Freshdesk is a customer helpdesk system by Freshworks that helps businesses unify ticket resolution across channels and support their customers with robust self-service. Connecting your Freshchat account to Freshdesk will help you:

  • Access Freshdesk tickets linked to your customers on Freshchat
  • Convert Freshchat conversations into Freshdesk tickets
  • Import your Freshdesk knowledgebase articles as FAQs on Freshchat
  • Create Tasks from Freshchat conversations (learn more about Tasks)
  • Sync your customer data between Freshdesk and Freshchat
  • Respond to Freshchat conversations from within Freshdesk


Before you proceed,

  • Make sure that your Freshdesk and Freshchat accounts are part of the same organization. If they are not part of the same org, please follow the instructions on this article to move them.
  • Log in as a full-time admin on both Freshchat and Freshdesk. Occasional agents will not be able to connect the accounts.
  • If you have any of the following marketplace app integrated, please uninstall them
    • Contact Sync
    • Freshsales
    • Freshsales Suite
    • Freshsales conversations
  • Note that connecting Freshchat and Freshdesk will also connect your Freshsales, Freshmarketer and Freshcaller accounts with Freshdesk.


TABLE OF CONTENTS


Connect your Freshchat and Freshdesk account

  • Log in to your Freshchat account as an Admin
  • Go to Admin Settings > Scroll down to Integrations > Apps > Native Integrations for Chat (or use the search bar)
  • Click on Freshdesk
  • Here, you'll find the list of Freshdesk accounts in your organization.
  • If you don't have any accounts in your organization, you will see an option to sign up for a new Freshdesk account and will be offered a 14-day free trial.
  • Click on Connect Account to connect your Freshdesk account to Freshchat.



Configure the ticket and task fields

  • Log in to your Freshchat account as an Admin
  • Go to Admin Settings > Scroll down to Integrations> Freshdesk Integration >Create tasks and tickets (or use the search bar)
  • Under Create tasks and tickets, click on Field mapping
  • Here, you can choose the ticket fields you want to include when you convert a conversation into a ticket.
  • Click on the drop-down option to select the fields from Freshdesk and choose the corresponding values in chat. You can also leave the Value field blank to let agents enter it.
  • Check the Show field option to make the fields visible to the agents and choose the permissions you want to assign them. You can make the ticket fields editable, non-editable, or editable and mandatory.
  • Click Sync Fields for all the changes to take effect, and then click on Save.



Note: Make sure that your Freshdesk field types are compatible with Freshchat custom properties before mapping the fields.


Set additional preference for creating a ticket

You can set additional preferences for converting a Freshchat conversation into a ticket on Freshdesk. The additional preferences are to

  • Add the default Freshchat widget to the Freshdesk support portal
  • Make it mandatory to convert all resolved conversations into a ticket
  • Restrict sending a CSAT survey to customers when their conversation is converted into a ticket
  • Automatically sync status of conversations and tasks associated with them


To set these preferences, 

  • Log in to your Freshchat account as an Admin
  • Go to Admin Settings > Scroll down to Integrations> Freshdesk Integration > Create tasks and tickets (or use the search bar)
  • Under Create tasks and tickets, click on Preferences
  • From the list of available preferences, toggle the ones you want to apply



Note: If your Freshdesk and Freshchat accounts are not part of the same org you will not be able to create Tickets or Internal Tasks from Freshchat. If you want to move your accounts to the same org, please follow the instructions on this article.



Import Freshdesk solution articles as FAQs on Freshchat

You can import your solution articles in Freshdesk as FAQs in Freshchat which makes it easy for your customers to find answers by themselves, wherever they are. Before you begin importing solution article, you need to know how articles and FAQs are structured in Freshdesk and Freshchat.


  • The solution articles in Freshdesk are categorized into four levels - Categories, Folders, Subfolders, and Articles, but in Freshchat, they are categorized as Categories and Articles.
  • The folders in Freshdesk will be imported as categories in Freshchat.
  • Articles will be retained as same under each category in Freshchat
  • You can import all the published articles in Freshdesk, which are visible to all users and logged-in users into Freshchat. But articles visible only to agents and selected companies in Freshdesk cannot be imported.


To import your articles into Freshchat,

  • Log in to your Freshchat account as an Admin
  • Go to Admin Settings > Scroll down to Integrations> Freshdesk Integration >Create tasks and tickets (or use the search bar)
  • Under Create tasks and tickets, click on Preferences
  • Scroll down to Import solution articles from Freshdesk and click on Import
  • You will see a pop up with all the solution articles you can import
  • Select the solution articles you want to import
  • Click Import


 

If you select the Do not overwrite Category Title and Description option and make any changes to the solution article category title or description in Freshdesk, it will not be auto-updated in Freshchat. If you leave this option unchecked, any changes you make in Freshdesk will be updated in Freshchat. This applies only to the category titles and descriptions and not the article content.


Note: If you make any changes in Freshdesk after importing the solution articles, it will not reflect in Freshchat FAQs. Every time you make a change, you need to import the articles again in Freshchat


Set up contacts and accounts sync

By connecting your Freshchat and Freshdesk accounts you will be able to sync your contacts between the two so you only have a single set of customer records. The field mapping is automatically set up when you connect the two accounts, but you can review and remap them later.


To review and remap the customer fields between Freshdesk and Freshchat,

  • Log in to your Freshchat account as an Admin
  • Go to Admin Settings > Scroll down to Integrations> Freshdesk Integration >Sync contacts and accounts (or use the search bar)
  • Review the fields mapped between Freshdesk and Freshchat
  • Click on Sync data to update the synchronization
  • Then click on Save contacts mapping



Add Freshchat agents as Shared Agents on Freshdesk

You can add your Freshchat agents as Shared Agents on Freshdesk to give them read-only access to the tickets and tasks available on your Freshdesk account.


To add all your Freshchat agents as Shared Agents,

  • Log in to your Freshchat account as an Admin
  • Go to Admin Settings > Scroll down to Integrations> Freshdesk Integration >Sync contacts and accounts (or use the search bar)
  • Toggle the Add Shared Agents to Freshdesk switch
  • Click on Save




Edit or disconnect your Freshdesk account connected to Freshchat

To edit or disconnect the Freshdesk account connected to Freshchat,

  • Log in to your Freshchat account as an Admin
  • Go to Admin Settings > Scroll down to Integrations > Apps > Native Integrations for Chat (or use the search bar)
  • Click on Freshdesk
  • Find the Account Preferences dropdown
    • To edit the API key used for the authorization, click on Edit Authorization and update your API key
    • To disconnect your Freshdesk account, click on Disconnect Account.



Note: If you disconnect your Freshdesk account, your contacts and tickets will no longer be synced between your Freshchat and Freshdesk accounts and you will no longer be able to create Tasks. But, the information that have already been synced will not be affected.


If you have any more questions, feel free to reach out to your Account Manager or write to support@freshchat.com