qg3_sch_3gb__image_sg3_sch_3gb" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/collab_example_new_ticket.png" width="600"></p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">Ken is the ticket requester and Victoria is the agent assigned to the ticket. </p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">Before Victoria can complete the ticket request, she needs to make sure Ken’s
company has a PO with the funds to pay for the new certificate. Victoria adds her boss,
Venkat, as a follower to the ticket, so he’s aware of the request. </p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">Victoria then starts a side conversation with the Finance Department to make
sure funding is available. When she starts the side conversation with Finance, she decides
what information to include (or not include) about the ticket.</p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr"><img class="image" id="topic_qg3_sch_3gb__image_tg3_sch_3gb" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/collab_example_side_conversation.png" width="600"></p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">Finance replies to Victoria and confirms that funding is available.</p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr"><img class="image" id="topic_qg3_sch_3gb__image_ug3_sch_3gb" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/collab_example_close_side_conversation.png" width="300"></p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">Because the funding issue is resolved, Victoria closes the side conversation by
marking it done.</p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">Victoria notifies Ken, the requester, that the certificate has been approved.
She includes a link that Ken can use to pick up the certificate and attaches instructions
on how to install the certificate. </p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr"><img class="image" id="topic_qg3_sch_3gb__image_vg3_sch_3gb" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/collab_example_reply.png" width="600"></p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">Also, as Ken requested, Victoria adds his website vendor, Service, Inc., as a
CC to the ticket so they also know the new certificate is ready. </p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">As a ticket follower, Venkat can see that Victoria has sent out the new
certificate. He adds an Internal note to the ticket telling Victoria that she did a nice
job!</p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr"><img class="image" id="topic_qg3_sch_3gb__image_wg3_sch_3gb" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/collab_example_internal_note.png" width="400"></p>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title7" class="topic nested2" id="topic_xg3_sch_3gb">
<h3 class="title topictitle3" id="ariaid-title7">Who sees what?</h3>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">Based on their role, each participant in this example has slightly different visibility
into ticket information:</p>
<ul class="ul" id="topic_xg3_sch_3gb__ul_yg3_sch_3gb">
<li class="li" dir="ltr">Because Venkat is a follower, he can see the entire ticket history,
including the side conversation Victoria had with Finance. His name and email address
are never exposed to Ken or Ken’s web hosting service.</li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">For Victoria’s side conversation with Finance, the Finance department only
sees the information Victoria included in the side conversation email. They do not see
the original ticket request, or any ticket follow-up. </li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">Ken sees his original request and Victoria’s reply with her link to the new
certificate. He can also see that she included his web hosting vendor as a CC. He does
not see her side conversation with Finance or Venkat’s internal note. </li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">Because Victoria added them as a CC, Ken’s web hosting vendor, Service,
Inc., receives an email that includes the reply Victoria sent to Ken with a link to pick
up the certificate. They see all public comments in the main part of the ticket, but
they do not see Victoria's side conversation with Finance, and they don't see Venkat’s
internal note.</li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">Victoria sees everything in the ticket, including the internal note from
Venkat. </li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<script id="docs-schema-markup" type="application/ld+json">{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "TechArticle",
"@id": "https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408829504154",
"url": "https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408829504154-Collaboration-overview",
"headline": "Collaboration overview",
"description": "You can use collaboration features like light agents, side conversations, and CCs and followers to manage communication and monitor ticket-related information within your support system.",
"articleSection": "Ticket automation and collaboration",
"datePublished": "2021-10-16T03:34:39+00:00",
"dateModified": "2025-09-06T00:00:49+00:00",
"inLanguage": "en-US",
"mainEntityOfPage": {
"@type": "WebPage",
"@id": "https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408829504154"
},
"author": {
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "Zendesk",
"@id": "https://www.zendesk.com"
},
"publisher": {
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "Zendesk",
"@id": "https://www.zendesk.com"
},
"isPartOf": {
"@type": "WebSite",
"name": "Zendesk Help",
"@id": "https://support.zendesk.com/hc/"
},
"about": {
"@type": "SoftwareApplication",
"name": "Zendesk",
"@id": "https://www.zendesk.com"
}
}</script>