Deleting an agent

Deleting an agent

Sometimes agents in your organization may quit or move to a different business unit. In such cases, you could delete those users after transferring ownership of their records to other agents.

What happens to deleted agents? 
When you delete an agent, that agent is permanently archived, and they can no longer access your Zoho Desk account. The agent is only archived and not removed to maintain the information of records they had handled in the past, e.g., tickets, activities, etc. This way, any tickets or activities closed by the deleted agent will continue to have their name.

How about open tickets and activities? 
Before you delete an agent, you must make sure that the rest of your team handles any tickets or activities that were being owned by that agent. The agent themselves could reassign their tickets before they prepare to leave. If not done, you could reassign them in bulk while deleting the agent.

Deactivate vs. Delete agent?
Deactivate an agent if you want them to be activated later. Say, for example, your staffing needs change and you want to reduce your licenses temporarily, or you employ part-time or seasonal agents who you know will be back on your payroll.
Delete an agent if they leave your company permanently. An agent once deleted cannot be restored. Additionally, only deleted agent can be anonymized (more on this follows).

What is "anonymize agent" option?
Agent anonymization has been provided to support the 'right to be forgotten' as outlined in the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) for data subjects who reside in the European Union. When you anonymize an agent, their personal information is erased in such a way that is no longer identifiable. The full name, email addresses, phone numbers, bio, etc., are permanently erased.

Also, you can enter a nickname to identify the agent you are anonymizing - the nickname appears in place of the agent's original name. If a nickname is not entered, the name will be "Anonymous Agent."

Note:
  • You can anonymize agents only at the time of or after deleting an agent.

How thorough is the anonymization?
Anonymized agents will have their references removed from across the product. For example, the tickets and activities closed by them will show as "Anonymous Agent." Also, their full name, email addresses, phone numbers, photo, bio, etc., are permanently erased.

How to track deleted agents?
You can see a list of all deleted agents under the Deleted Agents tab of the Agents settings page. Plus you can anonymize deleted agents from here. Note that the tab shows only the deleted agents and not those who were anonymized.

Anything else that I should know?
Here are some important pieces of information that you should be aware of before deleting agents.
  1. You cannot delete the following users from Zoho Desk:
    • Yourself
    • Primary Contact or the Super Admin
    • The lone agent in a department
    • The agents who have set up Zoho Cliq, Live Chat or Twilio integration

  2. A deleted agent will no longer count towards your agent limit. However, you will still be charged for the subscribed number of license seats until you downgrade them.
  3. The automation rules that used to assign tickets and tasks to a deleted agent will henceforth assign them to the agents specified during deletion.
  4. You cannot restore deleted agents. However, you can add them back as a new agent on the same email address.

How to delete an agent?
You can delete an agent so that they won't be able to log into your Zoho Desk account.

To delete an agent:
  1. Click the Setup icon (  ) in the top bar.
  2. In the Setup Landing page, click Agents under Users and Control.
  3. Hover your mouse pointer and click the Delete icon (  ) corresponding to the agent.
  4. Click Delete Agent on the following screen.
  5. For an agent assigned with open tickets or activities, continue with the following:
    • Use the drop boxes to specify the agents that you would like to take over the tickets and activities.
    • You may need to do this for each department the agent belongs to.
    • Click Delete Agent.
  6. Click Yes, I understand. Delete Now to confirm the deletion.
    The agent will be moved over to the     Deleted Agents tab.

Note:
  • You can't delete the agents who have set up Zoho Cliq, Live Chat or Twilio integration.
  • The integrations saved using the account of a deleted agent may not work as expected. You will find these integrations listed on the agent deletion page.
  • Once deleted, agents cannot be restored and must be re-added again.

How to anonymize and delete an agent?
You can anonymize the personal data of agents while you delete them.

To anonymize and delete an agent:
  1. Click the Setup icon (  ) in the top bar.
  2. In the Setup Landing page, click Agents under Users and Control.
  3. Hover your mouse pointer and click the Delete icon (  ) corresponding to the agent.



  4. On the next screen, do the following:
    • Enable the Anonymize Agent option alongside the agent's name.
    • Enter the Anonymous Name for the agent. This name is optional.
    • Reassign any open tickets or activities that are owned by the agent.
    • Click Delete Agent.
  5. Click Yes, I understand. Delete Now to confirm the deletion.

Note:
  • Anonymous agents are not listed under the Deleted Agents tab.
  • Once anonymized, the agent information cannot be retrieved again.

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