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The Zendesk integration logs each Allo call and SMS as an internal note on a Zendesk ticket for the matching end user. A call note holds the call details, the AI summary, the transcript and a link to the call. An SMS note holds the message text. A call and the SMS around it stay on the same ticket. Nothing is sent to your customer: every note Allo writes in Zendesk is private. Your Zendesk end users and organizations sync to Allo, so callers show up with their Zendesk name and organization.

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How to connect

The Zendesk integration connects with your Zendesk account through OAuth. You need an Allo admin or manager to connect the integration, and a Zendesk admin to approve Allo.
1

Go to Integrations

In Allo, go to Settings > Integrations.
2

Find Zendesk

Find Zendesk in the Support section and click Connect.
3

Enter your Zendesk subdomain

Enter your Zendesk subdomain, the part before .zendesk.com in your Zendesk address. For acme.zendesk.com, enter acme. You can also paste your full Zendesk address: Allo keeps only the subdomain. Click Continue.
4

Approve Allo in Zendesk

Sign in to Zendesk with an admin account and click Allow to give Allo access.
5

Wait for the contact import

Allo imports your Zendesk end users and organizations. The integration shows the import in progress until the first sync finishes.

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Choose your support lines (optional)

Support lines decide which Allo lines send calls and SMS to Zendesk. Only calls and SMS on the selected lines are sent. Calls and SMS on any other line are not sent at all, so sales or personal conversations never reach your support queue. To send every call and SMS, leave the selection on All lines. To choose support lines, go to Settings > Integrations > Zendesk, open Support lines, select the lines and click Save.
For an inbound call or SMS, the line is the number the customer dialed or texted. For an outbound call or SMS, the line is the number shown to the customer. Call back or reply from a support line if you want it logged in Zendesk.

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Create unknown callers in Zendesk (optional)

The Create unknown callers in Zendesk setting decides what happens when a caller or SMS sender is not a Zendesk end user yet.
  • On: Allo creates the caller as a new Zendesk end user and logs the call or SMS on a ticket for that end user. The new end user is named after the Allo contact, or after the phone number if the Allo contact has no name.
  • Off: calls and SMS from numbers that are not Zendesk end users are not sent to Zendesk.

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What syncs

From Zendesk to Allo:
  • End users that have at least one phone number, with their name, email, phone numbers, organization, tags, notes and photo
  • Organizations, as Allo companies, with their name, first domain, details and notes
From Allo to Zendesk:
  • Calls and SMS, logged as internal notes on tickets for the matching end user
  • New end users, when Create unknown callers in Zendesk is on
Sync direction: Two-way. Calls and SMS are sent to Zendesk as they happen. The first sync imports all your Zendesk end users and organizations. After that, Allo checks for new and changed end users every 10 minutes, and for new and changed organizations every hour. An end user who loses their last phone number or is deleted in Zendesk is removed from Allo at the next sync. An organization deleted in Zendesk is removed from Allo at the next sync. When a call or SMS comes from a number that Allo does not know, Allo looks the number up in Zendesk at that moment. Only end users are imported. Zendesk agents and admins are not imported, and end users without a phone number are not imported, because Allo cannot match them to a call or SMS. Allo matches the Zendesk end user by phone number. Allo checks the main phone number and the other phone numbers on each end user. National and international formats of the same number match, so (415) 555-0102 and +14155550102 find the same end user. When Allo creates or completes an end user, it never overwrites a name, email or phone number already in Zendesk. A phone number Zendesk does not have yet is added as an extra phone number.

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How calls are synced

After each call, Allo logs an internal note on a ticket for the matching Zendesk end user. The note contains:
  • The call direction and result, the from and to numbers, the start time (UTC) and the duration
  • The Allo line and the Allo user who handled the call, and the call tags
  • The AI summary
  • A link to the call recording, or to the call in Allo when the call has no recording
  • The transcript
A new ticket is titled Call with <end user name> on <line name> (<number>), for example Call with Jeanne Dupont on Support FR (+33199000100). The ticket’s requester is the end user, and the ticket is linked to the end user’s organization when they have one. The ticket is assigned to the Zendesk agent whose email matches the Allo user’s email, and the note is written by that agent. If no agent has that email, the ticket stays unassigned and the note is written by the Zendesk user who connected the integration.

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How follow-up calls and SMS are grouped in one ticket

Calls and SMS with the same end user share one ticket. A new call or SMS joins the end user’s Allo ticket when that ticket is not solved and was last updated less than 1 hour before the call or SMS. This covers the customer calling or texting again, and your team calling back or replying. When a call or SMS joins an existing ticket:
  • Allo adds it to the ticket as a new internal note.
  • Allo adds the allo_call or allo_sms tag to the ticket if it does not carry it yet. Tags already on the ticket are kept.
  • The ticket subject is not changed.
The next call or SMS opens a new ticket when the previous Allo ticket is solved, or when it was last updated more than 1 hour before. Allo only adds calls and SMS to tickets that Allo created. Allo never adds them to a ticket that came from another channel, such as an email.

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How to target Allo calls and SMS in Zendesk triggers and views

Every ticket Allo creates carries a tag: allo_call when a call opened it, allo_sms when an SMS opened it. A ticket that holds both carries both tags. Use these tags in Zendesk views and triggers, for example a view filtered on “Tags contains at least one of allo_call allo_sms” to see every phone and SMS conversation in one place.
Do not remove the allo_call and allo_sms tags. Allo only groups follow-up calls and SMS into tickets that carry one of these tags. Without them, every call and SMS opens a new ticket.

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How SMS are synced

After each SMS sent or received on a support line, Allo logs an internal note on a ticket for the matching Zendesk end user, or adds the SMS to the end user’s open Allo ticket (see How follow-up calls and SMS are grouped in one ticket). The note contains:
  • The SMS direction, the from and to numbers, and the time it was sent (UTC)
  • The Allo line and the Allo user who sent or received it
  • The message text
A new SMS ticket is titled SMS with <end user name> on <line name> (<number>) and is assigned the same way as a call ticket. Nothing is texted or emailed to your customer from Zendesk: the SMS is logged as an internal note only.

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Click-to-call

Click-to-call is not available for this integration.

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Troubleshooting

Check the sync status of any call from the call list on web.withallo.com. Each call has an integration indicator showing its sync state.
Only admins and managers of an Allo workspace can connect integrations. If you don’t see the option, ask your workspace admin or manager to set it up.Check these causes:
  • The subdomain is wrong. Enter only the part before .zendesk.com, for example acme for acme.zendesk.com.
  • The Zendesk account is not an admin. Approve Allo with a Zendesk admin account. Allo needs an admin to import your end users and organizations.
Check these causes, in this order:
  • The call or SMS was not on a support line. Only calls and SMS on your selected support lines are sent to Zendesk. Check Settings > Integrations > Zendesk > Support lines, or select All lines to send everything.
  • The caller is not a Zendesk end user. With Create unknown callers in Zendesk off, calls and SMS from unknown numbers are not sent. Add the phone number to the end user in Zendesk, or turn the setting on.
  • The phone number on the end user does not match. Allo matches on the end user’s phone numbers. Store the full number, with the country code, on the end user.
  • Access to Allo was removed in Zendesk. Disconnect Zendesk in Allo and connect again with a Zendesk admin account.
Allo writes every call and SMS as a private internal note, and Zendesk’s default triggers do not email the requester about a ticket that only has internal notes. A custom trigger can still send an email when a ticket is created or updated.To keep Allo tickets out of customer emails, add the condition Tags contains none of the following allo_call allo_sms to each trigger that emails the requester, in Zendesk Admin Center > Objects and rules > Triggers.
Check these causes:
  • The end user has no phone number in Zendesk. Allo only imports end users with at least one phone number. Add the number in Zendesk: the end user appears in Allo after the next sync.
  • The sync has not run yet. Allo checks for new and changed end users every 10 minutes.
  • The user is an agent or an admin. Allo only imports end users.
  • The first import is still running. On a large Zendesk account, the first import can take several minutes.
A follow-up call or SMS joins an existing ticket only when all three conditions are true:
  • The ticket was created by Allo and still carries the allo_call or allo_sms tag.
  • The ticket is not solved or closed.
  • The ticket was last updated less than 1 hour before the new call or SMS.
If one of these conditions is false, Allo opens a new ticket.
Allo assigns the ticket to the Zendesk agent whose email matches the Allo user’s email. If the emails differ, the ticket stays unassigned. Use the same email in Allo and Zendesk, or assign Allo tickets with a Zendesk trigger on the allo_call or allo_sms tag.