Building telephony integration features
Zendesk Talk Partner Edition allows Zendesk telephony partners to integrate telephony hardware and software with Zendesk Support. You don't need to install anything on an agent’s computer.
This guide shows you how to build common integration features using the Zendesk platform. The platform includes the Talk Partner Edition API to use as a CTI toolkit, and the Zendesk Apps framework to extend the agent interface in Support.
This guide outlines the following integration features:
- Embedding a softphone in Support
- Creating a user profile in Support for a caller
- Retrieving the Zendesk user id of a caller
- Retrieving the Zendesk user id of a call-center agent
- Creating a call record in Zendesk
- Creating a voice comment in a ticket
- Displaying a caller's existing ticket in Support
- Displaying a caller's new ticket in Support
- Displaying a caller's user profile in Support
- Reading and modifying the unified agent state in Zendesk
- Using data in Support for IVR call routing and other functions
- Saving other data in a ticket
Responsibilities
As a telephony partner, your responsibilities include:
- Designing, implementing, and deploying telecommunication services for electronic voice transmission between a business and a customer.
- Managing inbound/outbound call blending, call routing, agent presence, Interactive Voice Response (IVR), storage of call recordings, and offering voicemail capabilities.
- Providing call controls via a Zendesk app or desk phone.
- Maintaining a cloud or premise platform to support CTI connectors or components necessary for the integration.
Things to consider
Keep the following in mind when developing common integration features using the Zendesk platform:
- Talk Partner Edition and other Zendesk APIs are compatible with all browsers and platforms.
- Set up a Zendesk Support instance through zendesk.com or gain access to an existing Zendesk instance.
- Ensure your integration operates over SSL when creating it.
- Requests to the Talk Partner Edition API should be made client-side by a Zendesk app built with the Zendesk Apps framework or server-side by the telephony platform.
Documentation
For reference documentation, see:
For questions and answers, see the following community forums:
Pricing
Talk Partner Edition API is included and activated by default in all Zendesk Suite plans. If your customers are not using Suite, they must purchase a Talk Partner Edition license for each agent using the integration. For details, see the Zendesk Talk Pricing page.