About banning IP addresses from messaging channels

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<div class="p">
<div class="note note">
<span class="notetitle">Note:</span> The feature described in this article is similar to <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408824467098" target="_blank">banning visitors by IP address in live
chat</a>.</div>
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<p class="p">You can restrict end-user access to your Zendesk messaging channels by banning their IP address.
When an IP address is banned from your Web Widget, iOS SDK, and Android SDK messaging
channels, all end users from the banned address will be unable to conduct conversations
with your AI or human agents.</p>
<p class="p">This article includes the following sections:</p>
<div class="p">
<ul class="ul" id="messaging_ban_IP_turning_on__ul_ars_13h_dgc">
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_fhl_tc1_wfc">Considerations when banning IP addresses from messaging channels</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_itk_myj_xfc">IP address banning permissions for user roles</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_gyl_sch_dgc">Identifying banned IP addresses</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_ztg_z2h_dgc">The end-user experience</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<p class="p">Related articles:</p>
<div class="p">
<ul class="ul" id="messaging_ban_IP_turning_on__ul_i2s_thh_dgc">
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/9418691150106" target="_blank">Restricting access to messaging channels by
IP address</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/9535836802074" target="_blank">Managing IP addresses banned from messaging
channels</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/9435777614874" target="_blank">Accessing and using the Banned IP addresses
page in Admin Center</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title2" class="topic nested1" id="topic_fhl_tc1_wfc">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title2">Considerations when banning IP addresses from messaging channels</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">IP banning for messaging channels is available on all accounts
that meet the feature requirements and is applied at the account level. That
is, the ability to ban IP addresses is the same across all web and mobile
messaging channels associated with your account. </p>
<p class="p">You can specify
individual IP addresses, or a range of IP addresses. See <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/9418691150106" target="_blank">Restricting access to messaging channels by
IP address</a>.</p>
<p class="p">Your account must meet the following
<strong class="ph b">requirements</strong> to Ban IP addresses in messaging channels:</p>
<div class="p">
<ul class="ul" id="topic_fhl_tc1_wfc__ul_jp5_r3h_dgc">
<li class="li">For most account types, IP banning is restricted to account
administrators and billing administrators. However, Enterprise-level
accounts can add IP address banning permission to custom roles. </li>
<li class="li">To ban IP addresses, or view banned IP addresses, from Agent
Workspace, you must be <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/7041910642074" target="_blank">displaying IP addresses in the
Customer Context panel</a>. </li>
<li class="li">By default, permission to ban IP addresses from messaging channels
is not allowed for custom roles.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<p class="p">Currently, the following <strong class="ph b">limitations</strong> apply to the Ban IP
in messaging channels feature:</p>
<div class="p">
<ul class="ul" id="topic_fhl_tc1_wfc__ul_mdq_z3h_dgc">
<li class="li">Banning messaging channel access by IP address is only available for
the Web Widget, iOS SDK, and Android SDK channels. It is not
available for social or third-party messaging channels, or the Unity
SDK channel.</li>
<li class="li">You can have up to 5,000 unique banned IP records. A unique ban IP
record is an individual IP address or a range of IP addresses.</li>
<li class="li">It can take a few seconds for an IP ban to take effect. Although
uncommon, an end user from a newly banned IP address may be able to
initiate a new messaging conversation during that time.</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title3" class="topic nested1" id="topic_itk_myj_xfc">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title3">IP address banning permissions for user roles</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">If you are on an Enterprise account, you can <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408883763866" target="_blank">give agents permission</a> to ban IP addresses. </p>
<p class="p">Permission is granted at the role level; all agents assigned a role with permission
to ban IP addresses will be able to perform this function. </p>
<p class="p">By default:</p>
<div class="p">
<ul class="ul" id="topic_itk_myj_xfc__ul_hhq_4yj_xfc">
<li class="li">Light agent and contributor system roles have No access, meaning they can’t
view, apply, or edit IP bans.</li>
<li class="li">Admins and Billing admins can add, view, edit, and delete IP bans.</li>
<li class="li">Agents in <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4409155971354" target="_blank">custom roles</a> can only ban IP
addresses if their role allows it. </li>
</ul>
</div>
<p class="p"><strong class="ph b">To permit agents to ban IP addresses (Enterprise plans only)</strong></p>
<div class="p">
<ol class="ol" id="topic_itk_myj_xfc__ol_jg2_kdh_dgc">
<li class="li"><span class="ph">In <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4581766374554#topic_hfg_dyz_1hb" target="_blank">Admin Center</a>, click <img class="image" id="topic_itk_myj_xfc__d8e596" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/ac_people_icon.png">
<strong class="ph b">People</strong> in the sidebar, then select <strong class="ph b">Team &gt; Roles</strong>.</span></li>
<li class="li">Click the role you want to edit, or <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408882153882" target="_blank">create a new custom role</a>.</li>
<li class="li">Under <strong class="ph b">People</strong>, find <strong class="ph b">Ban IP addresses</strong>, select the permission
level you want to apply to the role:<p class="p"><img class="image" id="topic_itk_myj_xfc__image_vkd_ykh_dgc" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/IP_ban_custom_role_settings.png" width="400"></p>
<ul class="ul" id="topic_itk_myj_xfc__ul_lg2_kdh_dgc">
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">No access</strong>: Agents can’t view, apply, or edit IP bans. </li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">View only</strong>: Agents can access the Banned IP page, but can’t
edit it or apply IP bans. </li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">View, add, edit, and delete</strong>: Agents can apply and remove IP
bans, and can access the Banned IP page. </li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Save</strong>.</li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title4" class="topic nested1" id="topic_gyl_sch_dgc">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title4">Identifying banned IP addresses</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">If allowed for your user role, you can view and identify banned IP addresses in
several places across Zendesk.</p>
<p class="p">In Admin Center:</p>
<ul class="ul" id="topic_gyl_sch_dgc__ul_w31_l2h_dgc">
<li class="li">The IP address is added to the <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/9435777614874" target="_blank">Banned IP addresses page</a> in Admin
Center. </li>
<li class="li">The banning event appears in your account’s <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408828001434" target="_blank">audit log</a>. </li>
</ul>
<p class="p">In Agent Workspace:</p>
<div class="p">
<ul class="ul" id="topic_gyl_sch_dgc__ul_ld5_42h_dgc">
<li class="li">A label is added to the <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408829170458#topic_mgz_ljm_3bc" target="_blank">device information in the context
panel</a>.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="p">
<div class="note note">
<span class="notetitle">Note:</span> You must have permission to ban IP addresses, and your account must be
configured to <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/7041910642074" target="_blank">display IP addresses in the Customer Context
panel</a>, to view banned IP addresses in Agent Workspace.</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title5" class="topic nested1" id="topic_ztg_z2h_dgc">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title5">The end-user experience</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">When an IP address has been banned, any end user from that IP address will be unable
to communicate with your agents through the Web Widget or mobile channel.</p>
<div class="p">
<div class="note note">
<span class="notetitle">Note:</span> End users are <em class="ph i">not</em> notified automatically when their IP address is
banned. Admins should instruct agents to communicate the ban with an in-channel
message or <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408844187034" target="_blank">create a macro</a> to avoid end-user
confusion.</div>
</div>
<div class="p">
<table border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" class="simpletable" id="topic_ztg_z2h_dgc__simpletable_fth_fgh_dgc" summary="">
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<th class="stentry" id="d51e352" style="vertical-align:bottom;text-align:left;"> </th>
<th class="stentry" id="d51e354" style="vertical-align:bottom;text-align:left;">Conversation in progress when IP ban applied</th>
<th class="stentry" id="d51e357" style="vertical-align:bottom;text-align:left;">New conversation after IP ban applied</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr class="strow">
<td class="stentry" headers="d51e352" style="vertical-align:top;">Description of behavior</td>
<td class="stentry" headers="d51e354" style="vertical-align:top;">
<ul class="ul" id="topic_ztg_z2h_dgc__ul_u3w_bhh_dgc">
<li class="li">Banned user can’t send a message in the
conversation.
</li>
<li class="li">Unsent message appears in red.
</li>
</ul>
</td>
<td class="stentry" headers="d51e357" style="vertical-align:top;">
<ul class="ul" id="topic_ztg_z2h_dgc__ul_jdm_chh_dgc">
<li class="li">Conversation doesn’t load in channel.</li>
</ul>
</td>
</tr>
<tr class="strow">
<td class="stentry" headers="d51e352" style="vertical-align:top;">Web Widget example</td>
<td class="stentry" headers="d51e354" style="vertical-align:top;"><img class="image" id="topic_ztg_z2h_dgc__image_m2l_ggh_dgc" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/ip_ban_in_progress-webwidget.png" width="200"></td>
<td class="stentry" headers="d51e357" style="vertical-align:top;"><img class="image" id="topic_ztg_z2h_dgc__image_aqm_ggh_dgc" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/ip_ban_after-webwidget.png" width="200"></td>
</tr>
<tr class="strow">
<td class="stentry" headers="d51e352" style="vertical-align:top;">Mobile SDK example</td>
<td class="stentry" headers="d51e354" style="vertical-align:top;"><img class="image" id="topic_ztg_z2h_dgc__image_gfq_ggh_dgc" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/ip_ban_in_progress-mobile.png" width="200"></td>
<td class="stentry" headers="d51e357" style="vertical-align:top;"><img class="image" id="topic_ztg_z2h_dgc__image_wzr_ggh_dgc" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/ip_ban_after-mobile.png" width="200"></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
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