Zendesk time tracking

Plans and permissions:

• Manual tracking: Pro or Enterprise plan
• Turn on Zendesk time tracking: Admin role, or a custom role with Configure third-party integrations set to Can configure third-party integrations
• Map Zendesk agent states: Admin role
• Choose events for manual tracking: Admin role, or a custom role with Configure event types set to Can configure event types
• Override tracking with an event in Zendesk: Any role
• Track your state with the Assembled App for Zendesk: Any role
• Our team turns on manual tracking, and counting work outside Zendesk as ticket time, for your company.
• To map agent states, a custom role needs the Admin base role.

Use Zendesk time tracking to measure adherence and productivity for team members who work in Zendesk, based on what they’re actually doing there. The Assembled App for Zendesk records whether each team member is on a ticket, elsewhere in Zendesk, or away from Zendesk, and Assembled compares that with their schedule. You can also let your team choose an event, such as a break or a meeting, to override automatic tracking. This applies to Zendesk only.

To turn it on, go to Configure > Third-party integrations and find the Assembled App for Zendesk card.

How Zendesk time tracking works

With time tracking on, the app reports one of these states for each team member:

• These states are listed on Configure > Agent states under the Zendesk platform, where you map them to your events.
• Team members must be signed in to both Assembled and Zendesk. They can check by making sure their schedule shows in the Assembled app in Zendesk.
• The app uses cookies. If cookies are blocked, the app can show errors and agent states stop updating. See You can’t sign in to the app in Zendesk.
• Everyone should keep Zendesk open in only one browser tab. Several Zendesk tabs can make a team member look offline when they aren’t.
• Tracking starts once the app is installed and the team member is signed in. States from before that aren’t available, and states that weren’t captured can’t be recovered later.
• After you turn it on, adherence data can take several days to start flowing.
• The Assembled Chrome extension, with Enable Zendesk activity tracking turned on, also reports these states. Its states are listed under the Activity tracker for Zendesk platform.

Where tracked time shows up

For what each metric means, see Metric calculations.

Turn on Zendesk time tracking

This turns on tracking for everyone who uses the app.

1. Have a Zendesk admin install the Assembled App for Zendesk. See Install the app.

2. In Assembled, go to Configure > Third-party integrations and select Edit settings on the Assembled App for Zendesk card.

3. Select I’ve installed Assembled’s Zendesk app and Use the app for accurate adherence calculations, then select Save.

   

4. Go to Configure > Agent states, choose Zendesk in the Platform filter, and select Edit agent state mappings.

5. Map each state to your events. See Agent state mappings.

The card shows App installed: Yes and Adherence calculations: On. To turn tracking off, clear Use the app for accurate adherence calculations and select Save.

If team members show the wrong state, see A team member shows Offline, Logged in, or a stuck state.

Let team members override tracking with an event

Manual tracking lets team members pick an event, such as a break, a meeting, or a specific kind of work, to track their time instead of automatic ticket tracking. Assembled uses the chosen event until the team member stops it, and then goes back to their Zendesk state. With it, you also get the Conformance and Non-productive hours worked metrics.

To turn on manual tracking, contact our team.

Keep in mind: Manual tracking and Zendesk unified agent statuses do the same job. Turning on unified agent statuses turns manual tracking off.

Choose which events team members can pick

1. Go to Configure > Event types and select an event type.
2. In the Edit event type window, under Zendesk time tracking, select or clear Allow agents to choose this event type for time tracking manual override.
3. Select Save event type.

New event types have this option selected. You see the Zendesk time tracking section only when manual tracking is turned on.

Map the manual tracking states

Each event that team members can pick becomes an agent state under the Manual Tracking platform on Configure > Agent states. Map each one to the matching event, so adherence counts it correctly.

Override tracking in Zendesk

Team members do this in the Assembled app in the Zendesk top bar. While tracking is automatic, Status shows Automatic ticket tracking.

1. Under Select an event to override task tracking, choose the event.

   

2. Select Override. Status shows the event you’re tracking.

3. When you’re done, select Stop event override to go back to automatic tracking.

   

Team members stay in the event until they select Stop event override, even if they move on to other work.

Count work outside Zendesk as ticket time

Team members often leave Zendesk to work on a ticket, for example to check an internal tool or dashboard. With this option, that time still counts as work on the ticket. To turn it on, contact our team.

With it on, time for a ticket starts when the team member first views an open ticket, and keeps counting until one of these happens:

• They sign out of Zendesk or Assembled.
• They select an event to override tracking, if manual tracking is on.
• They close the last open ticket they viewed.

During that time, the team member’s state is Online (Tickets), Online (Zendesk Dashboard), Offline, or the event they selected.

For example: a team member opens a ticket assigned to them and reads it for 30 seconds, works on it in an internal tool for 5 minutes, then returns to the ticket for 30 seconds to reply. Assembled counts 6 minutes on that ticket, not the 1 minute spent on the ticket’s tab.

Keep in mind: This option usually tracks more hours for each team member, which changes metrics such as Productive adherence (Agent scorecard and Team performance), Actual hours worked, and Cases solved per actual hour (Team performance).

When this option is on, map Online (Tickets) to a productive event and Online (Zendesk Dashboard) to a non-productive event. Otherwise, team members count as in adherence whenever they’re signed in to Zendesk during scheduled work hours, unless they’ve chosen an event to override tracking.

Troubleshooting

A team member shows Offline, Logged in, or a stuck state

On Monitor > Real-time agent analysis, a team member might show Offline while they’re working in Zendesk, stay stuck in one state, or show Logged in instead of states such as Online (Tickets). These problems usually come from how Zendesk is open in the team member’s browser, and a short routine at the start and end of each day prevents most of them.

The app reports a team member’s state from the Zendesk tab in their browser, and only while they’re signed in to both Zendesk and Assembled.

If the problem continues, ask the team member to check the app’s states request. States that the app didn’t capture can’t be recovered later, so chat with our team soon and include the team member’s name; the date, time, and time zone when the state was wrong; what the Assembled app in Zendesk showed at the time, with a screenshot if you have one; any errors from the states request; their browser, and any extensions or VPN they use; and what you’ve already tried.

Keep Zendesk in one browser tab

Open Zendesk in only one browser tab, and open tickets in Zendesk’s own tabs instead of new browser tabs. You can keep Zendesk Talk open in a separate tab.

For more accurate Zendesk tracking, your admin can also turn on Zendesk activity tracking with the Assembled Chrome extension. See Zendesk activity tracking with the Assembled Chrome extension.

Follow the start-of-day routine

1. Sign in to Zendesk.

2. Select the Assembled icon in the Zendesk top bar, and check that you’re signed in to Assembled. The app shows your schedule for the day.

   

3. If your company uses manual tracking, choose your first event under Select an event to override task tracking, and select Override.

4. Keep Zendesk open in one tab for the rest of the day.

Allow cookies and sign in again

The team member’s browser, a browser extension, or a VPN can block cookies for Zendesk or Assembled. Some browsers, such as Firefox, block cookies by default.

1. Check that cookies are allowed for both Zendesk and Assembled, including in any browser extensions or VPN. See You can’t sign in to the app in Zendesk.
2. Sign out of both Zendesk and Assembled.
3. Sign in to both again.

Follow the end-of-day routine

Important: Don’t just close your laptop with the browser still open. You can stay stuck in your last state.

1. If you’re tracking an event, select Stop event override.

   

2. Close your browser, or sign out of Zendesk.

Check the app’s states request

1. Right-click the Zendesk page and select Inspect.
2. Select the Network tab.
3. Look for states requests that show an error, and take a screenshot to send to our team.