Restricting agent ticket access by brand (department spaces)

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Restrict agent ticket access by brand using department spaces to enhance data privacy and focus support efforts. Assign agents to specific brands, allowing them to view and manage tickets only within those brands. This segmentation promotes specialized knowledge and control over ticket visibility. Consider workflow impacts when removing access, and remember that admins have access to all brands by default.




If you support multiple brands, Zendesk allows team members
(agents) to manage tickets associated only with their assigned brands. By assigning
agents to brands, administrators can control which tickets agents can access based on
their brand membership, ensuring focused support, enhancing data privacy, and promoting
specialized product knowledge. Segmenting access to branded tickets this way is called
department spaces.
If all agents are assigned to all brands, then department spaces is not in use, and brand
does not control agent visibility of tickets. Removing agents from brands removes their
ability to view, search, and access tickets with that brand.
Consider how removing access might impact your workflow. If you don't want to use this
feature, you don't have to take any action because team members are assigned to all
brands by default. You can ensure team members are assigned to all brands by viewing their brand memberships.
Watch the video below to learn more about department spaces.



Department spaces: Segment access to tickets by brand or department (3:30)
This article covers the following topics:

Limitations
Understanding brand membership
Viewing team member brand
memberships
Filtering team members by brand
Adding or removing team members from
brands
Viewing and updating brand memberships from the agent profile
Configuring brand membership settings for new team members

Related articles:

Setting up multiple brands
Multibrand resources



Limitations


Restricting agent ticket access by brand (also called department spaces) cannot
be used with the following:
Legacy messaging through Chat
Legacy Talk plans


Triggers can assign tickets to agents that shouldn't have access to the ticket.
When this occurs, the agent will see a message stating they don't have access to
the ticket. See Why can't I access this ticket? for
more information.




Understanding brand membership

You can assign team members to brands, which sets their brand membership. Team
members can only view, search, and access tickets within their assigned brands.
Assigning a team member to all brands gives them access to tickets across all
brands. If they aren't assigned to any brands, then they won't have access to
tickets. See Considerations for
exceptions.
Initially, new team members are assigned to all brands and, therefore, will have
access to all tickets. Administrators can control which tickets agents can access by
removing them from the brands they shouldn't have access to. Admins are
automatically assigned to all brands and can access all tickets across all brands.
When a new brand is created, all admins are automatically added to it and cannot be
removed.
A team member’s role can further refine their access. For example, a team member’s
role might limit them to only tickets in their groups.
When creating and updating tickets, the Brand drop-down field in the Agent
Workspace is limited to the brands for which the agent is a member. Agents in a custom role with permission can assign tickets to any
brand, including brands they don’t belong to.

Tip: When using department spaces to restrict agent
ticket access by brand, it is recommended to require a brand selection before saving
tickets to prevent tickets from being saved without a brand.



Considerations



An upgraded agent initially
belongs to no brands and, therefore, will have no access to tickets. You
must add the agent to
brands to give them access to tickets within those
brands.
Team members can be CC’d or added as followers on tickets outside their
brand membership. When this happens, they will only have access to the
specific ticket, not all tickets within that brand.
If an agent in a custom role has permission to manage suspended tickets,
they can manage the suspended tickets in their brands only, plus any
suspended tickets without a brand.
Tickets shared via a direct link are inaccessible if the agent isn’t a
member of the ticket’s brand.

Omnichannel routing respects
the brand memberships of your agents. If you’re using this feature,
tickets are only assigned to agents who are members of the ticket's
brand.






Viewing team member brand memberships

Brand memberships for all your team members appear on the Team members page. You can
also filter the list of team
members by brand.
To view brand memberships


In Admin Center, click
People in the sidebar, then select Team > Team members. The brand associated with each team member appears in the Brand
column.



If a team member belongs to multiple brands, click the +more link to view
additional brand memberships.




Filtering team members by brand

Filtering the team list by brand helps you verify that team members have the
appropriate brand memberships. For example, you might periodically filter for team
members with no brand memberships to ensure that no one's brand membership has been
accidentally removed.
To filter the team list by brand membership

In Admin Center, click
People in the sidebar, then select Team > Team members.
Click Filter.
Under Brand membership, select the brands by which you'd like to filter
team members. Selecting multiple brands filters team members who are part of
all the selected brands. To filter team members with no brand memberships,
select No brand.

Click Apply filters.




Adding or removing a team member from brands

When you add team members to brands, they can view, search, and access tickets within
their assigned brands. Removing a team member from brands removes their access to
tickets within that brand.
You cannot remove admins from brands. Admins must be members of all brands.

Important: If you remove a team member from all
brands, they will have no ticket access.
To add or remove brand memberships


In Admin Center, click
People in the sidebar, then select Team > Team members. The team member page opens.


Search for the team members you want
to update, then select them in the list. You can select one or many team
members. Admins are members of all brands and will be excluded from any bulk
operations.


Click Manage brand membership. The Manage brand membership link
displays at the bottom of the page after you select team
members.


In Add to brand and Remove from brand, select the brands you'd
like to add or remove the team member.

Click Save.




Viewing and updating brand memberships from the agent profile

To view or update brand memberships for a single agent, you can do so from the
agent's profile.
To view or update brand memberships from an agent's profile


In Support, click the Search
icon ( ) in the upper-right of the top toolbar.
Begin typing the agent's name, then select the agent from the drop-down
list.
Click the Brands menu in the left pane to expand it, then select or
deselect brands for the team member.






Configuring brand membership settings for new team members

Admins can configure brand assignments for new team members and upgraded users, ensuring team members get
relevant brand access from the start.
By default, new team members are assigned to all brands, but this setting can be
changed. For example, you may want team members to have no brand assignments
initially, requiring a manual selection each time.
To configure brand membership settings for new team members

In Admin Center, click
Account in the sidebar, then select Brand management > Brands.
Click Manage settings.
Select an option for Choose how new team members get assigned to
brands. This setting only controls the default selection when
adding new team members. You can still change brand assignments when adding
a team member.

Manually assign brands: No brands are pre-selected.

Assign new team members to all brands: All brands (active and
inactive) are pre-selected.



Select an option for Choose how end users are assigned to brands when
upgraded to team member. This setting will automatically assign the
upgraded user to brands based on your selection.

Assign to no brands: The upgraded team member will have no brand
assignments.

Assign upgraded team member to previously assigned brands: The
upgraded team member will be assigned to the brands they were originally
assigned to before they were downgraded to an end user.
Assign new team members to all brands


Click Save.