We get asked a lot about how to easily incorporate a lookup table in decision tree logic. For example, you may have a list of part numbers, and want to show the name of the part as a part of your tree presentation. This can be easily done with a simple Google Sheets webhook integration that we provide.

Demo

To show how this works, we’ve created a simple demo that returns the name of a country given its two-letter abbreviation code. (Try US or CN as an example).

The Google Sheet with the lookup is here.
The Demo Tree is here.

Try the country code lookup demo Decision Tree .

Setup

1. Create your spreadsheet in Google Sheets. The first column is what you will search on, and the second column is the result. The variable name for the result is the header of the second column. Ours looks like this:

2. Make sure the spreadsheet is publicly accessible. In Sheets, click Share, Advanced, and change to one of the Public options.

3. Note the ID of your spreadsheet. When viewing the sheet, the ID is in the URL – like this (bolded):
   https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ACNOEksZ6pL0J2UD1BhxM7zPVWWDcd4Svtpb-oPmRVY/edit?usp=sharing
4. In Zingtree add a new webhook. From the top menu, click Account, My Apps, Webhooks, and create a webhook like so:
   

   Here’s what the Webhook URL looks like in our demo:
   https://zingtree.com/apps/webhook/google_sheets_lookup.php?search=#code#&sheet_id=1ACNOEksZ6pL0J2UD1BhxM7zPVWWDcd4Svtpb-oPmRVY

   #code# is a placeholder for the variable we use to do the lookup.
   The sheet_id parameter is the one you noted in step 3.

5. Now create the first node of your tree. Add a data entry field variable named code. The lookup will return a variable named country (from the top row of our spreadsheet).

6. Add the second node of the tree. Under Apps/Webhooks, call the webhook you just set up. This will set a variable named country. In the content area, enter  #country# to show the name of the country.

You can examine this decision tree (or make a copy) here.

Did you find this useful? Let us know!

Decision trees are a powerful tool to help people simplify complex scenarios, allowing us to display potential courses of action and demonstrate the flow of different processes. 

But what does a decision tree do? Decision trees serve to guide the user through an interactive series of decisions that lead to the next best action. They can be used for multiple real-world purposes, for example, in customer service, where they empower customers to discover solutions (such as the answer to a product query or a technical issue) for themselves. In a contact center environment, agents can use decision trees to provide an interactive script that will guide them through a call. Many companies also use decision trees to provide online training for their employees, as decision trees provide an effective framework to provide interactive training and testing. 

The possible uses for decision trees are endless. 

The good news is that it couldn’t be easier to start building a decision tree for free, today. Whether you need a decision tree for training purposes, for a contact center, or to host live on your website, Zingtree has got you covered.

What is Zingtree?

Zingtree is the leading platform for building and publishing interactive decision trees. You can use Zingtree for interactive troubleshooters, contact center scripts, medical, insurance, government, sales, and a myriad of other uses.

Zingtree helps organizations to standardize procedures and get actionable data to empower their users to follow Standard Operating Procedures, identify customer issues, and get results as quickly as possible, creating a world-class user experience and saving time and money.

How to create a decision tree with Zingtree

Creating a decision tree with Zingtree couldn’t be easier. The Zingtree toolkit makes building decision trees accessible to anyone, offering 3 unique and easy-to-use options for creation with no coding required.

1. The Wizard

This is the easiest way to create a decision tree. The interface walks you through the decision tree building process while you provide the questions (and answers) that your end-users will see and navigate through. Your decision tree is then automatically built for you – simple as that!

This article shows how to set up the Zendesk Agent Scripting app with Instant Notes. Go here if you want to learn more about the features and benefits of the app.

Contents of this Article

Getting Started
Installing the Agent Scripting App into Zendesk
Configuring the App
Data Sent from Zendesk to Zingtree
How to Update Ticket Data
How to Update Custom Fields
How to Set Ticket Tags
How to Configure Instant Notes
Using Zingtree Data Entry Fields to Update Tickets
Using Zingtree’s Zendesk CSS Theme
Enabling Automatic Script Selection
Try It with Example Data

Getting Started

Here are the basic steps to get up and running:

1. Build an interactive decision tree script with Zingtree (or use one of our demos to start).
2. Install the Agent Scripting App into Zendesk.
3. Configure the Agent Scripting app within Zendesk.
4. If you want to enable Instant Notes, you’ll need to create one or more endpoint nodes with a “copy to ticket notes” button and content to copy as notes.
5. If you want to have your decision tree scripts update your  Zendesk tickets, you’ll need to add variables and/or tags to your Zingtree tree to match your Zendesk setup.
6. If you want to enable automatic script selection, you’ll need to add tags to your trees in Zingtree and configure the Zendesk Agent Scripting app properly.

Installing the Agent Scripting App into Zendesk

Download and configure the Zendesk Agent Scripting App like so:

1. Download the Agent Scripting app here.
2. In Zendesk, click the Admin icon and go to Apps > Manage.
3. Click Upload Private App.

4. The Upload App page appears.

5. Enter “Agent Scripting” or something similar for the App Name.
6. For App File, locate the file zingtree-agent-scripting.zip you downloaded in step 1.
7. Click Upload, then confirm if necessary.

Configuring the App

Once you’ve uploaded the app, the configuration screen appears:

Here’s what each item does:

Tree ID: This is the default tree that appears when agents click “Open Script”.  (You should always have a default tree.)

Zingtree API key: Each organization in Zingtree has an API key, which is used to match scripts and track new tickets. Your API key can be found at zingtree.com under Account, Organizations and Billing, API Key.

Show Tree in Side Panel: Select this option if you want to display the entire tree in the right-hand sidebar when a ticket is open. Uncheck this to use pop-over mode instead.

In pop-over mode, you can also click the Zingtree icon in the top bar to launch a script. Like so:

Hide Integration Setup Info: When you are setting up Agent Scripting for the first time, you may need some information about your Zendesk setup to take advantage of automatically updating ticket fields. An “Integration Setup Info” link appears by default when you first install the app, and ticking this option hides it.

Display Half-Height: In Popover mode, the popup view will cover half the height of the screen. This has no effect when using Sidebar mode.

Match Tree Tags to Zendesk Brand: If this option is checked, the subdomain of the selected brand will be matched to a Zingtree tree tag.  Any matching tree or trees will appear.  For example, if the brand subdomain is xyz.zendesk.com, any trees tagged as xyz (using the Zingtree Settings tool) will appear.

Match Tree Tags to Zendesk Ticket Tags: If checked, the values in the Zendesk ticket tags will be matched with your Zingtree tree tags (set via the Zingtree Settings tool) to show one or more matching scripts.

Match Tree Tags to values in a Custom field: If you want to use a custom field value to show matching scripts, enter the Zendesk custom field identifier here. The field name can be found using the Integration Setup Info link that first appears in the sidebar when you install the app.

Don’t share Zendesk Custom Fields with Zingtree: By default, the app sends custom field data from each Zendesk ticket to Zingtree so you can do more powerful automatic branching via Logic Nodes, as well as echoing customer information (like their name, for example). If your organization has data privacy concerns, you can check this option to disable data sharing.

IMPORTANT: Be sure to click Install or Update when finished with the app configuration.

Data Sent from Zendesk to Zingtree

Unless you select the Don’t share Zendesk Custom Fields with Zingtree configuration option, Zendesk will send the following variables to your Zingtree decision tree:

• requester_name – The customer’s full name.
• requester_email – The email of the customer.
• zendesk_tags – Any tags in the ticket.
• agent_tags – Any tags from the agent.
• agent – The Agent’s full name.
• agent_first_name – The Agent’s first name.
• zd_subject – The subject of the ticket.
• zd_type -The type of the ticket.
• zd_priority – The priority of the ticket.
• zd_status – The status of the ticket.
• Any custom fields.

To display one of these values, just surround the variable name with # characters. So to show the Agent’s first name in your script, enter #agent_first_name# in the content area of any node in your decision tree.

Tip: Add ##ALL DATA## to the content area of any node in your own tree to see all the variables sent to your script.

How to Update Ticket Data

As agents navigate through your trees, their use of the decision tree scripts you create can automatically update data in that ticket. This can be done in two ways:

• By clicking a button in a script
• By entering data into Zingtree data entry fields.

The Agent Scripting app can update basic ticket data by setting variables within the decision tree script. For example, if you set a Zingtree variable named zd_subject, it will change the subject of the ticket.

These Zingtree variables can update the ticket:

• zd_subject: Set this to change the subject or the title of the ticket.
• zd_priority: Change the priority of the ticket. Possible values: “urgent”, “high”, “normal”, “low”
• zd_type: Change the ticket type. Possible values: “problem”, “incident”, “question” or “task”
• zd_status: Update the ticket status. Possible values: “new”, “open”, “pending”, “hold”, “solved”, “closed”
• zd_comment: Add a new comment to the ticket.

How to Update Custom Fields

You can also set values of custom fields within the ticket. The key is to use variable names in your Zingtree that match the ones used in Zendesk.

First of all, determine the names of the variables in Zendesk by clicking the Integration Setup Info link in the Agent Scripting app. You’ll see something like this:

You’ll see the label for the field as it appears in Zendesk’s ticket form and the Zendesk variable next to it. In the above example, the Product custom field variable is custom_field_22899289. This is a drop-down selector, and the Zendesk values for the field options are astrology and insurance. For the rest of this example, we’ll use custom_field_22899289 as the custom field variable. To make a button selection update a custom field, you’ll set it up in your Zingtree as follows:

• Go to the Overview tool, and edit the node whose button selections will update the ticket.
• Click Edit Buttons (or Add Buttons if you don’t have any buttons defined). The button editor appears:

• Make sure Assign Button Click Variable is checked. This makes the other options appear.
• For the Button Click Variable, enter your custom field variable from Zendesk (custom_field_22899289 in the example).
• For each button option, enter the value of the variable under Score/Value. If this is a drop-down list in your Zendesk ticket, you’ll need to make sure the Score/Value entered matches one of the drop-down option values as shown in the Integration Setup Info.
• Click Save Changes when you’re done configuring buttons.

How to Set Ticket Tags

If you’ve tagged a node in your tree, those tags will automatically transfer to Zendesk when the node appears. Here’s how it’s set up in the node editor:

Button clicks can also add tags to a ticket. Just add two colons and the tag name to the button text.

In the above example, hello or goodbye will be added as a ticket tag. Agents won’t see the ::hello or ::goodbye text.

How to Configure Instant Notes

At the end of a decision tree session, you can make a node with the contents of notes that can be copied into the Internal Notes part of the ticket with a single click. This is a huge timesaver for agents, as you can pre-populate notes they might otherwise be typing into Zendesk. Instead, notes are copied over, and the agent can modify or enhance them as needed.  See this node in our demo tree for an example setup.

You can also install the Agent Scripting app, and configure it with these parameters to see it working:

Tree ID: 598866364
API Key: 6a103737e44e4aa6e1e4b6b0bcb46f83

To set up Instant Notes in your tree:

1. Make the content of the node appear as you want the notes to appear in Zendesk.
2. Surround the area to be copied with [[COPY-AREA]] and [[/COPY-AREA]], like this:

3. Add a “Copy Notes to Ticket Notes”  button below [[/COPY-AREA]]. You can do this from the node editor like so:

When the agent clicks the Copy to Ticket Notes button, the entire content between [[COPY-AREA]] and [[/COPY-AREA]] is copied.

Tip: Add ##TRANSCRIPT## into the copy area to include the full transcript of the session.

Using Zingtree Data Entry Fields to Update Tickets

Just like the above example, you can also use Zingtree for data entry and have that data automatically transferred to your ticket. The key is to use the same variable name in Zingtree as you used in Zendesk. The Integration Setup Info link in the sidebar will give you those Zendesk variable names.

Example: If you have a text entry field in Zingtree you want to update into the Zendesk field custom_field_1234, you would set up the variable name as follows:

Using Zingtree’s Zendesk CSS Theme

For the best user experience, we recommend using the Zendesk Apps theme in your trees that display inside of Zendesk. This will give you more room for your content (since the fonts are smaller), and also match the look and feel of the rest of the Zendesk experience.

To include the Zendesk Agent Scripting App theme in your trees, do the following:

• In Zingtree, open the Settings tool for your tree.
• Click the Display tab.
• Choose either Buttons or Panels as the Default Display Style.
• Click Pick a Color Theme.
• Choose Zendesk Agent Scripting as the theme.
• Click Save Theme and Colors.
• Click Update Settings.

Enabling Automatic Script Selection

Automatic Script Selection works by matching tree tags you set in Zingtree to values in the Brand, Tags, or a custom field in a Zendesk ticket. For example, if a tree is tagged with “astrology”, and the ticket tags include “astrology”, then that tree appears. If several trees match, then they will all appear, and the agent can choose one.

To open a script based on Brand:

• Add tags to your trees for each brand you want to match. So if one of your brands is xyz.zendesk.com, use xyz as a tree tag in Zingtree for all the trees you want to show.
• Make sure Match Tree Tags to Zendesk Brand is checked in the App Configuration.

To open a script based upon Zendesk ticket tags:

• Add tags to your trees for each tag you want to match. So if one of your ticket tag possibilities is “billing”, use billing as a tree tag in Zingtree for all the trees you want to show.
• Make sure Match Tree Tags to Zendesk Ticket Tags is checked in the App Configuration.

To open a script based upon a custom field:

• Add tags to your trees for each possible custom field value you want to match. So if one of your custom field values is “billing”, use billing as a tree tag in Zingtree for all the trees you want to show.
• Make sure the proper Zendesk field variable name is entered for  Match Tree Tags to values in a Custom Field in the App Configuration.

Adding tags to a tree in Zingtree is done like this:

1. Select a tree from My Trees.
2. Go to the Settings tool.
3. Click the Tags tab.
4. Enter or select a tag from the Tree Tags field.

5. Click Update All Settings.

Try It with Example Data

You can use trees from the Zingtree Gallery to see how the Agent Scripting app works. This Zendesk Agent Scripting Demo shows how to implement some of the basic integration features. You can install it into your own Zendesk configuration by entering tree ID 598866364 in the App Configuration. For multiple trees, see how a tree can be selected by tag by doing the following:

• In the App Configuration, enter 6a103737e44e4aa6e1e4b6b0bcb46f83 as the API key. Also, make sure Match Tree Tags to Zendesk Ticket Tags is checked.
• Try entering one or more of these tags into a ticket: “zingtree”, “astrology”, “pet_rock”.

Any questions? We’re always here to help. 

If you’re a Zendesk user in a Contact Center environment,  you’ll want to be using the Zendesk Agent Scripting with Instant Notes app. This makes it easy to guide, train and onboard agents and is a huge productivity booster for everyone.

This article shows the features and benefits of using the Agent Scripting app.  Go here to learn how to install and configure the app.

This short video shows you how Agents interact with this App:

Contents of this Article

Overview: Sidebar and Popover views
Instant Notes
Pause and Resume
Benefits of the Zendesk Agent Scripting App
New Features in Version 15
Installing the App

Overview: Sidebar and Popover views

You have the option to show your script directly in the right-hand panel when viewing a ticket, like this:

Or you can use less sidebar space, and make it appear as a button in the right-hand panel:

Trees can be launched from the top bar as well:

Click the top bar button or Open Script, and you’ll see your decision tree in a larger pop-over like this:

Instant Notes

Once the session has ended, you can direct your agents to a “notes” page with a template for Internal Notes to be added to the ticket. Now, instead of agents typing notes from scratch, they can instantly have notes added to the ticket with a single click. These notes can be edited as well.

This is one of our most popular features and a huge time-saver for agents.

Pause and Resume

This happens automatically: If another agent picks up a ticket, they return to the last viewed node and can see each step taken previously by opening the History.

Benefits of the Zendesk Agent Scripting App

• Standardization: Show a guided path for each ticket, so that Agents follow the proper operating policies or troubleshooting procedures.
• Instant Notes: Your agents will save tons of time entering ticket notes by starting from a customizable template.
• Pause and Resume: If a ticket is transferred, the supervisor or new agent is taken to the last place in the script, and can see the history of the previous steps taken.
• Automatic Script Selection: The Agent Scripting App can choose a script based on the Zendesk brand, Zendesk ticket tags, or the value of a custom field.
• Agent Feedback: Agents can send feedback directly to the authors of the decision trees with a single button click. Feedback is delivered to each author’s email and includes the tree ID and node number where the feedback was sent from.
• Zendesk Ticket Data in your Scripts: Values in any custom field, the agent name, customer info, as well as Zendesk ticket tags and user tags, are transferred into your script so you can display them, or use these variables to branch via Logic Nodes.
• Automatic Ticket Updating: Ticket data like subject, priority, type, status, and comments, as well as tags and custom fields,  can be updated from actions in the script – either via buttons clicked in the script, or from data entry collected.

New Features in Version 15

If  you’re using earlier versions of the Zendesk Agent Scripting app, you may want to upgrade to get these new features:

• Instant Notes.
• Launch tickets from the top bar

Installing the App

Go here to learn how to install and configure the Agent Scripting app.

Any questions? We’re always here to help. 

We, at Zingtree, understand the enormous impact that the coronavirus (COVID-19) is having on our global healthcare and medical community. We would like to do our part to help. 

Starting today, we are offering Zingtree at a reduced cost, plus additional customer support to all healthcare and medical facilities providing information and care to patients around the coronavirus pandemic. Zingtree’s decision trees can break down complex information into interactive guides for healthcare personnel and patients to quickly access the right information and resources, while also providing medical facilities with valuable data. Zingtree’s trees can be created and live within minutes on your site and system, so there’s no delay in getting time-sensitive information out. 

If you are new to Zingtree, you can sign up and get started for free for 30 days. To apply for the medical and healthcare customer discount, just click the button below. Additionally, you will immediately receive free Zingtree decision tree templates to utilize on your site. 

Discount Application

COVID-19 Decision Tree Example

This example decision tree can be found in the Medical category of our Zingtree Gallery. Information contained in the trees have been pulled from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and other organizations.

Provide Your Personnel with Clear Directions

As information and policies around the coronavirus rapidly change, your medical personnel and screening agents need to have the most up-to-date information. Instead of relying on email communication, Zingtree agent scripts can be built directly into Zendesk and other help desks and tools, to enable your medical personnel and contact center agents to follow the latest protocols and scripts to respond to patients with accurate, updated information. 

Guide Your Patients to the Right Resources

Giving patients a way to identify their symptoms, quickly get the right information, and connect to the right resources can help save lives. Zingtree’s interactive decision trees are used by doctors and facilities to guide patients step by step through symptom evaluation to resources, forms, or direct care options. These clear self-serve guides are accessible via the web or mobile phone, and free up your staff from answering phone calls and emails from patients looking for information, so you can focus on patient care. 

Provide Patients with Up-to-Date Information 

Fast dissemination of accurate information is crucial to patient and community health. Zingtree enables healthcare providers to offer up-to-date information to patients using a simple interface. Even as information and policies constantly change by the hour, you are able to edit your web pages on your own, without waiting on a developer to make those changes for you.

Analyze Demand for Information in the Community

As the pandemic unfolds, we expect to see a spike in patient outreach followed by a slowing demand for information and care over time. With Zingtree’s analytics and reporting, you can see exactly how often patients and community members are viewing your information, accessing resources, and using the guides to understand and anticipate demand for your facility.

Zingtree is Here to Help You 

We know that it is not only the healthcare and medical community that we can help. We are committed to the businesses, big and small, that are suffering with sales being down, and entering uncharted territory to support a remote workforce for the first time. Zingtree has enabled contact centers, online support, and enterprises around the world to support remote operations through its products. We are ready to brainstorm ways to help you transition to a new way of working, and get you up and running in no time. We encourage you to reach out to us if you think we can help you.

In spite of all the world’s craziness of late, we’ve been hunkering down working remotely to continue to improve Zingtree and it’s various extensions. In particular, our Contact Center customers have been asking about ways to streamline adding notes to tickets, so we now have an Instant Notes option that works for Zendesk, Freshdesk, and any other CRM or Help Desk app. And lots of other goodies too.

Here’s what’s new:

• Added “show in search results for everyone/agents only/users only” option (Paula)
• Added buttons to Copy to Clipboard or Copy to Ticket Notes (Freshdesk, Zendesk, Salesforce)
• Added webhook to calculate the number of days from today (medical application)
• Agent Actions report (Abner)
• Agent Portal now has a French language option, custom title option
• Authenticated, secure file downloads (Ravi)
• Google Sheets table lookup webhook (David)
• Snapshots tool can now compare to next revision, show the number of changes between revisions
• Zendesk New Ticket App supports form ID (Christian, Brice)

We’ve also made some handy updates:

• Added immediate escalation option
• Agent detail report now available directly from reports list
• Agent feedback comments are now archived, not deleted
• Better error messages when trying to edit the LIVE version of a tree
• Can now access Organization reports via Account tab (Gregoire)
• Consolidated infrequently used content editor tools into a dropdown
• Consolidated position changes in nodes in snapshots change report
• Exit nodes report now has tree name from subtree calls (Allie)
• Node Times report now shows total of actions taken from each node (Abner)
• Timestamps in Snapshots tool now show in user’s timezone
• Tree searches now also look for email addresses in search scope
• Zendesk New Ticket App – can disable transcripts in the description by adding “notranscript” to the app message (Jon)

And fixed a few things:

• Adding Google Translate option now displays properly on mobile devices
• Agent Detail report now works for All agents
• Agent Portal switching into concise view lost agent_name, agent_first_name, other predefined variables (Lauren)
• Another update for launching Kustomer integrations incorrectly (Cheyenne)
• Can now debug sessions from LIVE trees (Ravi)
• Changing a select box, then clicking “back” to return to the node with the select box now retains previously selected value (Paul N.)
• Designer: Moving a duplicated node now saves the position of the new node properly (Rich)
• Disabled search all option for trees rendering in Agent portal, can be done from main portal page
• Editor buttons no longer disappear on smaller screen widths (Jim M.)
• Eliminated “not found” halflings reference in bootstrap-zingtree.css (Darren)
• Email node entry in Wizard now accepts multiple email addresses
• File upload with spaces in URL no longer makes link in email node not work (Ravi)
• Fixed error for Pause & Resume on a session with subtrees
• Initializing a hidden variable then using it as a running total now works properly
• Kustomer integration calls now work for embedded trees (Cheyenne)
• Launching a tree search from the search button when viewing a tree makes Custom logo appear, better page title, hides tags-only search
• Node Times Detail report shows number of visits in each session, sessions where node was an exit node
• Pause and Resume on node with webhook now calls webhook again. This ensures data is reloaded (i.e. dynamic forms)
• Resetting list box variables now works properly (Yassine)
• Running total now works properly when a variable is set to a text representation of a number (Yassine)
• Session detail view now shows proper time zone adjusted time for “first opened at” item
• Spaces in date format (in Settings tool) no longer cause Zingtree hosted trees to fail (Charles)
• Task Manager remote start data with single quotes no longer fails to register click steps
• Using quick button link changer with multiple tabs open to different trees keeps on the proper tree (Paula)

Most of these updates came from customer input. Got any suggestions for us? Let us know!

Many of our contact center customers require their agents to enter notes into their CRM or Help Desk system after each call. Others would like to do this, but don’t want to increase AHT (average handle time) for their agents. Fortunately, agents using Zingtree can use Instant Notes to make this a snap.

In essence, an agent can follow the path of a decision tree with the customer, and at the end, a notes summary screen (with an optional transcript) is available to the agent. A single button click can copy this into Zendesk, Freshdesk, Salesforce, or any other application.

This short video shows how it works, and how to set it up:

Usage

This example from the Zingtree’s Agent Scripting app for Zendesk shows how it works:

At the end of every session, just direct your agents to a final node in the decision tree. A single button click on Copy Notes copies notes into your application, or the clipboard.

Setup

Making your own Instant Notes mechanism is easy. Here’s how it’s done:

1. Add a new node to your decision tree.
2. In the content area of the node, include these tags: [[COPY-AREA]] and [[/COPY-AREA]]. Anything between these tags will be transferred as notes. You can grab these tags from the content editor like this:

3. Add a Copy button below the copy area with one of these options:

   If you’re using our Zendesk app or Freshdesk app, use the “Copy to Ticket Notes” option. Otherwise, use “Copy to Clipboard”.

4. Optional: Add ##TRANSCRIPT## into the content area to include the full session transcript in the notes.
5. When you’re done, your node will look like this:

6. Make sure this node is available as the last click on your tree.

You can see a full implementation of Instant Notes from the Demo Gallery here.

Integrations

To take advantage of one-click copying, you’ll need one of our apps.

• Get the Zendesk App here.
• Download our Freshdesk app from here. Then add it as a custom app.

Summary

Using Decision Trees with Instant Notes not only ensures your agents are following proper procedures, but it will save them time entering comments from each conversation.

Effective organizations know that personalization is absolutely key to achieving customer success. There are plenty of right and wrong ways to handle a customer interaction. However, choosing the “correct” personalized response to a customer query or problem is almost impossible without context and customer history. Whether the customer needs a problem to be solved or is looking for a new product recommendation, the “next best action” for that customer changes constantly based on a multitude of factors. 

What is Next Best Action?

Next Best Action (“NBA”) is a customer-centric approach that attempts to identify what the next best step is for a customer during a sales or customer support interaction. It is built upon the premise that by gathering information about individual customers, and applying models of other customer interactions, it is easier to determine how best to serve that customer. By tailoring the offer or solution provided to the customer, the quality of that customer contact can be improved significantly, compared to a standardized “one-size-fits-all” solution. 

Not only is NBA about working smarter and more efficiently, it translates to real customer wins as customers know that their individual preferences or unique situation have been taken into account. It’s about shifting towards delivering a positive customer experience that can lead to increased customer loyalty, business profits, and competitive advantage. 

How Zingtree Can Help You Determine the Next Best Action

Zingtree is the ultimate tool for helping your customer support agents and sales reps determine the Next Best Action for a customer. It can also help a customer discover it for themselves. Zingtree helps your organization to:

1. Recommend next best actions.  Zingtree helps its users simplify complex scenarios, guiding them through an interactive series of decisions that lead to the next best action, based on their specific situation. 
2. Understand context. What is happening with this customer? What were their last interactions with your organization? Zingtree integrates with your CRM so that you have all the context you need about the customer’s history, and your decision tree will adapt to act accordingly. 
3. Consider all the available options. While moving through the decision tree, the customer or support agent will input information that is specific to their case, guided by simple questions. The tree will then use this information to select the perfect NBA for the customer, whether that’s a troubleshooting solution, a product recommendation, or perhaps a personalized offer.
4. Record and pass on relevant information to other agents during escalation. If a problem can’t be solved, the customer or support agent’s path through the decision tree is recorded, and can be instantly turned into a note that can be passed on to another support agent. Zingtree is easily integrated with email, chat, and all major CRM and Help Desk systems.
5. Analyze the outcome of each customer interaction. Zingtree analytics give you valuable insight into how your troubleshooters or agent scripts are being used. This is a great way to keep product teams informed by exposing trouble spots and empowering you to improve your product or service.   

Get Started with Zingtree

By working towards providing the Next Best Action to customers, your organization can foster stronger customer relationships by offering personalized responses to customer queries, increase productivity by taking the decision making out of the hands of the customer or support agent, and ensure that your organization is complying with best practices.

It couldn’t be easier to get started with Zingtree and to join the NBA movement. Try Zingtree for free today and find out how you can see a 20% reduction in your support costs by providing your customers with the next steps they’re looking for, all with no coding required!

Health organizations around the world have been working non-stop to deliver accurate information and care to their community about COVID-19. Faced with rapidly changing information, limited resources, and long internal approval processes, these organizations struggle with needing to move quickly to support their community. 

The Department of Human & Health Services (DHHS) in Victoria, Australia, serving a community of over 6 million people, was able to launch a COVID-19 self-assessment tool in two days, powered by Zingtree. They were able to move quickly by using Zingtree’s intuitive decision tree platform without needing technical guidance to set up and launch. The interactive tool helps Victorians get up-to-date instructions and information to self-quarantine and access resources, based on their symptoms. 

Moving Quickly to a Better Solution 

The Department of Human & Health Services was responsible for getting critical COVID-19 information out through their website. They started with all the relevant information in a single page document. However, the document was wordy, constantly changing, and keeping the printed version updated was a challenge. Ewen Hill, senior developer of the web development team at the DHHS, led the efforts to replace this document with a more flexible solution. 

His team was looking at a few other cloud software options and internal solutions, when Zingtree was recommended to him. Ewen shared that “within an hour we knew we were on to something and shopping Zingtree around the office for comment.” The next day, Zingtree’ interactive self-assessment tool was pushed live via text message through the Victorian Emergency app, website, and social media channels. 

The community response was positive. “With Zingtree, we are giving people bite-size chunks of information that they can understand and move on, and not having to think about all of it,” explains Ewen. In the first week, 100,000 citizens used the self-assessment tool, and at its peak, 3,000 people per minute were accessing it on the website. “I was amazed that Zingtree can cope with our load levels when we sent out the emergency broadcast to every Victorian, and I was amazed at the speed, agility, and ability to blend it into our website.” 

How the Team Uses Zingtree 

The team effort within the DHHS to get this self-assessment tool live was remarkable. In the span of 8 hours, they had a beta version ready for launch. Using Zingtree’s Visual Editor, Ewen and his team transferred the information from the latest official document and wording from their epidemiologists into Zingtree’s decision trees. He expressed that “the Visual Editor is superb. It allowed our designer to drop the CSS from our homepage and make 10 alterations to match our site, down to the pixel.” 

They also needed to track the changes and different versions of the information for regulatory purposes. “We needed to put a version number on it, so we could say at this point in time, it was changed to this version. We added a bit of logic into it on our end, in case we needed the proof for future inquiries.”    

Even with new information coming out every day, the team feels prepared to move quickly. “If we have a massive change, we might have to spend 4-6 hours when we go to a new stage. But with subtle changes, it would be minutes. I am confident I would not be able to do it faster with any other tool.” 

Ewen sees more use cases of Zingtree’s platform when they break down each topic, from self-isolation to self-quarantining, into their own trees and guides. After this successful initial experience with Zingtree, Ewen shared, “I would highly recommend Zingtree and would be happy to share and assist other health agencies with our experience. I can’t see how you can improve the velocity of getting something live of this technical nature. I looked at the flowchart and thought, how have we built this? It is pretty amazing that we’ve gone from what we’ve had with the single page document to what we’ve got with version 2. I was totally shocked.” 

Partnership with Binary Fountain will offer Zingtree self-assessment tool to more than 275 healthcare providers nationwide

REDWOOD CITY, CA – April 15, 2020 – Zingtree, the enterprise decision tree technology platform, has launched a new self-serve COVID-19 self-assessment tool. The platform empowers healthcare providers to deliver information related to COVID-19 to their community in a matter of hours, breaking down complex information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) into bite-size chunks to effectively direct people to the appropriate next best action for care. Zingtree has created ready-made templates with information from the CDC for providers to make a copy, edit, and launch on their own website. 

For example, a healthcare provider could direct patients to check their symptoms and then – depending on the results – redirect them to a link to schedule a test at their facility. Depending on the severity of the symptoms, the tool could be customized to recommend specific instructions for self-quarantine, home or urgent care.

The idea for a COVID-19 self-assessment tool emerged when 12 Zingtree clients built decision trees to address their immediate needs. One such client was The Department of Health and Human Services of Victoria, Australia, (DHHS) which publicly launched a Zingtree decision tree in the span of two days. The DHHS web team used Zingtree to transform a complicated online form into a user-friendly interactive self-assessment tool on their emergency website. In the first week the page generated 100,000 hits with 3,000 hits per minute at its peak. Zingtree’s ability to enable users to follow paths based on their questions or symptoms and get relevant bite-size information was crucial to DHHS’ efforts to serve the public. You can learn more about DHHS’ success in this Case Study. 

Additionally, Zingtree has partnered with Binary Fountain – a leading provider of customer experience (CX) and online reputation management platform for enterprises, healthcare organizations and small and medium-sized businesses – to offer the Zingtree self-assessment tool to more than 275 healthcare providers nationwide. “Health systems need a lot of help right now and patients are seeking clarity. When we saw the capabilities of Zingtree and how quickly it could be deployed, we immediately thought of our clients,” said Andrew Rainey, Binary Fountain’s executive vice president of strategy and corporate development.

“In these challenging times, we at Zingtree are motivated and inspired to have the opportunity to play a small role in addressing COVID-19,” said Zingtree CEO Juan Jaysingh. “We have proven software capabilities that are easy to deploy with flexible functionality to focus on COVID-19 solutions so we can give our full support to all healthcare providers during these difficult circumstances.”

As the COVID-19 health crisis continues in the US, the Zingtree team plans to build additional tools to support the industry. Said Jaysingh, “Zingtree’s biggest strength is its speed and flexibility to adapt to any situation that involves decisions and a coordinated plan of action. We are working closely with our healthcare customers as we continue to provide the right approaches to addressing the problem.” 

About Zingtree: 

Zingtree is the no-code decision tree and process management software that guides users to their next best action. Zingtree’s platform enables organizations to save time and money by standardizing operating procedures, identifying customer issues, and taking action as quickly as possible to create world-class user experiences. Over 700 customers worldwide including Amazon Ring, AWS, August Home, Babylon Health, Change Healthcare, CVS Health, Dropbox, Expensify, Experian, Farmers Insurance, Hilton, Kaiser Permanente, Moffitt Cancer Center, Peloton, Ricoh, and Ticketmaster, use Zingtree.

DocuSign is a popular, powerful way to get legally binding eSignatures on documents. Instead of sending paper documents back and forth via email, FAX or Fed-X, it simplifies and speeds up the process of getting contracts and the like signed. It’s also complex.

A Zingtree decision tree can be used to qualify whether an agreement needs to be signed, or direct the signee to the proper contract. This layer on top of DocuSign makes the process even more convenient and time-saving.

This article will show you how to link a Zingtree decision tree to a DocuSign document, and pre-fill fields within the document to make the whole process more convenient. For our example, we will show how to attach an NDA (Nondisclosure Agreement) to a decision tree. A question will be asked to determine whether the agreement needs to be signed, and if so, the decision tree collects the data to insert into the agreement.

Try the Decision Tree

Requirements

You will need:

• A Zingtree account (paying or trial)
• A DocuSign Business Pro account (needs PowerForms enabled)

Setting Up DocuSign

We started by creating a Word Document as our contract, uploading it into a DocuSign Template, and creating a PowerForm. PowerForms can be launched via URL, with parameters to pre-fill certain fields.

This video shows how to create a PowerForm in DocuSign, and link it to Zingtree:

The DocuSign document has these fields:

• name
• organization
• date (today’s date)
• signature (where the eSign takes place)
• email (required for sending verifications, but not a part of the document)

The signee is called a “Placeholder” in DocuSign lingo. Our placeholder will be called Partner.

Setting up Zingtree

You can see a real live tree that collects information and links to DocuSign from the  Zingtree Demo Gallery here.

Our Zingtree decision tree collects information to pre-fill into the document via these Data Entry Fields:

• name
• email
• organization

Once you set up the PowerForm in DocuSign, you will get a URL to launch the form. You’ll launch this URL from Zingtree using a Link Node, and add to the URL parameters for the fields you want to pre-fill.

Example: Here’s a URL from our of our PowerForms:

https://www.docusign.net/Member/PowerFormSigning.aspx?PowerFormId=c3f2e255-9b95-4009-a0b7-0220d71fd50e&env=na1&acct=f64a9149-f23e-450d-ac42-cfab0149de68&v=2

When inserting this into a Link Node, you’ll add parameters for all of the fields you want to pre-fill in the contract. Our example adds this to the end of the URL:

&Partner_UserName=Joe%20Schmoe&Organization=ACME&Partner_Email=joe2@acme.com&activateonly=1

The DocuSign template has a placeholder called Partner, so the UserName and Email variables need to be prefixed with Partner_ . Organization is a custom field, so it doesn’t need a prefix.

Here’s the entire URL we use:

https://www.docusign.net/Member/PowerFormSigning.aspx?PowerFormId=07f0a98d-af2b-4434-81b5-88df314ae76d&env=na1&acct=f64a9149-f23e-450d-ac42-cfab0149de68&v=2&Partner_UserName=Joe%20Schmoe&Organization=ACME&Partner_Email=joe2@acme.com&activateonly=1

To add a Link Node:

1. From Overview, go to Add Node.
2. Select Link Node.
3. Enter your full URL into the Link Node, like this:

4. We recommend selecting Direct Link to URL.
5. Click on Save Changes when finished.

At Zingtree, we use this system to expedite getting contracts and agreements signed. Do you have a novel use for DocuSign with Zingtree? Let us know!

While sheltering in place this past month, we’ve been able to make a lot of improvements and updates. Our customers have been as active as ever, and they continue to give us insights and ideas into improving our product.

We also upgraded our infrastructure, moving to a new Database architecture (with no downtime!), as well as upgrading our web servers.

Here’s what’s been done since mid-March:

New Features

• Renamed the List Variables tool to just Variables.
• Can now add Predefined variables via the Variables tool (useful for Logic Nodes, Salesforce integration) (Chris).
• Variables tool now can show variables in ALL trees, and export to CSV (Gregoire).
• Added improved Credit Usage reporting under Account, Organizations and Billing, Billing tab.
• Can now add or remove tree tags in bulk via Simple Overview (Allie).
• Event logging now includes the node number from the event for improved troubleshooting (Webhooks, Zapier, Salesforce, Zendesk, Freshdesk, SMS).
• Initialize Data Entry Fields setting – gives all possible data entry field variables a default blank value (Kevin).
• Searches via search forms in a tree can now use keywords as search targets. Enter keywords via the Content Node editor.
• New publishing option: ztree.ai link shortener (i.e. https://ztree.ai/203643337 ).

Updates

• Added get_tree_structure API call (Frederik VP).
• Added hidden variable info to “list all variables” tool (Gregoire).
• Added icons to “Save Changes” and “Cancel” buttons in node editors.
• Added Library option to content node editor menu under Templates tool.
• Added wait messages on “Save” buttons in login, settings save, edit node save, organization search, others.
• Added Zapier Tasks to Event Log.
• Cleaned up the interface in Agent tag/group add or delete.
• Cleaned up signup process via Mike E’s suggestions.
• Clicking to edit buttons from simple overview no longer asks for button text on logic nodes, escalations, document nodes or email nodes.
• Create Tree has better prompts.
• Date difference calculator webhook (Joe M.).
• Document node pdf variable entry now shows variable name validation error messages (BD).
• Event Log page now sorts event types, wraps long data columns for Webhooks, Zapier, others.
• Exporting Agent List to CSV now includes tags (Josh E.).
• Hosted URLs can now look like this: https://zingtree.com/show/667531210 (h/t Ryan).
• Much improved page load speed for Snapshots tool.
• Mega-menu of tools now bolds the most used options (Mike E. recommendation).
• Multiple entry forms and file uploads now display nicely when included together in data entry fields in a node.
• Node title summary no longer wraps too short in Content Node editor.
• Permalink tooltips now appear at bottom – were not always visible previously (Ryan).
• Placeholder text in Firefox now shows as faded (Ryan).
• Preview page shows “search results” as the node number after a search.
• Recent Sessions tool now keeps Tools menu visible, instead of Reports menu.
• Reordered reports list and mega-menu by popularity.
• To make | part of a merge value, use “ instead of | (Paul N.).
• Tree import now checks for illegal node numbers.
• Tutorials page now has direct button links to start building trees with the proper tool below the video.
• Webhooks that return data variables now immediately add to the session (Karan).
• Zapier interface now includes the session transcript, session details link as data variables (Joel L.).
• Zendesk Agent Scripting App V16 now makes unique sessions when matching on Brand, Tree Tags or Custom fields. This enables pause and resume when switching trees mid-session (Jing).

Fixes

• All Sessions report – when clicking into a session detail – now shows click path (BD).
• Analytics button in Gallery view now goes to Gallery reports – no login needed.
• Assigning author rights as a superuser now shows ALL trees, not just the ones super-user is an admin on.
• Authors list in My Trees now just shows designated authors, not ones who may have previously been authors.
• Automatic reports on a specific day of the month in Australia no longer send multiple reports (Corey).
• Clicking outside of modals no longer closes dialog. In data entry field edit (in node editor) Instant preview, Show in Document Node, Settings Theme preview (Ryan).
• Copy Notes button code now no longer goes “back” after clicking the button in Zendesk app. (Mark B.).
• Credit usage report no longer shows fractional total days.
• Designer, Advanced Logic Nodes: Old simple logic node data with double quotes no longer makes Designer fail (Oliver).
• Doc node PDF generator more robust (Jamie).
• Doing quick logic button edit via Overview no longer deletes logic variable for Simple Logic Nodes (Gregoire).
• Extensive use of libraries now loads content faster, no longer occasionally skips content due to too many simultaneous TCP browser connections (Michael M.).
• Can now do Preview, Thumbnails overview when Google sign-in enabled (Jason).
• Hosted trees no longer show history twice if history enabled.
• Library includes with images now are responsive (Jared M.).
• Logo and file uploads now return https links.
• Looking for LIVE trees when not pushed live now reverts to the DEV version (David A.).
• Merge variables with unencoded % in the values no longer cause a browser error (Jonathan T.).
• No more blank alerts when switching overviews via Mega Menu.
• Pop up overlay code now makes unique sessions for multiple tree pop up buttons on a page (Jeff H.).
• Preview with Agent Feedback button has more space to show tooltip and allow for it to be clicked (Oliver).
• Punctuation in doc node titles to generate downloadable PDF files now makes valid filenames (Sascha S).
• Quick button editor from overview now preserves double-quote characters when editing the button text (i.e. icon code).
• Search form, all trees just node titles and tags now works as advertised (Joel L.).
• Searching linked trees no longer shows results from archived trees (even if it’s linked from an existing tree) (Allie).
• Session issues fixed with Zendesk app and Google sign-in from Chrome (Dillon).
• Show history URL parameter now works correctly for embeds (all cases).
• Thumbnails overview with a tree node as the root node no longer shows two trees – now shows just the original (Frances).
• Trees with no authors now appear in My Trees list anyway (for all authors).

Got any great ideas, tips or suggestions? Give us a holler!

At Zingtree, we make every effort to use our own tools and decision trees as much as possible. In the software business, this is known as “eating your own dogfood”, or simply “dogfooding”. Not only does this showcase our product well, but we also get to see first-hand where improvements can be made. For example, our FAQ, Contact Us, and Signup processes all use Zingtree decision trees.

While updating our FAQ (which is close to 200 nodes), it became obvious to us we needed a better way to select nodes for each button, especially in large decision trees. The long drop-down select boxes weren’t cutting it. So as a part of May’s updates, we invested significant time in building a new “node selector”. This makes it easy to search for nodes, and also locate them by type. Displaying of nodes is also much cleaner.

BEFORE

Here’s the “before” view of how nodes were displayed:

Picking a node looked like this:

AFTER

Here’s the new Node display. Note the icon next to the node to indicate if it’s a content node, tree node, email node, or another type.

Clicking on the node opens a popover, with a text search filter and type filter. Here we entered “email” and all nodes referring to email appear in the picklist.

Another new feature is auto-filling button labels when if they are blank. Try it!

More Updates

Here are more updates from May:

• /api page shows API key for most recently used tree.
• Added Hebrew and stock text translations as a language option. (Noam)
• In published trees, Checkboxes and Radio buttons display aligned and slightly larger.
• Corrected inaccurate info on Add/Edit Webhooks page regarding how data is sent to the webhook.
• Deleting trees now checks to see if another active tree is linked to it. (Allie)
• Increased max length of logic expressions to 1024 characters.
• Logic Nodes & Document Nodes now have the ability to add new predefined variables via variable picker dropdown. (Gregoire)
• Added translated text for “restart from the beginning” and also “go directly to”.
• My Trees now shows date last modified. (Gregoire)
• My Trees page loads faster.
• Removed extra space at bottom of hosted trees. (NaKisha)
• rtl.css update to better support Hebrew decision trees (and other right-to-left languages).
• SMS App shows countries we support, decrements the proper amount of lookup credits depending upon country.
• Webhook URL display now longer, multiline in My Apps.
• Zendesk Agent Scripting app V17 now loads requester_phone (if it exists). (Joao)

And a few fixes:

• ##include option now supports https URLs better. (Deb)
• Add predefined variable dialog no longer closes on click outside. (BD)
• Copy Node now copying advanced logic node expressions, hover text.
• Copy to Clipboard button in decision tree no longer scrolls page on narrow embed displays.
• Node times report – when filtering on a specific agent – no longer loses context from currently viewed tree. (Nick V.)
• Removed unsupported “Go to URL” option for email automatic sends.
• When logged in, the gallery page no longer shows being logged out.

We’ll have more exciting updates this summer. Stay tuned!

Set Up

Zingtree has built a special webhook to enable this handy use of the platform. Here’s how to set this up:

1. Upload your PDF form file to a server. We’ll need the URL of this file.
2. Create a decision tree that gathers the information to be merged into the PDF form. The variable names you use in Zingtree must match the variable names in the PDF form file.
3. Install the Zingtree PDF form filler webhook. Go to Account, My Apps, then click Webhooks, and enter the following into the webhook URL.

   https://zingtree.com/apps/webhook/lib/pdf-form.php

   Like this:

4. In your decision tree, add this webhook to a node after you have gathered all of your data. Like this:
   The message data passes along a parameter for the URL Encoded URL of the PDF file (from step 1). Like this:

   &pdf_form={{URL Encoded URL of Form File}}

   Here’s an example of a proper parameter, with a URL Encoded URL for http://zingtree.s3.amazonaws.com/samples/PDF-Form-demo.pdf

   &pdf_form=http%3A%2F%2Fzingtree.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fsamples%2FPDF-Form-demo.pdf

5. When you run the tree, the URL of the merged form will be contained in the variable pdf_merged_file_url.
6. Option: You can customize the variable name if you choose by adding &result_var=YOUR_VAR_NAME to the end of the message data. This would assign YOUR_VAR_NAME to the uploaded URL instead. Example:

   &pfd_form={{URL of FORM}}&result_var=my_pdf_form_upload

At the end of the process, a PDF with the merged form fields will be uploaded to the Zingtree servers, accessible at the URL in pdf_merged_file_url or a variable you chose in step 6.

Demo

We will fill in a PDF file located here. The PDF has the fields name, address, city and phone.

The demo tree is in the Zingtree Gallery here.

As our customer base continues to grow, the engineering team has been working behind the scenes to ensure our server farm is performing optimally, and we are continually able to scale as needed to handle unanticipated traffic spikes. We also continue to get great feedback from our customers, and many of the items below are a result of customer requests or feedback. We also have expanded our ability to integrate with other systems, especially custom call center configurations. And finally, the ability to collect data and fill in PDF forms files is delighting many of our customers who deal with institutions (like Insurance or Government) that require data be presented in a certain form and format.

Here’s what’s new since our last update blog post.

New Features

• New API call to delete uploaded PDFs
• Allow filling of PDF files with form fields
• Flexible way to send messages between trees embedded in an iframe and the parent container
• Allow adding button click variables – even if no buttons present.
• SMS App adds to the list of countries we support sending messages to.
• Google sign-in option now supported for hosted trees.

Updates and Usability Enhancements

• Improved UX for assigning nodes in Content Node Editor. Includes search and type filters for finding nodes.
• Added last date of change in My Trees column (Gregoire)
• Add Node operation can be done with one click instead of two.
• Make translated text for “restart from the beginning” and also “go directly to”
• Node editor now can auto-fill the button label with page title of selected node (if label not yet set)
• My Trees page loads faster.
• Increased length of logic nodes expressions.
• Webhook URL display no longer cuts off in My Apps (Ross)
• Checkboxes and Radio buttons in data entry fields display more aesthetically.
• Default page that appears after sending email via built-in form is less confusing to end-users.

Bug Fixes

• Ensures default icons in node-picker appear.
• Copy Node now properly copies advanced logic node expressions
• Tree names with apostrophes no longer cause node picker to break
• Fixed bug where ill-formatted IP addresses in CIDR format caused an error.
• Delete tree warning for tree nodes no longer references wrong server
• Fixed bug where session variables containing objects caused Javascript errors
• Automatic email reports with Hebrew titles now send properly
• “Include session data in email” option for automatic emails no longer shows urlencoded data variables.
• Library items no longer fail when “load images when needed” is turned on in Settings
• Clicking session detail from form data report now works properly for LIVE trees
• Event Log for Salesforce app no longer flags an error when no error occurred (Nick C.)
• Pause & Resume to a session that landed on a tree node no longer fails
• Logic nodes called with Webhooks now run webhook first before doing logic
• SMS messages sending with variable names no longer fail on single quotes in variable data
• Editing logic nodes no longer shows default node as first destination node when adding a new expression.
• HTML files generated by Document Nodes now properly locate CSS files
• Pause & resume returning to a search page no longer opens a blank page with no buttons
• Clicking on confirmation text now works like just checking the checkbox
• In node editor, escalation options now save properly, no longer show a zero option by default.

Got a suggestion for our next release? Let us know!

When you’re embedding a decision tree into a web page (via Zingtree’s iFrame embed code), you have the ability to send Javascript messages to the container page. This is useful for custom integrations. For example, one of our customers has built an outbound call center platform around Zingtree scripting, and uses this capability to control the call. They can trigger “hang up” or “stop screen recording” events right from within Zingtree. This is extremely powerful, and simple to implement.

Another way we use this is to pop-up a chat window after collecting data. This article explains how it’s done with Intercom chat.

How it Works

Each node in a Zingtree decision tree has an option to send a Javascript message to the containing page. When editing a content node, go to the Other tab, and look for the Send Javascript Message box:

The messages can also contain variables, or the session ID. You can also format these like JSON if you prefer. For example, to send a variable called name and the session ID to the container in JSON format, you might make a message that looks like this:

{name:#name#, session:#session#}

In your containing page, you’ll make a standard message listener in Javascript that looks for these messages. (Note that by default Zingtree also sends status messages to the container, including the state of data collected, breadcrumb/history info, as well as the current node number).

Here’s some basic Javascript code for trapping messages and sending them to the browser console:

<script>

// Listen to message from child window
// we get BREADCRUMBS: message, and insert breadcrumb data into the containing page DOM

var eventMethod = window.addEventListener ? "addEventListener" : "attachEvent";
var eventer = window[eventMethod];
var messageEvent = eventMethod == "attachEvent" ? "onmessage" : "message";

eventer(messageEvent,function(e) {
   console.log(e.data) ;
   
},false);

Now it’s your turn! If you can come up with creative ways to use this feature, please share.

As life is full of interruptions and distractions, we know that it can sometimes be tricky for end-users to complete their decision tree surveys in one sitting. Thanks to your feedback, we’re showing how it’s possible for end-users to return to a decision tree, and finish it over the course of multiple sessions. This is particularly helpful when end-users are asked to complete a longer decision tree with a large number of steps, or to fill in a time-consuming step in a process. The technique is to gather the customer’s email at the start, and then immediately send them an email with a link to resume the session at any time

Here’s an example of what the email looks like when received:

This implementation uses Automatic Email Nodes, as well as Zingtree’s Pause and Resume feature.

Try the Gallery Demo

You can examine how the tree is built from here.

Here’s a summary of how it works:

1. We collect the end user’s email at the start of the session.
2. Immediately, we send them an email, with a link to resume the session. The link contains the URL to relaunch the tree, and the session ID of their current session. When clicking the link, the Pause and Resume capability returns the user to the last place in the tree they left off.

Here’s what the email node contents looks like (after enabling code view):

IMPORTANT: When using this technique on your own tree, be sure to change the tree ID in the link. In the above example, the tree ID is 405352594.  Also note that this link returns to a Zingtree Hosted view of your tree. If you are embedding in your own site, you’ll need to pass along the session ID, and ensure the underlying iFrame for the tree also received this session ID.

Many of our customers have asked about building URL links using variables collected during a decision tree session. This article shows how to do it.

In this how-to, we’ll explore:

• Using the string catenation webhook to build a URL variable from another variable.
• Substituting a variable into a link.

As an example, we’ll use a two-node tree. The first node collects a search term, and the second one creates a link to Google with the search term in the URL.

This tree from the Demo Gallery is a working example.

Building the Tree

1. Set up the string catenation app. From Account, My Apps, create a webhook with this URL:
   https://zingtree.com/apps/webhook/lib/stringcat.php
   This article has more details.
2. Create Node #1 with a data input field for the search term. Like so:

3. Create Node #2, with a placeholder for the URL. Using the editor’s Code View tool, it looks like this:

   
   We will be replacing the href=”#” part with the contents of a variable named url. Note the id=”URL” part of the code – that’s how the URL variable gets inserted into the href link.

4. Go to the Apps/Webhooks part of Node #2, and add the String Catenator webhook from step 1. Like so:

5. For the Message Data in the String catenator app, it will look like this:
   &result=url&string1=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fsearch%3Fq%3D&string2=#search#
6. The string catenator app lets you combine variables with other text or variables to make a new variable. We will be creating a variable named url, which is a combination of:
   https://google.com/search?q=
   and the search term, which is the variable named search.
7. Here’s one technical quick: The first part of the url variable needs to be URL Encoded. This allows it to be passed to the webhook. We use this tool to transform this:
   https://google.com/search?q=
   into a URL Encoded version:
   https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fsearch%3Fq%3D
8. So the string catenator creates the variable URL, which combines https://google.com/search?q= with #search# – the search variable entered in Node #1.
9. Finally, add button in Node #1 to go to Node #2.

And that’s it!

You can examine the fully working tree here.

Did you know that, as a Talkdesk user, you can seamlessly combine Zingtree, Talkdesk, and your CRM into one unified solution? This means that your agents can dial, see customer details, follow a script, and automatically update user records − all from a single screen.  

So, how exactly does this work? When receiving a call in Talkdesk, the contact’s name will appear if they are already known to your organization. Without changing screens, the agent can then open the dialer’s Salesforce or Zendesk page, while Zingtree appears in an embedded window to guide the agent through the call. Once the call is completed, automatic notes are generated and sent directly to your CRM, and any additional notes can be added easily via the Talkdesk widget. Essentially, it’s everything your agent needs to manage a call, all in one place, and on one screen. 

See It in Action

To learn more about how to leverage Talkdesk and Zingtree together, we’d like to invite you to join us at the Talkdesk Digital Showdown: Innovations in CX on November 5 at 10AM PT / 1PM ET. 

Zingtree will be contending for the top spot with only three minutes to convince a live audience that we’ve got the best contact center solution today. The grand prize? $10,000 to donate to the charity of the winner’s choice. For Zingtree, that’s the fantastic One Tree Planted. One Tree Planted is an environmental non-profit dedicated to making it easier for individuals and businesses to give back to the environment, create a healthier climate, protect biodiversity, and help reforestation efforts around the world − all by planting trees. 

Come, see us compete, cast your vote to select the ultimate winner, and learn loads of powerful ways that you can use Talkdesk with Zingtree and other useful tools. 

Save your seat now, and we look forward to seeing you there!

Register here.

The post How to Get More From Zingtree as a Talkdesk User first appeared on Zingtree Blog.

As part of our strategy to stay ever-vigilant about security threats (especially in the light of recent news with other companies), we’ve been spending extra cycles hardening and triple-checking our security and server infrastructure, while also doing our best to continue to improve our product. So while this quarter’s list of updates may be shorter than usual, we’re doing quite a bit behind the scenes to ensure the continued safety and reliability of our service.

New Stuff

Here’s what’s new since our last updates post:

• Added final node result status to global form data report
• Added German to the list of language options
• Added MFA support to SSO
• API for doing “AND” keyword searches
• Default My Trees sort by My Rights, then by Last Modified
• Default super-user view in My Trees to “All Authors”
• During signups, new user will be asked if they want to join an existing organization if applicable.
• Export as JSON all trees belonging to an organizational
• For score variables, we now allow embedded variable references
• Improved Event Log diagnostics for Zendesk integrations
• List Boxes now have “required” option
• Node mass-redirect tool (with support from updated overview UX)
• One step push live activation
• Option in Session Detail page to hide top and bottom chrome
• Third type of conditional view content (hide both end-user and agent content).
• Updated Create Tree page with simpler flow
• New Publishing Links page: Walk authors through choices of publishing links
• You can now add variables in the agent feedback option email address

Fixes

Here’s a list of things we fixed:

• [[USER-ONLY]] content now show in hosted tree when SSO is enabled
• Clicking persistent button from a subtree with no corresponding node in main tree no longer throws JS error
• Clicking Restart no longer erases all variables even if setting to keep them is ticked
• Document nodes with lots of conditions no longer trigger errors
• Editing Logic node buttons in Designer no longer destroys evaluation order, causing some evaluations to fail
• Fixed Error occuring when setting node escalation to “new node”
• Fixed bug preventing PDF forms from working properly in some circumstances
• Fixed timeout issue during excessive load
• Google Sign-in now properly tracks agents
• Importing a file no longer disables Push Live
• In Agent tree view, history label appears better.
• Node Picker shows friendlier text when node returns to previous tree
• Removed “new node to create later” from the escalation node choices
• Restarting a tree reruns apps/webhooks in root node
• score and score_var attributes no longer stripped by node content editor
• Copy Tree option from Gallery fails now appears when logged in
• Copy Node no longer ahows LIVE trees as a destination
• FAQ and Gallery headers show logged-in status
• Link node preview in node picker fails wraps long URL
• Single quotes in link node URLs handled properly in content node editor
• Variables tool no longer allows adding variables to LIVE version

As always, we continue to listen to your feedback, and we log every request. So if you have an insight on how we can make Zingtree better for you, drop us a note.