The Zendesk feature request to change requester with a macro: Why it’s needed and how to solve it

If you've spent any time managing a Zendesk instance, you’ve likely looked for ways to make your workflows as smooth as possible. You might want to automate a specific, repetitive task: creating a ticket and setting a specific person as the requester. While macros are the go-to tool for changing the priority, adding tags, and inserting a comment, you’ll find that the requester field is handled through other specialized Zendesk features.

If you’re looking to streamline this process, you’re not alone. This has been a notable topic in the Zendesk community for years. Teams that regularly create tickets for partners, vendors, or new employees often look for the most efficient way to handle these updates.

This post will get into why this feature is highly discussed, look at the common native workflows available in Zendesk, and introduce a modern way to automate workflows that complements your existing setup.

Why changing the requester with a macro is a big deal

Zendesk macros are a huge help for support teams. They’re basically pre-set recipes of actions that agents can apply to a ticket with one click, saving a ton of time. While they are optimized for common ticket updates, managing the "requester" field often involves different layers of the Zendesk platform.

Refining this workflow can benefit a lot of everyday situations. Here are a few common scenarios where teams look for optimized solutions:

• Proactive Support: Let's say your team sends out credential requests to the same vendors every month. You want the ticket to be assigned to the vendor contact. Currently, this is handled through manual updates or custom API integrations.

• Onboarding and Offboarding: Your IT team might receive an automated ticket from a system like MS Power Automate for a new hire. The system is the requester by default, but the ticket is for the new employee. Using Zendesk's flexible tools, you can ensure the requester is updated so the new hire stays informed.

• Redirecting Requests: When a customer emails the wrong department, an agent might forward the request to the correct person. Streamlining the change of the requester and moving the original sender to the CC line can make these handoffs even faster.

Optimizing these steps means fewer manual clicks and even better response times. It’s about making an already world-class tool work even harder for your team's unique efficiency needs.

Native Zendesk workflows: Triggers and webhooks

Since macros are focused on specific ticket fields, the Zendesk platform provides a powerful, more technical path for those who need to automate requester changes: mixing triggers and webhooks.

The process highlights Zendesk's impressive extensibility: an agent applies a macro that adds a special tag to a ticket. A trigger then spots that tag and calls a webhook. This webhook uses the Zendesk API to communicate back to the platform and update the requester field automatically.

Considerations for using webhooks

While this is a highly capable and technically sound solution, it is designed for certain types of environments. This advanced setup has a few considerations:

• Technical Configuration: Setting up webhooks and API calls is a powerful way to customize Zendesk. It typically requires some familiarity with technical administration, making it a great option for teams with dedicated Zendesk admins or developers.

• Maintenance: Because this involves multiple steps-triggers, tags, and API calls-it is a sophisticated setup. It’s important to keep these configurations updated as your business processes evolve.

• Administrative Management: This approach is highly flexible but requires oversight. As you grow and work with more vendors or internal teams, you’ll want to ensure your triggers and webhooks are organized efficiently.

Third-party apps: A specialized approach

The Zendesk Marketplace is an incredible ecosystem full of tools designed to enhance the native platform. You can find several apps, like Extended Macros or those from SweetHawk, that add specialized functionality to change the requester as part of a macro workflow.

For that specific task, these apps provide a direct solution. You can install an app, configure a specialized macro, and enable your agents to update the requester field quickly.

Managing your app ecosystem

While these apps provide helpful shortcuts, it’s always good to consider how they fit into your broader Zendesk strategy.

• Cohesive Workflows: When you use multiple third-party apps, your automation logic can be spread across different tools. Keeping a clear overview of how a ticket moves through your system is key for long-term troubleshooting and updates.

• Resource Management: Every app added to the marketplace represents another valuable tool to manage. Ensuring your team is trained on these additions helps you get the most out of your investment.

• Comprehensive Automation: These apps are excellent for solving specific needs. For teams looking for smart, end-to-end automation that can read and interpret ticket content, AI-driven platforms can offer a complementary layer of support.

Enhancing workflows with AI

Instead of just looking for a way to change a requester with a macro, many teams are exploring how to intelligently manage and sort tickets the moment they arrive.

This is where AI platforms come in as a powerful addition to the Zendesk family. They aren't just replacing a feature; they are offering a modern way to handle workflows intelligently within the Zendesk environment. A platform like eesel AI integrates seamlessly with Zendesk to provide these enhanced capabilities.

How eesel AI complements ticket management

Instead of an agent needing to manually apply a macro, an AI solution can assist with these steps as soon as the ticket is created.

Here’s how eesel AI can support your Zendesk workflow:

• Intelligent Triage: The eesel AI Triage tool understands the context of a ticket. For an onboarding request, it can analyze the email content, identify the new hire, and automatically set the correct requester while routing the ticket to the right department.

• Custom Actions: You can configure the eesel AI Agent to handle several steps at once. It can tag the ticket, set the priority, and even use custom API actions to pull relevant data from other systems, all while staying perfectly synced with your Zendesk instance.

• Straightforward Integration: You don't need to be a developer to get started. eesel AI offers a simple Zendesk integration that allows you to build powerful workflows from a user-friendly dashboard.

• Simulation and Testing: Before deploying a new workflow, you can test it against your past data. eesel AI shows you how it would have handled those tickets, giving you full confidence in your automation. This is a great way to ensure your Zendesk setup remains reliable and accurate.

Feature	Zendesk Macro + Webhook	Third-Party Macro App	eesel AI Platform
Change Requester	Yes, via advanced configuration	Yes, via specialized setup	Yes, as part of automated triage
Setup Time	Varies (Technical)	Minutes	Minutes
Required Skillset	Technical (API, Webhooks)	Non-technical	Non-technical
Automated Triage	Possible via triggers	Niche focus	Yes, content-based
Custom API Actions	Robust and customizable	Limited	Built-in and accessible
Pre-launch Testing	Manual testing	No	Bulk simulation available

Scaling your support with intelligent automation

The "Zendesk feature request change requester with a macro" conversation shows how much support teams value efficiency. Zendesk provides a mature, reliable foundation that allows for many ways to solve this-whether through technical API work, specialized marketplace apps, or AI integrations.

By leveraging Zendesk’s flexibility, you can choose the path that best fits your team's size and technical comfort.

The future of support is intelligent automation. Platforms like eesel AI act as a unified engine to enhance your ticket lifecycle, working alongside Zendesk to keep your operations running smoothly. Instead of waiting for a specific update, you can utilize Zendesk’s powerful ecosystem to build a robust, future-proof solution today. It’s the perfect time to explore how automation can help your agents focus on providing the best possible customer experience.