The Zendesk Workforce Management tool is a powerful solution designed to help businesses optimize their customer support operations. Whether you're aiming to forecast staffing needs, schedule agents effectively, or enhance overall team productivity, this tool offers a range of features tailored to streamline your workforce processes.
We've compiled a list of common questions customers often have about Zendesk Workforce Management. From key functionalities to integration capabilities, this resource is here to address your concerns and guide you through the decision-making process.
Note: this list is not exhaustive but serves as a starting point to help you better understand Zendesk Workforce Management and prepare for implementation with your Zendesk.
| Question | Answer | |
|---|---|---|
| Agent Activity | Do I have to schedule my agents to start at the hour or half hour mark? | No, however you can be granular to the minute. For example, a shift could start at 12:05 and end at 8:05. |
| Can I see data from before we had Zendesk WFM? | No, there is no capability within Zendesk WFM to retroactively report on productivity. However, you are able to import historical data for forecasting. | |
| What happens if an agent switches to another system while working on a ticket? | As long as the Zendesk ticket tab stays open, the clock will keep running and track the agent's time on the ticket--even if they're looking at other content (a website, help centre documentation, etc.) For more information, review the Task Lock documentation. | |
| How can I prevent my agents from having multiple tickets open in separate browser tabs? | This behaviour can be prevented by leveraging the Quicktab Chrome Extension. It's recommended that all Zendesk WFM users add this extension. | |
| Exports, Reports & Forecasting | Can we export reports and schedules? | Yes, both reports and schedules can be exported in CSV format |
| Can I create custom metrics in reporting? | While there are metrics that are unique to custom reports in Zendesk WFM, there's currently no available functionality to create custom metrics. | |
| Can I add custom fields from Zendesk Support to Zendesk WFM reporting? |
No, not currently. If you are looking to track metrics related to specific ticket types, or support for organisations or VIP customers. At this time, we recommend to create Workstreams whenever possible to capture this type of data. |
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| How much data do I need to forecast? | 2 years is the recommended amount for an accurate forecast; however, forecasting is available with smaller data sets. In general, the larger the data pool, the more accurate the forecast. | |
| Can I share customisable dashboard with team members? | Only Zendesk WFM admins have access to customisable dashboards. | |
| Activity Tracking | Are bulk ticket updates tracked? | No. Zendesk WFM does not track bulk ticket updates as these can lead to an unfair count of productivity points when mass ticket updates occur. |
| Does Zendesk WFM track activity on the Zendesk Mobile App? |
Zendesk WFM does not track an agent’s time or activity if they do work using the Zendesk Mobile App. But Point metrics will be attributed to those tickets. For example: If an agent solved Ticket 1 from their mobile phone, they will receive 1 solved point but will not have any tracking data for this ticket. |
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| How does agent activity tracking work? | Zendesk WFM can automatically track all of the time that agents spend in Zendesk. By default, Automatic tracking is enabled for everyone. However, if you wish to turn it off for some agents and use Manual tracking instead, you can do so in Agent Permissions. |