Handling customer messages in Zendesk across web, mobile, and social channels can be a real challenge. It’s a constant effort to respond quickly, keep things personal, and make sure your support team isn’t drowning. You want to help customers fast and efficiently. That’s why people look into automating Zendesk messaging.
By letting technology take care of the routine stuff, you free up your team for the trickier, more human parts of support. It’s not just about speed; it’s about making things smoother for everyone. This guide will walk you through how you can automate your Zendesk messaging, looking at both the classic ways and what AI brings to the table, helping you figure out the best path forward for your team.
What is Zendesk messaging automation?
Think of Zendesk messaging automation as using tools and workflows built into Zendesk to handle everyday customer chats and tasks automatically. Instead of a support agent doing every single step for every message by hand, automation steps in for the predictable or repeated parts of a conversation or workflow.
Why bother with this? Because it really helps when things get busy. It helps lighten your team’s load, makes response times way faster, and can even offer support 24/7. Plus, it helps make sure customers get a consistent experience, no matter when or how they get in touch.
What you can automate in Zendesk messaging
The great thing about automating Zendesk messaging is you can use it for lots of different tasks. Just think about the questions your team answers all the time or the actions they repeat over and over. These are perfect candidates for automation.
Here are some specific things automation can handle for you:
- Answering common questions (FAQs): Bots can instantly give answers to questions like “What’s your return policy?” or “How do I reset your password?”
- Getting initial customer info: Before a human agent jumps in, automation can quickly grab details like an order number or account ID. This saves time later.
- Sending chats to the right place: Based on what the customer is asking or the info they gave, automation can route the conversation straight to the right team or agent.
- Giving status updates: For things like tracking an order or letting customers know about a service issue, automated replies can give them the info they need without needing an agent.
- Suggesting helpful articles: When a customer asks something, the system can automatically suggest articles from your help center that might let them find the answer themselves.
- Doing simple actions: Some basic tasks, like sending a link to reset a password, can be done automatically.
- Adding tags or setting priority: Automation can look at the message and automatically tag the conversation or mark it as high priority based on rules you set up.
By automating these simpler tickets and tasks, your agents can focus on the conversations that really need their expertise and human touch.
Traditional Zendesk automation: Macros, triggers, and rules
Before AI became a big deal, Zendesk already had some solid tools built-in to help teams automate repeated actions and workflows. These tools work based on rules and conditions you set up yourself.
One basic tool is macros. Macros are like saved shortcuts for responses or actions that agents can apply to a ticket with just one click. For example, a macro could add a standard greeting, put on a specific tag, and assign the ticket to a certain group, all at once. They’re super useful for cutting down on typing and making sure communication is consistent for common situations.
Triggers take automation a step further. These are actions that happen automatically when certain conditions are met when a ticket is created or updated. You could set up a trigger to automatically send a new message that says “urgent” to a priority queue or send an automated reply if a message comes in after business hours. Triggers are great for automating workflows based on ticket details or what’s in the message.
Finally, automation rules handle things that happen over time. These run on tickets after a certain period has passed since something specific happened. For instance, you could set up an automation to automatically close tickets that have been marked as “solved” for more than 48 hours.
While these traditional methods are incredibly helpful, they do have limits. They only work based on the exact rules you define. They can’t really understand the different ways people phrase things in natural language or handle questions that don’t match a specific pattern you’ve thought of. They can’t truly have a conversation or learn from talking to people. This is where AI comes in.
Stepping up: How AI makes Zendesk messaging automation better
Moving past rigid rules, AI brings a new level of smarts to automating Zendesk messaging. Using natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML), AI can understand the meaning behind what customers are saying, not just look for specific words.
Here’s how AI makes automation much more powerful:
- It gives more human-like answers: AI can create replies that sound more like a real conversation than just using canned responses.
- It understands different ways of speaking: Customers don’t always use the exact same words. AI can figure out what they mean even if they phrase things differently.
- It learns and gets smarter: Some AI tools can improve how they understand and respond over time as they interact with more customers.
- It can handle more complex tasks: Advanced AI can pull live information from other systems (like order details) or do things by connecting with other tools you use.
- It helps agents with context: AI can work alongside your human agents, suggesting draft replies or bringing up relevant information based on what’s being discussed right now.
The upsides are big: higher deflection rates mean fewer tickets land on your agents’ plates, customers are happier because they get answers faster, and you can save a good bit of money by not needing manual handling for routine questions.
Here’s a simple look at how AI helps streamline the process:
Comparing AI options for Zendesk messaging
When you’re thinking about adding AI to your Zendesk messaging, you’ll find a couple of different paths. You can use the AI features Zendesk offers built-in, or you can connect a platform that specializes in AI support, like eesel AI. Let’s see how they stack up for automating your messaging.
Zendesk’s native AI for messaging
Zendesk has some AI features included that are meant to improve how support works. These include basic auto-replies, generative replies that can create answers using your help center content, and Intelligent Triage (which is part of an extra add-on) that helps sort tickets.
- Pros:
- It’s built right into Zendesk, which can feel easy to start with.
- Some basic generative AI features come with certain Zendesk Suite plans.
- Cons:
- Many of the more advanced, truly impactful features, like Intelligent Triage, require the pricey Advanced AI add-on.
- The pricing can get complicated and expensive, mixing fees per agent with potentially confusing charges for each “automated resolution.” Users have been unsure about what exactly counts as a resolution they get charged for.
- Training is often mostly limited to your Zendesk help center content. This might not cover all the knowledge your team actually uses.
- Options for customizing the bot’s tone and setting up complex workflows are pretty basic compared to platforms built just for AI.
- Testing things out before putting AI workflows live is often limited. This means you might find problems only after customers start talking to the bot.
- Overall Take: Zendesk’s native AI gives you a starting point for simple automation within their system. But the significant costs for advanced features, limited places to train the AI, and basic customization and testing options can make it less flexible and harder to grow with if your business has specific or changing needs.
eesel AI for Zendesk messaging
eesel AI is a platform made specifically for adding AI support agents into helpdesks you already use, like Zendesk. It’s designed to make your current Zendesk messaging setup better without you having to ditch your existing ways of working or move all your data.
- Pros:
- Offers pricing that’s more flexible and often costs less, based on interactions instead of per agent. This clear approach helps you avoid unexpected bills.
- Can learn from a wide variety of knowledge sources. This includes past tickets, internal documents (like Google Docs or Confluence), PDFs, external wikis, and over 100 other integrations. It can also automatically sync to keep knowledge fresh. Learning from past tickets is a big plus, letting the AI understand real support conversations.
- Lets you highly customize the tone, prompts, and actions. You can decide exactly how the bot sounds and acts to perfectly match your brand voice and specific workflow needs.
- Comes with solid tools for testing and simulating things before you go live. You can test responses on old tickets or try the AI out with just a small group of agents or for specific types of conversations.
- Includes advanced automation features like custom actions through APIs (to get data or do things like process refunds), workflows with multiple bots (for different brands or teams), and smart sorting based on rules you can customize. It can actually do things, not just suggest articles.
- Has an AI Assistant (Copilot) that works alongside human agents using a browser extension. It suggests draft replies and finds information based on the current conversation.
- It’s built to help with common problems like high costs, bots that aren’t very smart, challenges with growing, workflow limits, and needing AI that can actually take action.
- Provides dedicated help for getting started, setting things up, and making sure it keeps working well.
- Cons:
- You do need to connect a separate platform, although the connection with Zendesk is designed to be smooth.
- Overall Take: eesel AI is a strong, flexible, and cost-effective choice for businesses that need advanced, customizable, and scalable AI automation within their Zendesk messaging. It gives you deeper features and better cost predictability than just using Zendesk’s built-in AI, especially if your team wants to automate complex tasks or use lots of different knowledge sources.
Comparison table: Zendesk AI vs. eesel AI for messaging automation
Here’s a quick look at how these two options stack up:
| Feature / Criteria | Zendesk Native AI (with Advanced AI) | eesel AI |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing Model | Per-agent + Per-resolution | Pay-per-interaction (no per-agent) |
| Knowledge Sources | Primarily Help Center | Past Tickets, Help Center, Docs, PDFs, Wikis, 100+ integrations (Auto-sync) |
| Customization (Tone) | Basic presets | Highly customizable (prompt, actions) |
| Customization (Actions) | Limited (Macros, Triggers) | Advanced (Custom API, Multi-bot, Triage, Tagging, etc.) |
| Testing Before Live | Limited | Robust simulation, selective rollout |
| Agent Assistance | Auto-assist suggestions | AI Assistant (Draft replies, info retrieval) |
| Scalability | Costs increase significantly per agent | Cost-effective, scales with interactions |
| Setup Support | Standard | Dedicated onboarding |
Good ways to automate Zendesk messaging (with AI)
Putting automation in place, especially with AI, needs a bit of thought to make sure it works well. Here are some helpful tips to keep in mind, no matter which tool you pick:
- Start small and build up: Don’t try to automate every single conversation right away. Begin with simple things that happen often, like answering FAQs. See how it goes, learn from the results, and then slowly add more automation.
- Make sure your knowledge base is solid and correct: Your AI agent is only as good as the information you give it. Check that your help center articles, internal notes, and other sources are right, cover everything needed, and are kept up-to-date.
- Set up clear ways for the AI to hand off to a human: AI won’t be able to answer everything. Create clear rules for when and how the AI should pass a conversation to a human agent. Make sure that when this happens, the agent gets the whole chat history and any useful info the AI found.
- Keep an eye on how it’s doing and ask for feedback: Regularly check important numbers like how many questions the AI handles on its own, how happy customers are with automated chats, and what customers and agents think. Use what you learn to find spots where your automation or AI needs work, and improve your training info or workflows.
- Give the bot its own personality: Make sure your AI agent sounds like it’s part of your brand. Customize how it talks, its greetings, and how it signs off so customers have a consistent and good experience.
- Use testing tools: If the platform you choose lets you simulate or test things out (like eesel AI does), use them! Test your AI workflows carefully using old data or in controlled situations before letting all customers use them. This helps you catch potential mistakes or confusing spots early on.
Challenges when automating Zendesk messaging (and how to handle them)
While automation brings big benefits, you might hit a few bumps along the way. Knowing what they are and how to deal with them can help you get through the process smoothly.
- Answers that aren’t quite right: This is something people often worry about with AI. It usually happens if the information you used to train it isn’t great or if you didn’t test it properly. You can fix this by making sure your knowledge sources are high quality and by using testing and fine-tuning features to make responses better before they go live.
- Customers having a bad time: An AI that feels like a robot, isn’t helpful, or gets stuck can really frustrate customers. You can avoid this by making the bot’s tone more conversational, setting up clear rules for when to pass the chat to a human, and making sure that handoff is smooth.
- High costs: Some AI options, especially extra add-ons from big platforms, can end up costing more than you expected, particularly with fees for each resolved issue. A good way to handle this is by picking a cost-effective solution with clear pricing based on interactions that grows predictably, like eesel AI.
- Problems getting things connected: Getting your AI to work smoothly with your current Zendesk setup and other internal tools can sometimes be tricky. Look for platforms that connect well with lots of things and offer dedicated support to help you link everything up without a hitch.
- Setting things up feels complicated: Setting up AI workflows can seem a bit overwhelming. Choosing a platform that’s easy to use and offers dedicated help when you’re getting started can make the setup process much simpler.
Make your Zendesk messaging work smarter, not harder with eesel AI
While Zendesk’s own AI gives you a basic place to start, platforms like eesel AI offer more flexibility, deeper ways to customize things, lots of options for training (including on your past tickets), and pricing you can count on. This makes them a more powerful and cost-effective option for businesses really looking to change how their Zendesk messaging workflows operate.
Ready to make your Zendesk messaging better with smart automation that understands your business and can grow with you? eesel AI connects smoothly with your current Zendesk setup to give you customizable, cost-effective, and intelligent automation that goes way beyond simple bots.
See how eesel AI can change your Zendesk messaging by checking out our website, looking at our Zendesk integration page, booking a demo, or starting a free trial today.
- Learn more about eesel AI
- See our Zendesk integration
- Book a personalized demo:
- Start your free trial (no credit card needed)
