Agent collision detection

Ref: A05 · Track: Agent Essentials · Time to complete: ~2 min

Why this matters

Two agents replying to the same customer at the same time = one confused customer and one wasted reply. Zendesk shows you when someone else is already on the ticket so you can back off gracefully.

The signals

Open any ticket. Look at the top of the page:

The eye icon 👁

Another agent has the ticket open. You can see their name and avatar. They're reading it but not necessarily doing anything.

A blue halo on their avatar

The other agent is actively typing a reply. If you see this, stop. Let them send it.

Nothing

You're the only one on the ticket. Carry on.

What to do when you see a collision

If you're first and they're second — keep going. You were here first.

If they got to it first — close the tab and move on. Grab another ticket. If you had context they don't, add it via an internal note before they send, so they see it in the editor.

If you need to take over — message them in chat/Slack. Don't just start typing over their work; your reply will overwrite any draft you didn't see.

What Zendesk does not do

• It doesn't stop two agents from submitting. If you both hit Send, both replies go out.
• It doesn't show you drafts. If they've typed a 200-word reply but not submitted, you can't see it.
• It doesn't lock the ticket. There's no "claim" button.

It's a social system — the signal exists so humans can coordinate.

Quick check — have you got this?

• You open a ticket and see a blue halo on another agent's avatar. What does that mean?
• You open a ticket, see just the eye icon for another agent, start typing, and hit Send. Another reply goes out seconds later. Whose fault?

Related articles

• A03 — Your views
• A06 — Anatomy of a ticket