Zendesk Light Agents – Permissions and Limitations

Zendesk lite agents or light agents is a support role with limited permissions. Zendesk light agents can’t be assigned tickets but they can stay informed about tickets and, when needed, provide subject matter expertise and advice by adding private comments to the ticket. They can only make private ticket comments, visible to other agents and not the customers.

In other words, Zendesk light agents are kinda spectators with a limited and small internal role they can perform to assist the support agents that deal with the customers.

However, the Zendesk Light Agents feature is not available in Zendesk Fundamental and Suite Team plans. Plans with this feature are as follows:

  • Suite Growth plans include up to 50 light agents.
  • Suite Professional plans include up to 100 light agents.
  • Suite Enterprise plans include up to 1000 light agents.
  • Suite Enterprise Plus plans include up to 5000 light agents.

 

Zendesk Light Agents Permissions & Limitations

Here’s a table to let you understand what Light Agents can do:

 

Permissions (light agents can…)

Limitations (light agents can’t…)
Tickets
  • View either tickets assigned to groups they’re in or view all tickets
  • Make private comments
  • Be the ticket requester
  • Edit ticket properties at the time of ticket creation
  • Be CC’d on tickets (see Setting permissions for CCs and followers). End users won’t be able to see light agents who are CC’d on a ticket.
  • Create tickets on behalf of existing end users. However, the end user won’t be able to see it until another agent adds a public comment.
  • Edit ticket properties for tickets they’re requesters on after the ticket is created
  • Add, access, and download attachments
  • Create, reply to, close, and reopen side conversations
  • Add and remove tags from their own tickets. They can also bulk add tags to their tickets, but cannot bulk remove tags.
  • Use agent email forwarding to forward an email to your support address, creating a ticket with a private comment.
  • Reassign tickets to another agent in any of the light agent’s groups, if they are the requester.
  • Make public ticket comments
  • Be assigned to tickets
  • Change the ticket status
  • Reassign tickets to another group, unless they are the ticket requester
  • Edit ticket properties, unless they are the ticket requester
  • CC agents or end users other than themselves, except for when they create a ticket on behalf of someone else
  • Use the @mention feature because it adds a CC to the ticket, which they don’t have permission to do
  • Respond to CSAT surveys
  • Create, send, or be assigned side conversation child tickets.
  • Use agent email forwarding to forward an email to your support address, creating a ticket with a public comment.
People
  • View user profiles
  • Edit user profiles
  • Assume a user’s identity
  • Change a user’s password
  • Create new end users
Guide
  • View areas of the Help Center knowledge base and community that are restricted to agents
  • Add and edit articles in the knowledge base where agents have permission
  • Add and edit articles and posts in the community where agents have permission. See Creating community moderator groups.
  • Be a Guide admin (see note at left).
  • View article revisions
Reports
  • View Explore dashboards that have been shared with them in Zendesk (External link sharing is available only on Explore Enterprise plans)
  • Create and share Zendesk Explore queries and dashboards
Views
  • See views only
  • Create or edit views
Business Rules
  • Apply macros
  • Create, view, or edit macros, automations, or triggers
  • Be used as conditions in business rules
    For example, you can’t create a trigger that emails the agent assigned to the ticket when a user who is a light agent comment on it.
  • Respond to CSAT surveys
Channels NA
  • Respond to calls
  • Manage channels
Mail API NA
  • Respond to notifications or create new tickets
Apps
  • Use any installed Zendesk apps within Support
  • Perform permitted actions on their tickets in the Zendesk Support Mobile app
 NA
Zendesk Chat
  • In the standard agent interface, light agents can reassign a ticket from chat if they were the serving agent. Once the ticket is assigned to another team member, the light agent cannot change the ticket assignee.
  • In the Zendesk Agent Workspace, light agents can not serve a chat or messaging conversation. You need a full agent license.
Zendesk Talk NA
  • Light agents cannot be enabled as Talk agents.

Source: Zendesk

 

Helplama Helpdesk – The Best and Affordable Zendesk Alternative!

Helplama Helpdesk is modern-age cloud-based helpdesk software that provides all the basic ticketing and a variety of customizable agent roles. 

But unlike Zendesk, it is the ONLY helpdesk that provides an automated agent training feature, reducing up to 50% of the time you spend on training your new support agents.

How does automated agent training work?

  1. Helplama Helpdesk builds simulations when your trained agents deliver support.
  2. Agents are guided with an interactive step-by-step guide to using the platform. 
  3. Agents are tested based on simulations (developed based on previous customer interactions).
  4. Their performance is scored based on their responses.

In our experience, it takes 2 weeks for the agent to be trained on the simulator for them to get an understanding of 50% or more of the process.

Additionally, Helplama Helpdesk offers…

  • Integration with – email, voice, live chat, social media, Slack, Shopify, and many more.
  • Self-service portal – providing a 24×7 customer service powered by AI chatbots.
  • Knowledge base – internal and external, to empower both your employees and customers.
  • Automated returns center – a self-service portal for initiating returns, exchanges, and refunds.
  • Agents marketplace – hire uber-talented US-based agents on an hourly basis.
  • Marketing automation – automate the collection of user-generated reviews on Google, Trustpilot, and Amazon.
  • Influencer Identification – Identify and collaborate with influencers in your niche.

Besides all these unique features, Helplama Helpdesk is quite affordable and small business friendly. There are three pricing plans available:

  • Standard – $99/month
  • Pro – $199 per month
  • Enterprise – $ 399/month

All plans include access for 3 users, +$29/mo for every extra user for all plans, which seems quite reasonable.

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