Zendesk Macros, Used Properly
A macro is a set of actions an agent applies on purpose. That word, on purpose, is the entire difference from a trigger.
What a macro actually does
A macro applies a prepared set of changes to the ticket in front of an agent: a comment, a status, a tag, an assignee, custom field values, or all of them at once.
It is manual by design. Triggers and automations run themselves, a macro runs because an agent chose it, which makes macros the right tool whenever judgement is involved.
Building a library agents use
Most macro libraries fail the same way: too many macros, badly named, so agents give up and type the reply by hand.
When a macro is the wrong tool
If it should happen every time without judgement, that is a trigger. If it should happen after a delay, that is an automation. If it needs to look at another ticket, no macro will do it.
The last case comes up constantly with duplicates. Agents build a "this is a duplicate, see other ticket" macro, which documents the problem neatly and does nothing about the fact that two agents already answered.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a macro and a trigger?+
A macro is applied by an agent on purpose. A trigger runs automatically when a ticket is created or updated.
How many macros should we have?+
As few as cover your genuinely repetitive replies. Thirty well-named macros used daily beat two hundred nobody can find.
Stop needing the duplicate macro
When duplicates are merged on arrival, nobody has to write "this is a duplicate" ever again.
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