Zendesk Messenger

Connect the Zendesk Messaging Widget for live chat automation

Automate live chat conversations through the Zendesk Messaging Widget — your agent responds to customers in real time.

What you can do

• Automatically respond to customers in Zendesk Messaging conversations

• Hand off to a human agent when needed

• Customize the agent's name, avatar, and greeting

• Enable auto-translation for multilingual support

How it's different from Zendesk tickets

The standard Zendesk integration handles email-based tickets. Zendesk Messenger handles live chat conversations through the Zendesk Messaging Widget embedded on your website or in your app.

	Zendesk (tickets)	Zendesk Messenger (live chat)
Channel	Email tickets	Messaging widget
Response style	Asynchronous	Real-time conversation
Actions	Reply, tag, assign, close, etc.	Reply, transfer to human
Best for	Email support automation	Live chat automation

Connecting Zendesk Messenger

Prerequisites

• An active Zendesk integration on your eesel dashboard

• Zendesk Messaging enabled in your Zendesk account

Setup

1. On the eesel dashboard, go to Integrations > Zendesk in the left sidebar and open your connected Zendesk instance.

1. In the Triggers section, find Zendesk Messenger listed as an available trigger. Click on Connect.

1. You will be redirected to authorize eesel AI for Zendesk Conversations.

1. Once connected, you should see Zendesk Messenger as an enabled trigger. Click on the gear icon to configure the agent name, avatar, greeting message, and the Zendesk channels to respond to.

Installing eesel AI on Zendesk

1. On your Zendesk Admin Center, go to AI > AI Agents. Click on Manage Marketplace Bots at the bottom.

1. Click on eesel AI.

1. Click on the checkbox for every channel you want the agent to respond to, then press Save. This will override any Responder that you have configured for those channels.

1. Your agent should now respond to customers!

Actions

Action	Description
Send Messenger Reply	Reply to a customer in the Messaging Widget conversation
Transfer to Human Agent	Hand off the conversation to a human agent

Customization

Setting	Description
Agent name	The name shown to customers in the chat
Avatar	The image shown next to agent messages
Greeting	The welcome message when a customer starts a conversation
Channels	The Zendesk channels your agent should respond to
Auto-translation	Automatically respond in the customer's language

Tips

Set a clear greeting. Let customers know they're chatting with an AI assistant. Something like "Hi! I'm Acme's AI assistant. How can I help you today?"

Configure transfer to human. Always set up the Transfer to Human Agent action so customers can reach a person when needed. In your instructions, define when the agent should hand off.

Test the full flow. Test both the AI response and the human handoff to make sure the transition is smooth.

Troubleshooting

Can't configure your Zendesk channels?

• Ensure that eesel AI is the default responder for the corresponding channels in your Zendesk account.

• One Zendesk subdomain can only support 3 eesel AI workspaces. If your Zendesk subdomain is connected to more than 3 workspaces, remove the Zendesk integration on those eesel AI workspaces.

Messenger not responding?

• Verify the Messenger connection is active in your Zendesk integration

• Check that eesel AI is the default responder for the corresponding channels in your Zendesk account.

• Check that you've toggled the corresponding channels on the configuration page inside the eesel dashboard, and that you've pressed "Activate" to save your changes.

• Ensure the Messaging Widget is deployed on your website

Handoff not working?

• Verify the Transfer to Human Agent action is configured

• Check that human agents are available in Zendesk to accept the conversation