This article explains how to use Zendesk together with CloudTalk to easily initiate calls and access customer information.

User Level:

Admin

Before you start:
Make sure the Zendesk integration is properly configured in your CloudTalk Dashboard.

If you haven’t completed the setup yet, follow the steps in Configure Zendesk.

Calling from Zendesk

Make Outbound Calls

With CloudTalk CTI installed, agents can still initiate calls using Zendesk’s native call option.

To place a call:

Right-click the phone number.
Select Call this number.
The CloudTalk CTI will automatically initiate the call.

This allows agents to place calls directly from Zendesk without opening the CloudTalk Phone separately.

If the CTI is not installed, you can use Click-to-Call. When enabled, supported phone numbers in Zendesk are automatically converted into clickable links.

You can initiate outbound calls directly from:

Contact profiles
Ticket views
Other supported Zendesk objects

Clicking a phone number opens the CloudTalk Phone and automatically pre-fills the dialer with the selected number.

Receive Inbound Calls

When an inbound call rings, CloudTalk’s CTI can automatically bring up the corresponding contact and their recent ticket history in Zendesk.

The CTI matches contacts based on phone number and integration data.
If a match is found, the customer profile and ticket list open automatically in Zendesk.
If multiple matches are found, the contact with the most recently created CloudTalk call ticket is shown.
If no contact can be identified, no ticket or page is opened.

To ensure your incoming calls are directed to the right interface, we only allow users to be logged into one "instance" of CloudTalk phone at a time.

If you are working from Zendesk, this means logging into your phone within Zendesk will log you out of your standalone desktop app (or any other integrated CloudTalk phone apps).
As a best practice, it's always good for support agents to check that they are logged in from the interface they want to receive calls through.

Call Logging and Data Exchange

Contact Sync

CloudTalk and Zendesk synchronize contact information to ensure proper call and message association.

Contacts are matched based on phone number. When a match is found:

The Zendesk contact is linked to the CloudTalk contact.
A direct link to the Zendesk profile is available inside the CloudTalk contact detail.
The Zendesk integration tag is added to the contact in CloudTalk.

Call Logging & Export

All calls handled via CloudTalk are logged as Zendesk tickets.

Each logged call includes:

Call date and time
Call direction
Call duration
Agent name
Internal number (CloudTalk number)
External number (customer number)
Call result
Call recording link (if enabled)

By adjusting the integration settings within the CloudTalk Dashboard, you can set the customer profile link and call recording and/or agent notes to log as internal notes for the agent or admin, so that the customer cannot view these.

VoiceAgent Data Export

VoiceAgent calls are also logged as tickets in Zendesk and are clearly labeled with the title "VoiceAgent call" for easy recognition.

In the call analysis prompt, you can specify which details the VoiceAgent should extract from the conversation. CloudTalk will then log the information you’ve defined, such as a summary of the issue, a specific problem the customer described, or custom data like an order number or preferred subscription plan.

The extracted information is included in the Zendesk ticket alongside standard call metadata like call result, duration, and customer phone number.

To learn more, read this article on exporting VoiceAgent call results to CRM integrations.

Conversation Intelligence Data Export

If Conversation Intelligence is enabled, AI-generated insights are automatically exported to Zendesk tickets.

The following AI data may be included:

AI Call Summary: a structured summary of the conversation
AI Call Sentiment: overall sentiment detected during the call
AI Call Topics: detected discussion topics
Link to AI Call Details: redirects to the full AI analysis in CloudTalk

This information is added directly to the Zendesk ticket alongside standard call metadata.

How Call Export Works in Zendesk

When you choose how call data should be exported, CloudTalk sends this information into Zendesk as internal notes. Internal notes do not notify the requester. This helps teams keep call data inside Zendesk for reporting and workflow automation without triggering customer notifications.

Ticket creation behavior:

If a ticket is created when the call is answered, the ticket opens first and the call end information appears in a second internal note.
If a ticket is created when the call ends, all call data is combined into one internal comment.
If notes or tags are added after the call and the ticket is still open, these edits are exported as additional internal comments due to Zendesk API limits.

These rules apply to all Zendesk integrations using CloudTalk’s call export.