Zendesk Support Integration
SM_IntegrationIntroduction_OnlyEN
You can integrate third-party systems with Service Manager in many ways. The method you select will depend on business requirements, architectural and security constraints as well as the characteristics specific to each third-party application or service.
This document describes an integration process that has already been implemented in a customer context.
To find out more about this integration (e.g. scripts to be used), please do not hesitate to contact your EasyVista contact, or your service provider and integrator.
Integration Summary
This integration is used to retrieve all available information from your Zendesk domain using the Zendesk REST API (GET method).
example Retrieve and display a list of open tickets in an Service Apps app
Integration Data Feed (direction) | Authentication Type | Integration Connector Options | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
REST data source |
SaaS Version of Third-Party Product |
On-premise Version of Third-Party Product |
---|---|
example https://{subdomain}.Zendesk.com ==> replace {subdomain} with the name of your Zendesk domain
API detailed description
Item | Comments |
---|---|
About the software and company |
Zendesk, Inc. is a software development company based in San Francisco, California. The company provides a cloud-based customer service platform, also called Zendesk, that includes ticketing, self-service options, and customer support features. |
Information about the REST API |
Date on which the information was retrieved from the software company's website: January 2016 Last known REST API name/version/date: Core API V2 |
Main useful links to software company information about REST | |
Format and sample of API resources/endpoints |
https://{subdomain}.freshdesk.com/helpdesk/tickets.json Notes:
|
API assets |
N/A |
API recommendations (limitations, advice, tips) |
|
Comments |
|
Step-by-step integration process
Zendesk can be integrated with Service Apps in 4 easy steps:
- Step 1: Check the list of prerequisites
- Step 2: Start the process for creating the REST data source
- Step 3: Authenticate to Zendesk
- Step 4: Create a query string using Zendesk documentation
Step 1: Check the list of prerequisites
- This documentation assumes that you already have a Zendesk domain.
- You need an active Zendesk user account and you must be a verified user to make API requests.
- To use the Zendesk Personal API Key/Token Access Authentication (preferable to Basic Authentication), you must enable it in the Admin console of your Zendesk domain. You must generate or add at least one token. The token will be required in the data sources you create in an Service Apps app.
See the procedure
How to enable the Zendesk Personal API KeyTo find out more, see the Zendesk REST API Security and Authentication help page
1. In the Zendesk Admin interface, select Admin > Channels > API. Then click Enabled in the Token Access settings.
2. Click [ ADD NEW TOKEN ]. Enter a label and click [ CREATE ].
3. Click [ SAVE ].
- There are three types of Zendesk users: end-users (your customers), agents, and administrators.
- You must be an administrator to be able to access the Zendesk Admin interface and view, add, or delete tokens.
- Only administrators can make API requests successfully with Zendesk Personal API Key/Token Access Authentication.
Step 2: Start the process for creating the REST data source
For details about the creation, see the wiki page REST data source
- Click
in the Objects pane.
- Open the Online category and select the REST data source
.
- Name the data source.
example Zendesk_List of Open Tickets
Step 3: Authenticate to Zendesk
Authenticate to Zendesk with the Zendesk Personal API Key/Token Access Authentication
- Select the type of authentication: Authentication Type = Basic.
- Click
next to the Basic Authentication Parameters field.
- Enter the User Name using the following format: firstname.lastname@company.com/token. Enter the Password.
- The user name is the Zendesk account/login you want to use for this data source. Remember to enter the text, /token, after your account name.
- The password is the token you obtained by selecting Admin > Channels > API.
- Once you validate, the *** symbols will appear in the field.
Step 4: Create a query string using Zendesk documentation
See the Zendesk API documentation
See Examples of use cases
- Create a query string as a data source, i.e. a resource to access, in the URL field.
example You want to create a data source that will retrieve a list of open tickets ==> Enter the following text in the URL field. Note: Replace {subdomain} with the name of your Zendesk domain.
https://{subdomain}.Zendesk.com/api/v2/search.json?query=type:ticket+status:open
Note: Zendesk tickets include the following sub-types: Question, Incident, Problem, Task
Best Practice
See Best Practice for the REST data source
- By default, most Zendesk list endpoints return a maximum of 100 records per page. Therefore, to keep the number of records as low as possible, we recommend that you define as many parameters as possible. These parameters can include the status (authorized values: new, open, pending, hold, solved or closed), type (authorized values: problem, incident, question or tasks), due_at (for tasks), etc.
- You must not share the Personal API Key/Token Access Authentication. You must keep this token and all information on credentials secure.
Samples of most relevant use cases and resources
Note: Replace {subdomain} in the URI with your subdomain name provided by Zendesk.
Method: GET
Use Case | Sample Endpoint | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Retrieve the list of users
|
|
||||||||
Retrieve a list of all tickets
|
|
||||||||
Retrieve a list of all open tickets
|
|
||||||||
Retrieve information on the currently authenticated user
(e.g. first and last name) |
|
SAS_IntegrationRESTAboutTheUse_OnlyEN
About the use of the software companies API REST
- Numerous software companies limit the access to the API REST of their software, generally by basing itself on a number of calls by hour/day/month.
- Only specific editions of their software can be eligible in the use of the API REST (with or without additional cost).
- Some software companies set up plans, e.g., Classic, Professional, Enterprise, for which the number of possible calls to the REST API or even to specific resources (i.e. endpoints) can be more or less numerous.