Migrate from Hiver to Zendesk

Hiver Conversations (Gmail threads within a Shared Inbox) map to Zendesk Tickets. Each thread becomes one Ticket with the original subject, requester email, and full email body preserved. Status mapping: Hiver open maps to Zendesk open, pending maps to pending, closed maps to solved. Assignee (hubspot_owner_id) resolves by email match against Zendesk User records before insert. Conversation priority from Hiver custom fields maps to Zendesk priority (low, normal, high, urgent). Any Shared Notes on the conversation attach as internal Zendesk Comments visible only to agents.

Hiver Shared Inboxes are top-level containers that determine inbox visibility and routing. Each Shared Inbox maps to a Zendesk Group with the same name and member list. In Zendesk, tickets are assigned to Groups rather than Inboxes, so we configure a Group for each Hiver Shared Inbox during the setup phase. If Hiver Shared Inboxes have different SLA policies per inbox, those map to separate Zendesk SLA Policies attached to the corresponding Group.

Hiver exports Contacts as a discrete data type separate from conversation requesters. We export both the address book contacts and any contacts embedded in conversation threads, then deduplicate on email address. Zendesk creates a User record for each unique contact email. If the contact has an associated agent account in Hiver (assigned as assignee on any Conversation), that contact becomes a Zendesk Agent User with the appropriate role and group membership. Requester-only contacts become Zendesk End-Users.

Hiver conversation tags are flat labels for categorization and routing. We export the complete tag taxonomy and reapply each tag as a Zendesk Tag. In Zendesk, tags are applied at the ticket level and can drive tag-based triggers and views. We preserve the full tag vocabulary including any AI-generated tags from Hiver's AI Tagging feature (part of the $20/seat/month AI add-on). Tag count and density are validated post-migration against the source export.

Hiver Shared Notes are internal comments attached to a Conversation, visible to all team members. We export them as Zendesk internal Comments on the mapped Ticket. During scoping, we confirm with the customer which Shared Notes should be marked internal versus public based on the original visibility intent. Notes from Hiver's address book (not attached to a Conversation) migrate as Zendesk User notes on the corresponding Contact record.

Hiver Email Templates store subject lines, body content, and variable placeholders for personalization. We export the template schema and map each to a Zendesk Macro. Hiver's template variables (e.g., {{customer.first_name}}, {{ticket.assignee}}) map to Zendesk macro placeholders using Zendesk's {{ticket.requester.name}} and {{agent.name}} syntax. Conditional logic in Hiver templates (available on Pro and Elite tiers) requires manual reconstruction in Zendesk Macros, as conditional branching is not a native macro feature.

Hiver Shared Drafts are unsent email replies saved within conversations. We export draft body and assignee. Zendesk's API supports creating tickets with initial comments but does not have a native draft concept. We map Shared Drafts to Zendesk tickets in open status with the draft body in the first comment, and flag them in the migration report so the customer admin can identify which tickets still need a final reply sent from Zendesk.

Hiver agent records include name, email, and assignment permissions. We export the full user roster and map roles to equivalent Zendesk permission structures: Hiver Lite/Growth agents map to Zendesk Agent role; Hiver admins map to Zendesk Admin role. Owner assignment on Conversations carries over via email-matched User resolution. Any Hiver user without a matching Zendesk User account is placed in a reconciliation queue for the customer's admin to provision before record import.

Hiver SLA Policies define business hours and response/resolution deadlines enforced at the Shared Inbox level. We extract the SLA configuration (first response time, next response time, resolution time, business hours schedule) and recreate it in Zendesk's SLA Policy engine. Hiver's SLA enforcement logic (auto-escalation, reminder triggers) is not migratable and is documented as a separate step for the customer's admin to configure in Zendesk Triggers or targets.

Hiver custom fields on conversations (e.g., order ID captured via AI Extract, account tier) are exported with their field schema and values. Each custom field maps to a Zendesk Ticket custom field of equivalent type: Hiver text fields map to Zendesk text, dropdowns to dropdown, checkboxes to checkbox. We preserve field values on each Conversation record and import them into the corresponding Zendesk custom field on the mapped Ticket.

Hiver CSAT survey responses and aggregate scores tied to resolved conversations migrate as Zendesk Satisfaction records. Survey configuration (questions, rating scale, trigger conditions) does not have a bulk export path and must be manually reconfigured in Zendesk's Survey settings. We document the original Hiver survey logic (question text, scale, routing conditions) in the migration scope document for the customer's admin to rebuild as Zendesk Satisfaction targets.