With our Calendar app, external Google and Microsoft calendars can be connected to Zendesk with a 2 way sync. This allows events created on tickets to be synced through to the external calendar and all external events to be synced to our app showing availability.
Steps covered in this article:
Further information:
1. Create a calendar in the app
We have 2 different types of calendars, global & personal and the setup is slightly different for each. First we will create the calendar that will be synced to your external account, please follow the guide that matches your calendar type.
1a. Global calendars
For more information on Global calendars, please see our full guide here.
To create a global calendar, as a Zendesk admin, in the Calendar app click Calendars in the left side menu and then click Add calendar on the top right.
In the new calendar Settings:
- Name your calendar.
- Select a color.
- Set any read & write permissions, workflows and calendar mappings.
Click Create calendar.
1b. Personal calendars
Personal calendars are used and setup by agents directly as the calendar is for their own use and they will be connecting their own external account. For more information on Personal calendars, please see our full guide here.
First, an administrator for the Calendar app will need to enable Personal calendars from the Settings menu if this is not enabled already.
Then to create a personal calendar, as an agent in Zendesk, open the Calendar app on the top right of Zendesk and then click the calendar drop down box on the left. At the very end of the calendar list will be the option to '+ Add or edit calendars'.
In the new popup, click Add calendar on the top right. Then:
- Name your calendar.
- Select a color.
- Set any workflows and calendar mappings.
Click Create calendar.
2. Connect an external account
Once the calendar has been created, on the same screen you have just created your calendar, under the Actions drop down menu on the top right select from Google or Microsoft accounts to connect to the app.
Login to your selected accounts to provide the app access and permission to sync and create calendar events.
For a Microsoft connection, click the Accept button to proceed.
For a Google connection, click the Continue button to proceed.
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For Google accounts, ensure to tick the Select all checkbox for the permission options so our app has access to your calendars. |
3. Sync to your calendars
Once your external account has been connected, we can now link them to the calendars we created in step 1.
On the calendar you have created there will now be a drop down for either Google or O365. Click this drop down and select the calendar you would like to sync.
If your account has multiple calendars, they will all show in the drop down here. Create a separate calendar in the app for each calendar you want to connect.
Now that your calendar has been connected, there are new visibility options under the Settings tab when you click the calendar in the app.
Events from external calendar options:
Don't show will stop any external events being synced and shown in the app.
Hide details will sync the events, but the details of the events will be hidden and any agent viewing the calendar in Zendesk will only be able to see free/busy times (example below).
Show full events will sync all events and show all details of the events so that agents viewing them will see exactly what they are.
Your external calendar is now connected and all events will be 2-way synced! To test, open the calendar app in the top bar and check all your external events have been synced:
Next, if you would like to automatically create tickets for every external event that's created, please follow our guide here.
Adding a shared calendar
Our Calendar app also seamlessly integrates with shared calendars in both Google and Microsoft.
Connecting your shared calendar follows the same process as a global or personal calendar above.
However, please note that your calendar might be either a:
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Group calendar as part of a Shared Mailbox. As our API requires authentication to access the shared calendar, the user adding the calendar to our app requires a username and password (or other login credentials).
Please contact your system administrator to enable or provide a login to this shared mailbox, which can be temporary or disabled again if required. - User shared calendar from another user in your organisation. Only the person with the username and password or login can add this calendar to our app. Please contact this user to add the calendar on your behalf.
Admin consent to access our app
When integrating our calendar app with your Microsoft environment, obtaining approval from your administrators may be necessary through ‘admin consent’.
If this requirement applies, when connecting the app to your calendar, you'll encounter a prompt asking you to request approval or for an admin to log in.
It's important to note that this process is specific to your Microsoft/Azure environment and is unrelated to Zendesk or Sweethawk administrators. To proceed, please reach out to your IT team to obtain the necessary approval for installing our app.
For additional information, refer to a detailed article here.