Starting and ending your day in the Zendesk WFM time tracker

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<p id="docs-hc-snippet" style="display: none;">Depending on your account settings, your day may start automatically when you begin working, or you may need to start it manually.</p>
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<strong>Add-on</strong>
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<td>Workforce Management (WFM) or Workforce Engagement Management (WEM)</td>
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<p id="docs-ai-summary-content">Start and end your workday using the WFM time tracker. If auto-tracking is off, manually track your activities to ensure accurate time management. Begin your day by clocking into tasks, track activities like tickets or breaks, and end your day to avoid untracked time. Use the time tracker to manage your work efficiently and provide valuable data for reporting.</p>
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<div class="note note">
<span class="notetitle">Note:</span> If <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/10114746509978" target="_blank">unified agent status synchronization</a> is turned on for WFM, you
should <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4410545721114#topic_xvw_ytp_m5b" target="_blank">set your unified agent statuses</a> in the Agent
Workspace. When you start working on a ticket, Zendesk WFM automatically tracks your time and
attendance. However, if your day starts with a status that doesn’t include working on tickets,
you must still manually start your day by clicking <strong class="ph b">Start day</strong> using the WFM time
tracker.</div>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">Depending on your account settings, your day may start automatically when you begin
working, or you may need to start it manually.</p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">If <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/7446325512730" target="_blank">auto-tracking</a> is activated for you, then Zendesk WFM
takes care of time and attendance management for most of your workflows. When you begin
working on a ticket, chat, or call, your day automatically starts and you're clocked in.
However, if your day starts with a <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/7069811858586" target="_blank">general task</a>, for example a meeting, then you must <a class="xref" href="#starting_your_day">manually start your day in the Zendesk WFM time
tracker</a> by clocking into the task. </p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">If auto-tracking has been deactivated for you then, you must manually start and end
your day and track your activities in the Zendesk WFM time tracker. In this case, moving
between tabs and views in Zendesk Support will not automatically trigger a new <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/6443347506970#topic_evy_c2d_tzb" target="_blank">activity event</a>. </p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">This article contains the following topics:</p>
<ul class="ul" id="topic-1__ul_twv_tkk_pdc">
<li class="li" dir="ltr"><a class="xref" href="#starting_your_day">Starting your day</a></li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr"><a class="xref" href="#topic_sph_j1l_pdc">Tracking your activity</a></li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr"><a class="xref" href="#ending_your_day">Ending your day</a></li>
</ul>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">Related articles</p>
<ul class="ul" id="topic-1__ul_uwv_tkk_pdc">
<li class="li" dir="ltr"><a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/6443374353434" target="_blank">Accessing agent schedule</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title2" class="topic nested1" id="starting_your_day">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title2">Starting your day</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p" dir="ltr">Manually start your day if your schedule begins with non-ticketing work, such as
a meeting, or if <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/7446325512730" target="_blank">auto-tracking</a> has been deactivated for you. If your
day begins with ticketing work and auto-tracking is activated, you do not need to clock in.
Zendesk WFM automatically starts tracking your time as soon as you begin working on a
ticket.</p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">When transitioning from ticketing to a general task, such as a break or a team
meeting, clock into the general task or status from the time tracker. Your input helps
inform your managers’ data and reporting, ensuring they have a complete view of how your
time is spent.</p>
<p class="p"><strong class="ph b">To manually start your day</strong></p>
<ol class="ol">
<li class="li"><span class="ph">In <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408838272410" target="_blank">Support</a>, click the <strong class="ph b">Workforce management</strong> icon (<img class="image" id="starting_your_day__d8e397" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/wfm_logo_icon.png" width="16">) in the top right to access the time tracker.</span></li>
<li class="li">Select a general task from the menu, or click <strong class="ph b">Start day</strong> if your task is not
listed.<p class="p"><img class="image" id="starting_your_day__image_bgc_h1l_pdc" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/wfm_agent_app_clock_in.png" width="600"></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title3" class="topic nested1" id="topic_sph_j1l_pdc">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title3">Tracking your activity</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p" dir="ltr">Zendesk WFM uses three main activity types to <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/6443347506970" target="_blank">record and track activities in a timeline</a>:</p>
<ul class="ul" id="topic_sph_j1l_pdc__ul_unc_5s5_jgc">
<li class="li" dir="ltr">
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/6443347506970" target="_blank">Ticket activity</a>: Time spent on a ticket page.</li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/6443376913818#topic_xwv_3n4_52c__untracked_time" target="_blank">Untracked</a>: Time spent on any non-ticket page.</li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/7069811858586" target="_blank">General tasks</a>: Time spent on general tasks. These
are the custom WFM activities that you can create and that can be used manually by your
agents or by <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/6443374423066" target="_blank">WFM automations</a>. Examples include breaks, lunch
times, meetings, or any other tasks you create for your teams.</li>
</ul>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">When <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/7446325512730" target="_blank">auto-tracking</a> is activated, moving between tabs and
views in Zendesk Support automatically triggers a new activity event and you don’t need to
manually track your activity.</p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">For example, if you open ticket #3 in tab 1, ticket #4 in tab 2, and an untracked
page such as a <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408828129946" target="_blank">customer's page</a> in tab 3, the system tracks you as
working on those tickets whenever you open tab 1 or tab 2, or as untracked when you access
tab 3. It depends on which tab you have in focus at any given time.</p>
<div class="p">
<div class="note note">
<span class="notetitle">Note:</span> When moving between different browser windows with multiple tabs, tracking will not
resume automatically for the tab in focus. You must either refresh the page or switch tabs
to continue.</div>
</div>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">I you're viewing a customer's page on your tab 3 and select a general task such
as “Break” using the WFM time tracker, your activity is now tracked as "Break".</p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">If <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/6443329257114" target="_blank">task lock</a> is also activated, you can remain clocked

into a single ticket or task while opening other tickets. </p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">Using task lock also prevents new activities from starting automatically. This
means that if you select the task "Break" to start counting time on the break activity and
then open ticket #4, your activity does not change and remains locked in "Break".</p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">If an admin has deactivated auto-tracking, you must track your activities
manually using the WFM time tracker. </p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr"><strong class="ph b">To manually track your activity</strong></p>
<ol class="ol" id="topic_sph_j1l_pdc__ol_hmb_zst_pdc">
<li class="li" dir="ltr"><span class="ph">In <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408838272410" target="_blank">Support</a>, click the <strong class="ph b">Workforce management</strong> icon (<img class="image" id="topic_sph_j1l_pdc__d8e397" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/wfm_logo_icon.png" width="16">) in the top right to access the time tracker.</span></li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">Select a general task from the menu, or click<strong class="ph b"> Start day</strong> if your task is
not listed.</li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">When moving between tickets, you can manually select to start tracking a
specific ticket by using the <strong class="ph b">Track this ticket</strong> button.</li>
</ol>
<p class="p"><img class="image" id="topic_sph_j1l_pdc__image_gt4_p1l_pdc" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/wfm_agent_app_manual_tracking.png" width="600"></p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">When your activity is either a general task or a ticket, you will see the option
to stop tracking right below the activity name. Clicking this will change your activity
status to <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/6443345024538#Untracked%20Time" target="_blank">Untracked</a>.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title4" class="topic nested1" id="ending_your_day">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title4">Ending your day</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p" dir="ltr">It's important to end your day to prevent untracked time from being recorded at
the end of your shift. Closing or logging out of Zendesk doesn't clock you out or
end your day.</p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr"><strong class="ph b">To end your day</strong></p>
<ol class="ol">
<li class="li"><span class="ph">In <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408838272410" target="_blank">Support</a>, click the <strong class="ph b">Workforce management</strong> icon (<img class="image" id="ending_your_day__d8e397" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/wfm_logo_icon.png" width="16">) in the top right to access the time tracker.</span></li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">End day</strong>.</li>
</ol>
<div class="note attention">
<span class="attentiontitle"></span> Admins can also end your day by <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/6443314435610" target="_blank">using automations</a>. </div>
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