Outbound calls and calling back from a ticket

Ref: B04 · Track: Channels · Time to complete: ~4 min

Why this matters

Sometimes you need to call the customer rather than wait for them. Zendesk makes outbound calls first-class: ring from inside a ticket, the conversation is recorded against that ticket automatically.

Call from inside a ticket (the most common way)

1. Open the customer's ticket.
2. On the left sidebar, find the requester's phone number.
3. Click the phone icon next to the number.
4. Zendesk places the call. Your browser (and headset) rings them.
5. When they answer, the call widget appears just like an inbound call.
6. Carry on like any Talk call — mute, hold, transfer, end.

The call is logged on the ticket timeline automatically. Recording is attached when you hang up.

What if there's no phone number?

• Open the customer's profile, add the phone number in the "Phone" field, save, then retry the call.
• Or type the number manually (see next section).

Call from the Talk dialer

For a number that isn't linked to a customer yet:

1. Click your avatar → phone icon → Dial number.
2. Enter the number with country code (e.g. +61412345678).
3. Click the green call button.
4. A new ticket is created with that phone number as the requester.
5. The call is recorded on the new ticket.

After the call, update the ticket with the customer's name, org, and whatever they were calling about.

Picking which line to call from

If your org has multiple Talk numbers (e.g. separate NZ, AU, UK lines), you'll see a dropdown in the dialer to pick which one shows on the customer's caller-ID. Rules of thumb:

• Pick the line matching the customer's region. An AU customer seeing an NZ number might ignore it.
• If you're calling back about a specific inbound call, match whichever line they called.

Call display and recording

• Your name shows as the inbound caller-ID if your admin configured it. Otherwise it's the Talk number.
• The recording attaches to the ticket automatically when the call ends.
• If the customer doesn't answer, the call is still logged — as a missed outbound. You can add a note and leave the ticket open for a retry.

Gotchas

• Dialling internal extensions. Not supported out of the box. Talk goes through the public phone network.
• Calling while on another call. You can't — Talk holds one concurrent call per agent.
• International calls may require admin approval. If your number prefix isn't in the allowed list, the dialer will refuse. Escalate to admin if you need a new prefix.

Quick check — have you got this?

• You want to call a customer you've been emailing. They have a phone number on their profile. Fastest way?
• You call them and they don't answer. Is there a ticket?
• You dial a cold number from the dialer. What gets created?

Related articles

• B02 — Answer your first phone call in Talk
• B03 — Warm transfer: introduce before handing over
• B05 — Voicemails and queue wait time