Creating and using Macros

Creating and using Macros

Macros are a set of actions that can be executed for the tickets in your Zoho Desk. These sets of actions include sending emails, creating tasks, and updating a field in the tickets with a specified value. You may have a set of actions that you perform on a daily basis or frequently to some records. You can combine all these actions in a single macro that can be applied manually to tickets by agents. This saves you from having to take the extra effort of performing three different actions across the ticket interface. 

Take, for example, the following scenario and how using macro makes the job easier:
Scenario - You are customer support executive and receive a call from a customer reporting a bug in their application. After the conversation you raise a support request and perform the following set of actions:
  • Send an Acknowledgment email to the customer.
  • Update the Status field as 'Developer Ticket'.
  • Create a task for the other developers in your team to fix the bug.
In such a case, you can create one macro that includes all the actions as mentioned above.

Note:
  • Only users with Profile permission for managing Help Desk Automation can access this feature.
  • You can create a maximum of 2/5/15 and 30 macros per department in the Free/Standard/Professional, and Enterprise editions, respectively.
  • In each macro, you can configure up to 10 emails, 10 tasks, and 10 field updates.
  • Unlike workflows and assignment rules, macros will contain only actions and not conditions.

Creating a Macro
You can create macros that will be shared with the other agents in your help desk.
To create a macro:
  1. Click the Setup icon (  ) in the top bar.
  2. In the Setup Landing page, click Macros under Automation.
  3. In the Macros List page, click Create Rule in the upper-right area.
  4. In the New Macro page, specify a Name and Description for the Macro.
  5. Click Next.



Sending Alerts
  1. Under Actions, do the following:
    • Click the Add icon (  ) and select New from the drop-down list corresponding to Alerts.
    • In the New Alert window, specify a Name for the Alert.
    • Choose an Email Template from the drop-down list.
      The selected email template will be used to send emails when the macro is run.
    • Specify who should be receiving this Alert. 
      You can choose between Groups, Roles, Roles and Subordinates or Agents.
    • Enable the following options if you will like to notify other users:

    • Record Owner:  Owner of the ticket
    • Record Creator: User who created the ticket
    • Notify Contact:  Requestor who submitted the ticket
    • Additional Recipients: Enter the e-mail addresses, separated by a comma




  2. Click Save.
You can associate this alert with an existing or a new macro.

Creating Tasks
  1. Under Actions, do the following:
    • Click the Add icon (  ) and select New from the drop-down list corresponding to Tasks.
    • In the New Task window, specify the task related details like Subject, Status, Priority, Assignee, Due Date, etc.
  2. Click Save.
The task will be assigned to the specified agent when the macro is run. You can also associate this task with an existing or a new macro.

Updating Fields
  1. Under Actions, do the following:
    • Click the Add icon (  ) and select New from the drop-down list corresponding to Field Updates.
    • In the Create Assignment Value window, specify a Name for the Assignment Value.
    • Choose a Field and specify a value for it.
      The field will be updated with the specified value when the macro is run.
  2. Click Save.
    Please remember to click Save again, in the New Macro page to retain your settings.



Deactivating a Macro
You can activate or deactivate the macros at any time. When you deactivate a macro, it will be removed from the Active macros list, making it unavailable to your agents. Macros can be reactivated, when needed.
To deactivate a macro:
  1. Click the Setup icon (  ) in the top bar.
  2. In the Setup Landing page, click Macros under Automation.
  3. In the Macros List page, click the Deactivate icon (  ) corresponding to the macro.
The macro will be deactivated instantly. You can head over to the Inactive List and click the Activate icon (  ) to re-activate a macro.

Deleting a Macro
You can delete the macros when you no longer need them. When you delete a macro, it will be permanently removed from your help desk and cannot be recovered.
To delete a macro:
  1. Click the Setup icon (  ) in the top bar.
  2. In the Setup Landing page, click Macros under Automation.
  3. In the Macros List page, click the Delete icon (  ) corresponding to the macro.
  4. Click OK to confirm.


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