Know what’s waiting for you
Ugo lists your open tickets, most urgent first, and searches by keyword, customer or status.
How to connect Zendesk to WhatsApp
The simplest way to handle Zendesk tickets from WhatsApp is Ugo, an AI assistant with its own WhatsApp number: on the Ugo portal you enter your Zendesk address, your email and an API token, and from then on you ask it which tickets are waiting for you and have it prepare the replies. Every reply, note or status change only goes ahead once you confirm.
Why connect Zendesk to WhatsApp
A customer is waiting for a reply and you’re out of the office. Opening Zendesk on your phone, finding the ticket, reading twenty messages to see where it stands and writing a decent reply is slow, and the ticket often ends up waiting until tomorrow.
With Ugo you ask in the chat “which tickets are waiting for me?”, have a conversation summarised in three lines and dictate the reply. Ugo writes it in the right tone, shows it to you with the status change and only sends it after your “Confirm”.
How to connect Zendesk to WhatsApp, step by step
It takes a few minutes. You do the first two steps only once, then you connect as many apps as you like.
- 1
Create your Ugo account
Sign up at app.ciaougo.com with your email and password and enter your company name.
- 2
Link your WhatsApp
In Settings → WhatsApp, generate a code and send it in a chat to Ugo’s number: from then on Ugo recognises your number.
- 3
Switch on Zendesk
On the Ugo portal, open Skills and tap “Connect Zendesk”.
- 4
Create the API token
A Zendesk admin creates it in Admin Center → Apps and integrations → APIs → Zendesk API, with token access turned on.
- 5
Enter address, email and token
Your Zendesk address (for example yourcompany.zendesk.com), your Zendesk email and the token. Tap “Check and save”: Ugo checks the login and that you’re an agent, and stores the token encrypted.
- 6
Message Ugo on WhatsApp
Send “Which tickets are waiting for me?” in your chat with Ugo: if it replies with your open tickets, the connection works.
What you can do with Zendesk on WhatsApp
Understand a ticket in three lines
A long conversation becomes a summary: what the customer is asking for and what’s been done so far.
Reply from your phone
Dictate the reply or an internal note for colleagues, and change the ticket’s status, once you confirm.
Open a ticket for a customer
Did they call you or write somewhere else? Ugo opens the ticket in Zendesk, so the request isn’t lost.
The first messages to send
- Which tickets are waiting for me?
- Summarise ticket 1839
- What has Taylor Engineering asked for this year?
Summarise ticket 1839
#1839 Taylor Engineering, portal access: since Monday the customer hasn’t received the password reset email. A colleague checked the address, but the problem persists. Customer’s last message: yesterday at 17:00.
Internal note: I’ve asked IT to check the spam filter
I’ll add an internal note to ticket #1839, which the customer can’t see: “I’ve asked IT to check the spam filter.” Shall I go ahead?
What Ugo doesn’t do (yet)
- It doesn’t reply to customers on its own: every reply goes out after your “Confirm”.
- It doesn’t delete tickets.
- You need an agent or admin user: Zendesk end users can’t connect it.
Other ways to connect Zendesk to WhatsApp
Ugo isn’t the only option. Here are the most common alternatives, and when they make sense.
WhatsApp as a Zendesk channel
Zendesk lets you connect a WhatsApp Business number to receive customer requests as tickets. It’s for customers to write to you, not for you to handle tickets from your phone.
Automations with Zapier or Make
They can send you a WhatsApp message when a ticket comes in, but you need the WhatsApp Business API and some set-up, and you can’t reply or ask questions from the chat.
The Zendesk mobile app
It lets agents see and update tickets from their phone, but you have to open it and navigate it, and you write the replies in full yourself.
Questions about Zendesk and WhatsApp
Can I connect Zendesk to WhatsApp for free?
There’s no free direct connection for handling your tickets from WhatsApp. Ugo costs €50 a month per person (or €550 a year), excl. VAT, with Zendesk and every other app included.
Does Ugo reply to customers on its own?
No. Every reply, note or status change is shown to you first and only goes ahead after your “Confirm”.
Who can connect Zendesk to Ugo?
Zendesk agents and admins: Ugo checks your role when you connect the skill, and works with your permissions.
Can the customer see the reply comes from Ugo?
No. The reply is added to the ticket with your Zendesk user, as if you’d written it yourself, and the customer receives it like any other reply on the ticket.
Connect Zendesk to WhatsApp
Create your account, link your number and switch on Zendesk from the portal. Every app is included in the subscription.
