Optimizing the Zendesk Agent Workspace

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<p id="docs-hc-snippet" style="display: none;">Zendesk’sAgent Workspaceis a powerful way to manage your customer requests, providing them with the best service possible no matter how they reach out to you. Follow these best practices to make the most of the Zendesk Agent Workspace. Optimizing the workspace can reduce costs, drive revenue, save time, and increase value. You must have the Agent Workspaceactivatedto use these features. The features mentioned are available for all plan types, unless otherwise noted.</p>
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<p class="p">Zendesk’s
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408821259930" target="_blank">Agent Workspace</a> is a powerful way to manage your
customer requests, providing them with the best service possible no matter how they reach out
to you. Follow these best practices to make the most of the Zendesk Agent Workspace.
Optimizing the workspace can reduce costs, drive revenue, save time, and increase value. You
must have the Agent Workspace
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4581758611866#topic_jpk_lwg_rlb" target="_blank">activated</a>
to use these features. The features
mentioned are available for all plan types, unless otherwise noted.</p>
<div class="p">This article includes these sections:
<ul class="ul" id="topic-1__ul_zgv_mkt_13b">
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_als_rcd_1zb">Optimize for multi-channel support</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_wfm_4dd_1zb">Optimize the ticket interface for your agents</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_t5f_22d_1zb">Extend your data set to optimize ticket content</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_rtx_32d_1zb">Train your agents to optimize their performance</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title2" class="topic nested1" id="topic_als_rcd_1zb">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title2">Optimize for multi-channel support</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">With the Agent Workspace you can easily switch between communications channels,
all within the same ticket interface. You don’t have to maintain separate tickets or use
separate dashboards for each ticket type.</p>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title3" class="topic nested2" id="topic_f2l_zcd_1zb">
<h3 class="title topictitle3" id="ariaid-title3">Best practices</h3>
<div class="body">
<ul class="ul" id="topic_f2l_zcd_1zb__ul_wcs_1dd_1zb">
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Configure all the channels</strong>
your agents need to handle tickets, including email,
messaging, and voice.
<ul class="ul" id="topic_f2l_zcd_1zb__ul_ybb_cdd_1zb">
<li class="li">For email, see
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408842868506-" target="_blank">Adding support email addresses</a>.</li>
<li class="li">For messaging, see
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408846454682" target="_blank">About messaging</a>
</li>
<li class="li">For social messaging, see
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408831648794" target="_blank">Getting started with social messaging</a>.</li>
<li class="li">For phone support, see
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408838035866" target="_blank">Enabling the voice channel and configuring general settings</a>.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Configure omnichannel routing</strong>
to make sure the right tickets get to the right
agents as quickly as possible. Omnichannel routing with unified agent status allows you
to automatically direct tickets to agents based on their availability, capacity, and
ticket priority. See
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4409149119514" target="_blank">About omnichannel routing</a>.</li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Set up AI agents</strong> to deflect common questions across your service channels and increase
agent productivity. See <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/6478272212506" target="_blank">Getting started with AI
agents</a>.</li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Activate all available AI offerings</strong>, and consider the Copilot add-on, to enhance every
part of your service experience, from smarter conversations to
productivity tools for agents and new insights and instant
actions for admins. See <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/10018448457498" target="_blank">Zendesk AI
offerings</a>.</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title4" class="topic nested1" id="topic_wfm_4dd_1zb">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title4">Optimize the ticket interface for your agents</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">The Agent Workspace enables you to customize the ticket interface so your agents have the
best experience possible to manage tickets.</p>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title5" class="topic nested2" id="topic_avt_rdd_1zb">
<h3 class="title topictitle3" id="ariaid-title5">Best practices</h3>
<div class="body">
<ul class="ul" id="topic_avt_rdd_1zb__ul_fkf_tdd_1zb">
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Create custom ticket statuses</strong>
for your account. Custom ticket statuses can help
manage your ticket workflows, as well as indicate a more meaningful ticket status to
your business and end users. See
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4412575841306" target="_blank">Activating custom tickets statuses</a>.</li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Create contextual workspaces</strong> to automatically tailor tickets to show the right
information to the right group of agents. Help them cut through the confusion by
providing them with a curated set of options to get the job done, including recommended
ticket forms, apps, macros, and knowledge searches. See
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408833498906" target="_blank">Setting up contextual workspaces</a>. (Enterprise plans)</li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Define custom layouts</strong>
to handle different ticket types. Only show agents the
interface and tools they need to take on the task at hand. No developer resources are
required. See
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/5447690090138" target="_blank">About custom layouts</a>. (Enterprise plans)</li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Configure the features included in agent copilot</strong> to provide your agents with access to AI features directly from
the ticket interface. For example, intelligent triage automatically detects a
ticket’s intent, language, and sentiment. You can also use AI to
summarize tickets and enhance ticket comments. See <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/7908817636378" target="_blank">About agent copilot</a>.
(Professional and Enterprise add-on)</li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Configure the user profile card</strong>. The user profile card appears in the context panel in
the Agent Workspace and displays information about the ticket
requester. You can change the card by adding, removing, and
reordering standard and custom user fields so that agents can
access the most relevant information. See <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/5768595554714" target="_blank">cards to view additional information in the Agent Workspace</a>. (Professional plans and above)</li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Change the ticket conversation flow</strong>
to match how agents do their work. Give
them an intuitive, comfortable interface that matches how they like to talk to
customers. See
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/6070249202202" target="_blank">Configuring the conversation flow and composer
location</a>. (Enterprise plans)</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title6" class="topic nested1" id="topic_t5f_22d_1zb">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title6">Extend your data set to optimize ticket content</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">If you work with external systems, Zendesk custom objects allow you to seamlessly integrate
your custom data into tickets, triggers, and Explore analytics.</p>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title7" class="topic nested2" id="topic_ogd_g2d_1zb">
<h3 class="title topictitle3" id="ariaid-title7">Best practices</h3>
<div class="body">
<ul class="ul" id="topic_ogd_g2d_1zb__ul_bty_g2d_1zb">
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Use custom objects</strong>
to give your agents access to all the data they need to
solve tickets, all without leaving the Zendesk interface. See
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/5914453843994" target="_blank">Understanding custom objects</a>. (All Suite plans and Support
Enterprise)</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title8" class="topic nested1" id="topic_rtx_32d_1zb">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title8">Train your agents to optimize their performance</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">Make sure your team knows how using the Agent Workspace will impact their day-to-day tasks.
Also tell them about changes they can make to personalize the interface and boost
productivity.</p>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title9" class="topic nested2" id="topic_xmc_l2d_1zb">
<h3 class="title topictitle3" id="ariaid-title9">Best practices</h3>
<div class="body">
<ul class="ul" id="topic_xmc_l2d_1zb__ul_p4g_m2d_1zb">
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Share some basic information</strong>
about the interface. See
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408821259930" target="_blank">About the Zendesk Agent Workspace</a>. If you’re migrating from
the standard agent interface, show them this
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4882193306394" target="_blank">Quick reference</a>
to highlight what’s new in the Agent
Workspace.</li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">For agents who manage sensitive material</strong>
give them
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408882153882" target="_blank">permission</a>to redact ticket content and keep customer
information safe. See
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408846470170" target="_blank">Redacting ticket content</a>.</li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Mention that they can</strong>:
<ul class="ul" id="topic_xmc_l2d_1zb__ul_lff_r2d_1zb">
<li class="li">
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408836526362" target="_blank">Use the context panel</a>to quickly access user
information and open a list of public or private apps.</li>
<li class="li">Add
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/6066877041690" target="_blank">app shortcuts</a>to personalize access to their
favorite apps.</li>
<li class="li">
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408826700570" target="_blank">Search, link, and quote content</a>
from your
help center to include in tickets. (Growth plans and above)</li>
<li class="li">If available, use <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/7908817636378" target="_blank">agent
copilot</a> for working in tickets, including
intelligent triage, suggested macros, ticket
summaries, comment expansion, and similar
tickets, and more. (Suite Professional plans and above)</li>
<li class="li">
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408836526362#topic_jr5_lbq_prb" target="_blank">Resize the context panel</a>, the
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4418444462618" target="_blank">ticket properties panel</a>, and the
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408831849882#topic_s55_zzg_rmb" target="_blank"><u class="ph u">
composer window
</u></a>.</li>
<li class="li">
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408831849882#topic_vpl_wfh_1qb" target="_blank">Change text color</a>
to highlight important
ticket comments.</li>
<li class="li">Use built-in
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408832500506" target="_blank">translation features</a>
to communicate with end users and
other agents using different languages.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
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