Migrate from Chat2Desk to Zendesk

Chat2Desk Client records map to Zendesk End User records. The client's messenger identifier (phone number for WhatsApp, username for Telegram) becomes the User's external_id. We map client custom fields to Zendesk user fields, noting that Zendesk user fields are only visible to agents and admins. Where Chat2Desk Clients have no email address (WhatsApp-only contacts), we use the messenger ID formatted as an external identifier. User is created before any ticket import so that the requester relationship is satisfied at insert time.

Chat2Desk Clients with a company or organization association map to Zendesk Organization records. If the customer uses Chat2Desk's Sales Funnel feature for company-level tracking, we create Organizations first and link Clients via the organization_id lookup. Organization names deduplicate on insert using the external_id set to the original Chat2Desk company identifier.

Chat2Desk conversation messages map to Zendesk Ticket comments. The first message from a Client creates a new Zendesk Ticket; subsequent messages from the same client and operator become comments on that ticket. Inbound (client-to-agent) and outbound (agent-to-client) directions map to Zendesk's public and private comment types respectively. Message timestamps preserve as ticket comment timestamps. The Chat2Desk message UUID is stored in a Zendesk ticket tag for cross-reference.

Chat2Desk Channel records (WhatsApp Business API, Telegram, Instagram, Viber, online chat) map to Zendesk Tags. We extract the channel name from Chat2Desk and apply it as a tag on the corresponding Zendesk ticket (e.g., channel::whatsapp, channel::telegram). Zendesk's native channel integration handles new incoming messages after cutover; migrated historical channel data uses tags for reporting rather than native channel objects because Chat2Desk channel connections are not transferable.

Chat2Desk Operator records map to Zendesk Agent accounts. We match by email address where present. Operator roles (admin, operator) map to Zendesk Agent and Admin roles. Department assignments in Chat2Desk map to Zendesk Groups, which we create before operator import. The customer provisions Zendesk agent accounts before migration or we create placeholder User records with the agent role, flagged for activation by the admin post-migration.

Chat2Desk Departments map to Zendesk Groups. We preserve the department hierarchy as a flat group structure in Zendesk, noting that Zendesk Groups do not support nested subgroups. If the Chat2Desk department is used for routing logic, we document the routing rule and recommend Zendesk Views as the replacement routing mechanism.

Chat2Desk Sales Funnels are pipeline-style lead tracking workflows that have no direct Zendesk equivalent because Zendesk is a ticket-centric helpdesk rather than a CRM. We map funnel stages to either Zendesk Ticket Status values (if the funnel tracks support ticket stages) or a custom field on the ticket (if the funnel tracks sales pipeline stages). The customer chooses the strategy during scoping. If the customer uses CRM features heavily, we recommend pairing Zendesk with Salesforce or HubSpot CRM rather than using Zendesk's native opportunity tracking.

Chat2Desk Knowledge Base articles map to Zendesk Guide articles. We export article titles, body content (HTML), categories, and author information. Article categories map to Zendesk Guide Sections, which map to Categories. Zendesk Guide must be activated and the Help Center set up before we can import articles. We coordinate with the customer to provision Guide, create the section hierarchy, and validate the Help Center URL before migration begins.

Chat2Desk message Templates (macros and response templates) export as content for documentation purposes. Zendesk Macros are workspace-level configurations that we do not migrate as data. We provide a written inventory of every Chat2Desk template with its name, trigger conditions, and full message body so that the customer's Zendesk admin can recreate the equivalent macros in the new environment. WhatsApp Business API templates require separate registration with Meta's Business Manager and are not transferable across platforms.

File attachments sent within Chat2Desk conversations download from the source API and re-upload to Zendesk ticket comments via the Zendesk API multipart form upload. We preserve original file names and associate each attachment with the correct ticket comment. Attachments exceeding Zendesk's 50 MB per-file limit are flagged and the customer is advised to use an external storage link or hosted file approach for those records.

Tags applied to Chat2Desk clients or conversations map to Zendesk Tags. We normalize tag naming conventions during import (removing special characters, enforcing lowercase) to comply with Zendesk's tag format requirements. Tag counts exceeding Zendesk's per-ticket tag limit (299 tags) are flagged and the customer chooses which tags to prioritize.