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Configure Ada Glass for Zendesk Chat

Overview​

Ada Glass for Zendesk allows chatters to seamlessly transition from their conversation with the bot to a conversation with one of your organization's live agents when an escalation occurs. The chatter begins their conversation with the bot in the Ada chat window, and when Ada Glass for Zendesk is triggered, the agent simply slides in where the bot left off, providing the agent with the chatter's transcript and captured variables.

important

This topic is about Zendesk Chat. If you're looking for information about Zendesk Messaging, please see Configure and use Ada Glass for Zendesk Messaging.

This article will walk you through the steps required to configure Ada Glass for Zendesk. Please note that establishing the integration between Ada and your Zendesk instance requires you to navigate back and forth between your Ada dashboard and Zendesk.

note

You must subscribe to the Zendesk Chat Enterprise plan to use Ada Glass for Zendesk Chat. For help identifying which plan you have, see Zendesk Help - About Zendesk Chat plan types.

Create Department or Group​

Whether you create a department or group depends on which Zendesk platform you are using. If you are using Zendesk Chat, you must create a department. For Zendesk Agent Workspace, they're called groups. Departments and groups have different configuration steps. The following two subsections cover the setup process for each.

Departments – Zendesk Chat​

To enable a handoff from the bot to a human agent, a department will need to be created dedicated to human agents. To create a new department:

  1. On the Zendesk dashboard, click Settings.

  2. Under Settings, click Departments.

  3. Click Add Department.

  4. Add a name and description.

  5. Click each agent's name to add them to the department.

  6. Click Create Department.

If you are a new Zendesk customer or have the Enterprise tier account, you do not need to assign the bot an agent seat, neither do you need to add the bot to the departments.

Groups – Zendesk Agent Workspace​

To enable a handoff from the bot to a human agent in Zendesk Agent Workspace, a group will need to be created. To create a new collection of agents, follow these instructions to create a Support group:

  1. In Zendesk Support, click the Admin icon () in the sidebar, then select People.

  2. Click Add group.

  3. Enter a group name and description.

  4. Select the agents you want to add to the group.

    When you create a new group, you can see which agents have access to which products.

  5. If you want this group to be the default group that all new agents are added to, select Make default group.

  6. Click Create group.

  7. Once created, you will need to enable your group in Zendesk Chat. To do this, in Zendesk Chat, select Settings from the menu on the left and then select Departments.

  8. Locate your newly created group in the list and click on its name.

  9. Next to Enabled in chat?, click Enabled. Click Save changes.

Define Operating Hours​

In Zendesk Chat​

To define operating hours for your entire Zendesk Chat function:

  1. In the menu to the left, click Settings.

  2. Under Settings, click Account.

  3. Click Operating Hours.

  4. Next to Set schedule, click Account.

  5. Set the online schedule to Daily.

  6. Select the checkbox for each day of the week.

  7. Modify the hours of operation to a time of your choosing.

  8. Uncheck Display operating hours.

  9. Click Save changes.

To define operating hours for a specific department or group:

  1. In the menu to the left, click Settings.

  2. Under Settings, click Account.

  3. Click Operating Hours.

  4. Next to Set schedule, click Department.

  5. Click +Add schedule.

  6. Give your new schedule a name, likely including the department or group's name.

  7. Set the online schedule to Daily.

  8. Select the checkbox for each day of the week.

  9. Modify the hours of operation to a time of your choosing.

  10. Click Add or remove departments.

  11. Select the department or group from the list provided.

    note

    If you are adding a Zendesk Agent Workspace group, you must ensure that chat has been enabled for the group in order for it to appear.

  12. Click Save changes.

Configure Zendesk Live Chat in Ada​

In Ada​

  1. On the Ada dashboard, click Settings > Integrations.

  2. Go to Zendesk Chat and click Configure.

  3. Under API Client, copy the contents of the Redirect URL field.

Create API Client​

In Zendesk Chat​

When creating an API client, first you have to locate the API & SDKs page:

  1. In the menu to the left, click Settings.

  2. Under Settings, click Account.

  3. In the grey toolbar at the top, click API & SDKs.

  4. Click Add API Client.

Then, you can configure your new API client:

  1. In the Client Name field, add a name for your API Client. Anything will do.

  2. In the Redirect URLs field, paste your unique Redirect URL, which you copied previously.

  3. Click Create API Client.

Add your API Client to Ada​

You will need to copy the following details from Zendesk Chat and paste them into the matching Zendesk Chat Settings fields in Ada. Please note, this prompt will only show once, so be sure to follow the steps below. If you accidentally close the API Client Saved window before copying the required fields, you will have to regenerate the Client Secret.

  1. Copy and paste your Client ID from Zendesk Chat into the Client ID field in Ada.

  2. Copy and paste your Client Secret from Zendesk Chat into the Client Secret field in Ada.

  3. If you use Zendesk Support integrated with Zendesk Chat, specify your Zendesk Subdomain in Ada. This is the unique identifier at the beginning of your Zendesk account URL—https://yoursubdomain.zendesk.com.

    note

    The subdomain is not the entire URL. It is only the portion marked yoursubdomain in the example above.

  4. Click Save to set your API Client in Ada.

Zendesk:

Ada:

Retrieving your Account Key​

By checking your connection​

  1. In the top right corner of your Zendesk Chat screen, click your user avatar, then click Check Connection.

  2. Copy the Account Key from the dialog that opens.

By simulating a conversation​

If your account key isn't available in the above dialog, you can also access it by simulating a conversation. There are a few ways to do this from the Zendesk Chat dashboard:

  • Click Visitors > Simulate Visitor.

  • Alternatively, on the widget tile, click Simulate conversation.

A window opens, with a URL that contains the account key in a parameter. Copy the account key from the URL.

Add an Agent​

In Ada​

  1. Log into Zendesk Chat as the bot user account. We highly recommend you create a brand new bot user account, with an email address that isn't tied to one specific person in your organization. This will ensure no changes will be made to the Bot Agent that could otherwise disrupt the integration.

  2. Under Agent, click Add Bot Agent. A Zendesk Chat authentication tab opens.

  3. If you're already logged in to your own personal account on Zendesk Chat, click the blue link to switch accounts. You must log in with an Administrator or Owner account.

  4. Click Allow to add your Agent to Ada automatically.

Zendesk Authentication (optional)​

You can choose to configure your Zendesk live agent chat to authenticate visitors. Agents can proceed with increased confidence that the chatter they are communicating with is who they claim to be. Agents will be able to identify authenticated chatters by the green checkmark overlay on the chatter’s Zendesk avatar.

To configure Zendesk authentication:

  1. Reach out to your Ada team to let them know you would like this feature enabled.

  2. We will provide your development team with the documentation necessary for the configuration.

That's it! You've successfully configured Ada Glass for Zendesk. Next up, see Hand off chatters to live agents using the Zendesk Live Agent block to create a Zendesk Chat handoff in an Answer.

Have any questions? Contact your Ada team—or email us at .