You can create side conversation child tickets and assign them to a specific agent or group. A side conversation child ticket is a separate ticket that is subordinate to a side conversation. Child side conversation tickets are useful when you need a formal way to track and measure requests associated with a side conversation. Side conversation tickets can also be routed to agents withomnichannel routing.
Side conversation child tickets must beactivatedby an admin. SeeActivating and deactivating side conversations.
This article includes these sections:
- About side conversation child tickets
- Understanding light agent interaction with side conversation child tickets
- Creating side conversation child tickets
- Copying fields to child tickets
- Limitations
Related articles:
About side conversation child tickets
When you create a side conversation child ticket, two things happen simultaneously: you create a side conversation on the original ticket, and you create a new, separate, subordinate ticket that is assigned to a specific agent or group.
These definitions may be helpful to this discussion:
Originating side conversation:The side conversation on the original ticket used to create a side conversation child ticket.
Side conversation child ticket:A ticket created from a side conversation.
There is an invisible connection between the originating side conversation and the side conversation child ticket. This is a parent-child relationship. The originating side conversation is the “parent” and the child ticket is the “child.” There is an invisible connection between parent and child tickets. Some people think of these types of tickets aslinked tickets.
儿童票继承原来的回复ting side conversation because of the parent-child relationship. For example, when an agent replies to the side conversation on the original ticket, the replies are added to the child ticket aspublic comments.
However, child tickets don’t inherit other forms of ticket data from the parent ticket. For example, if the status of the parent changes, the status of the child doesn’t automatically also change to match. The same is true for adding tags to a ticket, and adding or removing CCs.
There are a few types of ticket data that can be copied from the parent ticket to the child ticket at the time of ticket creation (seeIncluding attributes from the parent ticket).
Generally, there isn’t a reverse connection between parent and child tickets. The exceptions are that public comments on a child ticket become part of the side conversation and events in the parent ticket, and the status and assignee of the child ticket is displayed on the side conversation in the parent ticket.
Understanding light agent interaction with side conversation child tickets
Light agents cannot create, send, or be assigned side conversation child tickets. You can't send a child ticket to a light agent because they aren’t allowed to be assigned to tickets.
Light agents do have permissions to make private comments, so it is possible for them to open an already existing child ticket in the Support interface and add a private comment to the ticket. There is nothing that prevents them from being able to do this. However, because of the inheritance pattern between parent and child tickets (described above), that private comment will not appear in the side conversation interface of the parent ticket.
Creating side conversation child tickets
Agents and admins can create, send, and be assigned to side conversation child tickets. You cannot add multiple agents or groups to side conversation child tickets because tickets can only have one assignee.
You may notice some minor differences in the side conversations user interface, depending on which side conversation channels your administrator has enabled (Slack, Email, or Ticket).
In theAgent Workspace, side conversations are created from thecontext panel. In the standard agent interface, side conversations are created fromSide conversationsat the top of the ticket conversation pane.
| Agent Workspace | Standard agent interface |
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- If needed, create the groups you need (seeCreating groups).
- In a ticket, open thecontext paneland click theSide conversations(
) icon, then click the plus sign (+).If you don’t have theAgent Workspace, in a ticket click theSide Conversationsplus sign (+) in the upper-left.
- SelectTicket.Note:If no other side conversation channels are enabled (Email or Slack), the side conversation composer immediately opens. You don’t need to choose Ticket.
The child side conversations composer displays.
- In theTofield, specify one agent or group.
The side conversation child ticket will be assigned to this person or group.
You cannot send a child ticket to a light agent (seeUnderstanding light agent interaction with side conversation child tickets).
- Fill out the subject and message body, including any inserted comments and attachments as needed (seeUsing side conversations in tickets).
- (Optional) Click theCopy fields to child ticketicon (
), specify which types of ticket field data you want copied from the parent ticket to the child ticket, and clickAdd. SeeCopying fields to child tickets. - ClickSend.
Copying fields to child tickets
When you create a side conversation child ticket, you can choose to have the following types of ticket field data copied from the parent ticket to the child ticket.
- Followers: The followers of the parent ticket, at the time the child ticket was created, will be added as followers on the child ticket.
- Tags: The tags on the parent ticket, at the time the child ticket was created, will be added to the child ticket.
- Ticket form: The parent’s ticket form and fields values, at the time the child ticket was created, will be set on the child ticket.
Copying fields to a child ticket is a one time-event that occurs only when the ticket is created. For example, if the parent ticket is updated later on, and the data in those ticket fields change, the child ticket is not updated to match.
To include parent ticket attributes in a side conversation child ticket
- Follow the steps inCreate side conversation child tickets, except don't clickSendyet.
- In the toolbar at the bottom of the side conversation, click theCopy fields to child ticketicon (
). - Select the types of data that you want to copy from the parent ticket to the child ticket.
- Click theAddbutton.
The names of the ticket fields appear above the toolbar at the bottom of the side conversation.
- ClickSend.
A new ticket, the child ticket side conversation, is created. In the child ticket, the values of the ticket fields you selected match those that are in the parent ticket.
Limitations
- Notification emails will trigger twice.
- When side conversation child tickets are enabled,triggers for side conversationswill fire twice. For example, once for the originating side conversation, and once for the side conversation child ticket.
- For agents assigned to custom roles to create child tickets through side conversations, they must have permission to create side conversations and make public comments in tickets. SeeCreating custom roles.
59 Comments
I hope all is well! Unfortunately, it is not possible at the moment to replicate ticket tags when using side conversations. We have acknowledged your feedback!
Thanks!
Hi, we have had an issue with ticket side conversations, and I read that also couple of other users talked about it here in this thread, andToby Sterrettalso referred partly to the same workflow.
The problem is that when we have a ticket side conversation where we change the requester to be an end-user, anyone who goes only to the mother ticket doesn't know that the requester of the side conversation has been changed. So the requester still seems to be the agent/group, even if it's some end-user. And if someone adds comments to the side conversation from mother ticket, they only go to the child ticket, but are not sent to the end-user requester, who they are supposed to go. So the whole conversation has to be done from the child ticket, in order for the end-user to be notified.
Now we have to advice people not to change the requester in ticket side conversations, to avoid this problem.
Could you please fix it so that the new requester shows also in the mother ticket, and that the new requester would also get the notification sent from the mother ticket's side conversation (not only from the child ticket)?
And will it soon be possible to create a ticket side conversation for an end-user in the first place, so that we don't have to change the requester manually?
You can actually change the requester of the side conversation and any replies on the side conversation should be received by the new requester.
I have tested it directly on my end and it worked perfectly. Maybe I'll just share all the trigger I utilized for this workflow and compare it with the one you have.
上面的截图是si的交互de conversation. As you can see, the end-user "Neutral CX" was able to respond to the agent which indicates the notification was received.
You will need to check the trigger that sends a notification to the requester and CCs on the ticket. There's a possibility that this is the one causing it due to some conditions that will not fire on the ticket created from side conversation. You'll need to check your ticket events to determine what are the triggers that should fire but didn't.
Thank youDane! I got the notification working correctly now, but the problem that the new requester name doesn't update to the mother ticket after it has been changed is still continuing. I will create a support ticket about this issue, and let's see if they can fix this. Thanks for your help!
Hello! Is there a limit to how many side conversation tickets can one parent ticket have? We have noticed that after 50 tickets, you are not able to save new ones and get info "This conversation can't be sent right now". So can this be a temporary issue or is there this 50 child ticket limit?
Was there any kind of documentation change in regards to Side conversation API to use child tickets we are trying to enhance our Collab app to use child ticket creation on click but looking for more documentation.
It sounds like you're hitting the system limitation of 50 side conversations per ticket. I'm afraid at this time, there's no option to change this limit. I suggest that you create proactive tickets instead of child tickets when a side conversation isn't that necessary. If you have a moment, I would ask that you share your use case in ourCommunity– the product feedback threads are frequented by our Product Managers, and starting a thread allows other Zendesk users to interact with your post and provide their input about similar workflow needs. You may alsoget in touch with usif you want to further discuss other alternatives. Our Advocacy folks may be able to provide some recommendations on how you can modify some parts of your workflow.
Thanks Tiina!
There are no major updates to Side conversations in Zendesk and the documentation. You can refer to our developer docs over here:Side Conversations API, and the side conversationEventsandAttachmentreference.
Why is this restricted to agents rather than end users?
I have tried the Linked Ticket app as a workaround but that doesn't copy attachments which is highly frustrating.
I don't want an email side conversation, I want a child ticket to an end user. Why is this so hard to achieve?
Tiina Alike Gab said, there is a limit of 50 side conversations in a ticket. I'd love to hear the use case you have for that amount of conversations in a single ticket. Can you provide some more details please? The community link Gab provided would be great for starting a discussion.
Charlie T当前版本的儿童票conversations is designed for internal collaboration. The workflow is intended to be one where an agent working on a ticket can easily reach out to another team also using the Zendesk account by directly creating a ticket assigned to their group rather than sending them an email. That said, we've gotten the feedback that folks would also like to send child tickets to end users for various reasons. That will take some relatively significant changes to the way things work, since currently only public comments in the child ticket are sent back to the side conversation etc. We have ideas on how to do this for a future update. If possible, some more detail on why you want the child ticket to go to an end user would be great as well. Thanks.
Toby SterrettI have made a post to the community as requested. Thanks for checking this :)
Gab Guinto- We are looking for enhancing our Collaborator app in terms of working with side conversation child tickets
我们确实有一个选项在那里结束er email address is added on a button shows up Start Side Conversation and when user clicks on it opens a Email ( Side Conversation )
We want a similar function where we can call side conversation child ticket attribute/ window pop up and assign a group to side conversation child ticket with a child
The documentation has an API way to create a child ticket via side conversation but nothing mentioned how a side conversation child ticket pop up window can be created ( FYI we do not want child ticket automatically created via API which is shown in documentation ) but just to keep the window pop up for users when we click on our Button clicked
I hope this helped what we are looking for
Looking forward for an answer
I also didn't find anything from the available documentation on ZAF that might help achieve this. If you have time, I would suggest that you post on theDeveloper Community topic. The Developer Support who monitors those threads have more in-depth knowledge of our platform tools and might be able to provide possible answers and solutions. This may also give you the opportunity to have other developers to share their insight as well. Thanks Basrur!
I agree withJamie Noellhttps://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408836521498/comments/4417530446106
The ability to use the signature automatically would help us out!
We are try to create a view for all child tickets. Is it possible? If yes then what condition do I need to write?
Atul Upadhyaya condition of "Channel is side conversation" should filter down to child tickets.
Hi All
We have just replaced using the Side Conversation>Email to Side Conversation>Ticket to engage our Programming group regarding bug/programming requests. It is working AMAZINGLY, however the only issue is if you start to create a Side Conversation>Ticket and you have to click off to get information from another ticket, the Side Conversation>Ticket is gone. This is not the same as Side Conversation>Email as you could leave the ticket on your screen and return to it. Being we are a busy support center, often the agents are in the middle of an email to Programming and have to accept a call, then return to the email to Programming after the call. With the Side Conversation>Ticket information not there, the agent has to start over.
Is there a way around this or can this be added as a programming change?
Thanks!
Dana
丹娜,听起来像一个bug。我们将看一看一个d try to get it fixed up. Glad to hear child tickets are working well for you so far!
Thank youToby Sterrett. Is there a ticket number that I can follow or has it been fixed? Please let me know.
Thanks!
When creating a child ticket via side conversation, is there a way to have the first comment be an internal note instead of a public comment? Additionally, we'd like the requester to be inherited from the parent.
Is it possible to restrict the agent so that they can only create a side-conversation email or child-ticket if it is driven/derived from a macro?
It's not natively possible. I have also check theside conversation APIand there's no option to specify the comment to be public or private.
Hi Ian,
It's not directly possible. However, what you can do is to create a trigger that will immediately close side conversation tickets if a specific tag from a macro is not present on the created child ticket. For email, I can't think of a possible work around.
Hi all
When a side conversation child ticket is replied to and the original ticket is closed, Zendesk does not create a follow-up ticket. Is there a trigger that can be added? If so, what is the recipe?
Please advise.
Thanks!
Toby SterrettI understand from the users this still happening. Is there a ticket? What is the status? Please advise.
Thank youToby Sterrett. Is there a ticket number that I can follow or has it been fixed? Please let me know.
Thanks!
I can't think of anything native that can create a follow-up ticket when a side conversation child ticket is replied to and the original ticket is closed.
I guess you could make a custom field synced between the two that's updated with the parent ticket ID, then create a follow-up ticket in trigger actions using that field ID in the side conversation API call, but how would the trigger know the parent ticket is closed.
Unless you made a second condition with another "mapped" field that goes from Parent > Side conversation with closed as the channel that adds the closed tag, but that'll be messy.
I have opened a ticket on the behavior of a Child Side Conversation ticket but am coming to the community if there is any other guidance. We have not made any specific trigger changes but we have noticed that when Ticket A creates a Child Side Conversation Ticket to another Group, it does generate Child Ticket B. When the assignee of Child Ticket B puts the ticket to Solved, and the requester from Ticket A has another question, when they submit this through the Side Conversation composer and send it, Child Ticket B will get the communication but it will not change the status of the Child Ticket B to Open. Based on the triggering it hits our notification trigger that informs people of an update but the Side Conversation Status trigger doesn't get fired. Once a single trigger is satisfied does it should continue through the balance of the triggers to see if any other conditions are satisfied correct?
HiToby Sterrett,
We have started using Side Conversation - Child Tickets as a means to escalate tickets between our L1 and L2 Support teams. To keep the content consistent, we use a macro.
However, we would also require our agents to add the Ticket Form as part of the request.
Are there any plans to allow the Child Tickets / Tags / Followers to be included when using a Macro? I think having the option to configure each of these as an option when creating a child ticket via Macro, would reduce the risk of a step being missed.
As of the moment, we don't have such functionality. However, we utilize the "Message" or description of the side conversation that will be used in the macro to create triggers that will automatically tag such tickets.
For example, I want it to be routed to another team that handles orders. I'll create a section in the macro where it will say, "What type of request: Orders". This will then be used for the triggers once the ticket for the child ticket has been created.
HiDane
I'm trying to set up a trigger condition, for exemple "channel is side conversation", but there is no such channel. We need to add a tag to use omnichannel routing.
Regards.
Gustavo
Pleasesign into leave a comment.