Core Issue

Your organization aims to stop Zoho Desk agents from creating tickets on behalf of contacts, ensuring agent-created tickets default to the technician as the contact. This prevents unauthorized modifications to contact fields during creation, promoting accurate tracking and accountability.

Key Challenges

• Zoho Desk's default interface allows agents to select any contact, risking misuse.
• Standard settings lack a direct "lock contact field" option, requiring creative configurations.
• Balancing prevention of abuse with support for valid scenarios, like phone-based intakes.
• Ensuring agents have linked contact records for seamless auto-assignment.

These hurdles can lead to reporting inaccuracies and compliance issues. Fortunately, Zoho Desk's customization tools—like layouts, workflows, and blueprints—provide reliable fixes. For deeper insights into Zoho Desk's customer feedback features, check our guide on leveraging NPS for growth in Zoho Desk.

Solution 1: Field-Level Permissions with Layout Rules

Leverage Zoho Desk's Layout Rules to render the Contact field read-only or hidden for agent roles during ticket creation. This UI-level control defaults the field to the logged-in agent's contact record.

Implementation Steps

1. Go to Setup > Customization > Layouts > Layout Rules.
2. Create a rule: Condition—User Role equals Agent/Technician; Action—Set "Contact Name" as read-only or hidden.
3. Assign to the ticket creation layout and default the value to the current user's contact ID.
4. Save and test in a sandbox environment.

Advantages

• User-friendly prevention at the form level.
• No scripting required for basic enforcement.

Limitations

• May limit flexibility for scenarios needing customer selection (e.g., walk-ins).
• Requires agents to have pre-existing contact records—verify this via Zoho Desk's contact management.

Reference

Zoho Desk Layout Rules Documentation

Solution 2: Custom Functions via Workflow Automation

Set up a workflow that triggers on ticket creation, using a Deluge custom function to overwrite the contact field with the agent's details—regardless of initial input.

Implementation Steps

1. Navigate to Setup > Automation > Workflows.
2. New Rule: Module—Tickets; Execute On—Create; Condition—Created By equals Current User.
3. Add Custom Function action with this Deluge script:

// Fetch ticket and creator details
ticketId = input.ticketId;
creator = zoho.loginuser;
agentContact = zoho.desk.getRelatedRecords("Contacts", "Ticket", ticketId).get(0); // Adjust as needed
updateMap = Map();
updateMap.put("Contact_Id", creator.get("id"));
zoho.desk.updateRecord("Tickets", ticketId, updateMap);

4. Enable API access if required and test for edge cases.

Advantages

• Automatic backend enforcement, foolproof against manual overrides.
• Preserves original input for audit logs.
• Extensible for additional logic, like notifications.

Limitations

• Demands Deluge scripting familiarity—consider consulting experts.
• Enterprise edition required for advanced functions.

Reference

Zoho Desk Custom Functions Guide