How to automate ticket routing in Zendesk

How to Automate Ticket Routing in Zendesk

Zendesk provides three routing mechanisms: Triggers (event-based), Automations (time-based), and Skills-based routing. As of April 2026, basic triggers are available on all Suite plans ($55/agent/month and above); skills-based routing requires Suite Professional ($115/agent/month).

Triggers: Event-Based Routing

Triggers fire immediately when a ticket is created or updated.

Creating a Routing Trigger

1. Go to Admin Center > Objects and rules > Business rules > Triggers
2. Click "Add trigger"
3. Set conditions: ALL conditions must match (AND logic) or ANY condition (OR logic)
4. Define actions: assign group, assign agent, set priority, add tags

Example Routing Triggers

• Language routing: If ticket language is Spanish → Assign to "Spanish Support" group
• VIP routing: If requester organization is "Enterprise Client" → Set priority to High → Assign to "Enterprise Support" group
• Topic routing: If subject contains "billing" OR tags contain "payment" → Assign to "Finance" group

Automations: Time-Based Rules

Automations run on a schedule (checked hourly) and target tickets based on time conditions.

1. Go to Admin Center > Objects and rules > Business rules > Automations
2. Click "Add automation"
3. Common use cases:
   • Escalate tickets unassigned for 4+ hours → Set priority to Urgent → Notify manager
   • Close solved tickets after 72 hours of inactivity
   • Send reminder to agent for tickets pending 24+ hours

Skills-Based Routing

Skills-based routing matches ticket requirements to agent capabilities (Professional plan required):

1. Go to Admin Center > Objects and rules > Skills
2. Define skills: Language (English, Spanish, French), Product (Billing, Technical, API), Region (US, EU, APAC)
3. Assign skills to agents based on their expertise
4. Create triggers that tag tickets with required skills
5. Enable skills-based routing: tickets are assigned to agents whose skills match the ticket requirements

Omnichannel Routing

Omnichannel routing (Suite Professional and above) automatically distributes tickets across channels (email, chat, messaging, phone) based on agent availability, capacity, and skills:

• Set agent capacity limits (e.g., max 5 chats, 10 emails simultaneously)
• Auto-assign based on current workload
• Priority queue for urgent or VIP tickets

Practical Example: Multi-Tier Support

1. Trigger 1: New ticket created → If subject contains "API" or "integration" → Assign to "Tier 2 Technical" group
2. Trigger 2: New ticket created → If requester organization tag is "enterprise" → Set priority High → Assign to "Enterprise Support"
3. Trigger 3: New ticket created → All other tickets → Assign to "General Support" group (round-robin)
4. Automation 1: Ticket unassigned for 2 hours → Escalate priority → Notify team lead
5. Automation 2: Ticket solved for 48 hours → Auto-close → Send satisfaction survey