Using side conversations for Slack

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<p id="docs-hc-snippet" style="display: none;">As an alternative to email-based side conversations, agents can use side conversations in a ticket to initiate and participate in Slack threads. The Slack side conversations you initiate are viewable in the ticket and the Slack application. Like email conversations, Slack side conversations are recorded as ticket events, and can be used asticket trigger conditions.</p>
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<p id="docs-ai-summary-content">Use side conversations to start and manage Slack threads directly from a ticket. This feature allows you to communicate with team members in Slack without leaving the ticket, and all interactions are recorded as ticket events. You can delete conversations if needed. Note that there are limitations, such as character limits and unsupported features like direct messages and emoji reactions.</p>
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<div class="body">

<div class="note attention">
<span class="attentiontitle"></span> This feature is available only if the admin has installed the
latest version of <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408833756698" target="_blank">Slack for Zendesk Support</a> and
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408832279962-Enabling-and-disabling-side-conversations" target="_blank">activated side
conversations</a>.</div>
<p class="p">As an alternative to email-based side conversations, agents can use side
conversations in a ticket to initiate and participate in Slack threads. The
Slack side conversations you initiate are viewable in the ticket and the
Slack application. Like email conversations, Slack side conversations are
recorded as ticket events, and can be used as <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408893545882" target="_blank">ticket trigger conditions</a>. </p>
<div class="p">
<div class="note note">
<span class="notetitle">Note:</span> If you invite your bot and external users to a Slack Connect channel owned by an external workspace, side conversations won't work. To ensure side conversations work correctly, invite your bot and external users to a Slack Connect channel owned by your workspace.</div>
</div>
<div class="p">This article includes these topics:<ul class="ul" id="topic-1__ul_j4b_xng_gfb">
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_mt1_rng_gfb">Creating a side conversation using Slack</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_mzr_kxg_dhb">Deleting a Slack side conversation</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_kk5_rng_gfb">About limitations and breaking the link between Support and Slack</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="p">Related articles:<ul class="ul" id="topic-1__ul_edd_5wp_s1c">
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408844206746" target="_blank">About side
conversations</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408830838170" target="_blank">Side conversation
resources</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title2" class="topic nested1" id="topic_mt1_rng_gfb">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title2">Creating a side conversation using Slack</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p" dir="ltr">When creating a side conversation, you choose between using
email or using Slack.</p>
<div class="note note" id="topic_mt1_rng_gfb__note_x5t_bvp_s1c">
<span class="notetitle">Note:</span> You may experience some delay in updates that
occur between Slack and ticket side conversations. Typically, the
delay is about 5 seconds, but can be 30 seconds or longer.</div>
<p class="p" dir="ltr"><strong class="ph b">To create a side conversation using Slack</strong></p>
<ol class="ol" id="topic_mt1_rng_gfb__ol_ny1_pcy_cgb">
<li class="li">In a ticket, open the <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408836526362" target="_blank">context panel</a> and click the <strong class="ph b">Side conversations</strong>
(<img class="image" id="topic_mt1_rng_gfb__d7e19" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/icon_omnipanel_side_conversations.png">) icon, then click the plus sign (+).</li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">Select <strong class="ph b">Slack</strong> as the conversation type.
<p class="p"><img class="image" id="topic_mt1_rng_gfb__image_o4c_4vq_ytb" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/sc_slack_context_panel.png" width="300"></p>
</li>
<li class="li">Enter the Slack channel and your message. You can also add
attachments. <p class="p"><img class="image" id="topic_mt1_rng_gfb__image_o3f_twh_sgb" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/slack_write_side_convo.png" width="400"></p>
<p class="p">For
more information about the composer, see <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4604347676954#topic_llv_sl1_rnb" target="_blank">Rich text editing
in the side conversation
composer</a>.</p>
<p class="p">You start a side conversation
in one Slack channel at a time. You cannot combine
Slack and email conversations. If you have a lot of
Slack channels, it may take a few moments to display
the list of available channels. </p>
<p class="p">If you have
multiple Slack workspaces connected to Zendesk
Support, the workspace appears after the channel
name. For example: #support - Workspace A, #general
- Workspace A, #support - Workspace B, #general -
Workspace B, and so on.</p>
</li>
<li class="li">When you’ve finished composing your message, click <strong class="ph b">Send</strong>.
<p class="p" dir="ltr">The team in the Slack channel can view
your message and reply to the thread directly,
without logging into Support. </p>
<p class="p"><img class="image" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/slack_side_convo_thread.png" width="700"></p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">The Slack replies
are automatically included in the ticket’s side
conversation. </p>
<p class="p"><img class="image" id="topic_mt1_rng_gfb__image_d4d_y5p_s1c" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/slack_side_convo_ticket_response.png" width="700"></p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">The conversation can continue back and
forth, as long as necessary, until you get the
information you need. </p>
</li>
<li class="li">When the side conversation is complete, click <strong class="ph b">Mark done</strong>
in the ticket to <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4604333207578" target="_blank">close the side
conversation</a>.</li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title3" class="topic nested1" id="topic_mzr_kxg_dhb">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title3">Deleting a Slack side conversation</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">To delete a Slack side conversation, you must be the agent who created
the Slack side conversation or an administrator. When you delete,
the side conversation is removed from the ticket and Slack. Side
conversation messages that are edited or deleted in Slack are also
reflected on the ticket.</p>
<p class="p"><strong class="ph b">To delete a Slack side conversation</strong></p>
<ol class="ol" id="topic_mzr_kxg_dhb__ol_cmr_hyg_dhb">
<li class="li">In a ticket, open the <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408836526362" target="_blank">context panel</a>
and click the Side conversations (<img class="image" id="topic_mzr_kxg_dhb__image_mfs_1wq_ytb" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/icon_omnipanel_side_conversations.png">) icon.<p class="p">A list of side
conversations for the ticket appears.</p>
</li>
<li class="li">Select the side conversation you want to delete.<p class="p">You can only
delete Slack side conversations. You cannot delete
email side conversations.</p>
</li>
<li class="li">Click the options menu icon (<img class="image" id="topic_mzr_kxg_dhb__image_ahw_wcv_w2b" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/options-menu-icon-small.png">) on the right side of the
conversation, then select <strong class="ph b">Delete</strong>.<p class="p"><img class="image" id="topic_mzr_kxg_dhb__image_fsy_ydm_dhb" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/side_conversations_slack_delete.png" width="300"></p>
</li>
<li class="li">When a confirmation message appears, click <strong class="ph b">Delete</strong> to
confirm the deletion.</li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title4" class="topic nested1" id="topic_kk5_rng_gfb">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title4">About limitations and breaking the link between Support and Slack</h2>
<div class="body">
<div class="p" dir="ltr">Slack side conversations have the following limitations:<ul class="ul" id="topic_kk5_rng_gfb__ul_u2b_p3t_3yb">
<li class="li">When a Slack channel is shared across multiple
workspaces, a side conversation can be created, and
the message will arrive in Slack, but replies will
not be sent to the ticket. </li>
<li class="li">Only ticket comments with 1,000 characters or less can
be inserted into a Slack side conversation.</li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">Slack @mentions are supported, but they don't
autocomplete. You must enter the user's Slack member
ID in angle brackets. For example
<code class="ph codeph">&lt;@U1H63D8SZ&gt;</code>. <p class="p">To find an
agent's Slack member ID, go to the agent's profile
in Slack. Click the options menu (<img class="image" id="topic_kk5_rng_gfb__image_frc_jwd_kcc" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/sell_icon_menu_vertical.png" width="16">), then select <strong class="ph b">Copy member
ID.</strong></p>
<p class="p">Alternatively, you can include @here
to notify everyone currently logged in or @channel
to alert every channel member.</p>
</li>
<li class="li">
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4604347676954#topic_llv_sl1_rnb" target="_blank">Rich text
formatting and Slack Markdown text</a> entered
in the side conversation composer may not always
display as intended in Slack.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">The following Slack features are not supported:</p>
<ul class="ul" id="topic_kk5_rng_gfb__ul_es1_mcy_cgb">
<li class="li" dir="ltr">Direct messages<p class="p">As a workaround, the administrator
can set up private Slack channels with only one
member, such as #lkelly-private, and add them to the
Slack for Zendesk integration.</p>
</li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">Emoji reactions</li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">Typing indicators</li>
</ul>
<p class="p">If the link breaks between Zendesk and Slack, for example, if an admin
removes the Zendesk app from a Slack channel or if they archive or
delete a Slack channel that you used for side conversations, you can
still open and view these side conversations in a ticket, but you
can no longer use that Slack channel to send or receive updates to
side conversations. </p>
</div>
</div>
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