Overview
- Understand the customer: read a customer's contact, company and related deals.
- Keep contact records useful: create a contact, correct their name or phone number, or add a note when an action is approved.
Zoho CRM and Zoho Desk
Zoho CRM and Zoho Desk may share a Zoho account, but they are separate connections with different capabilities.
The journey at a glance
- 1Find Zoho CRMOpen Integrations, search for Zoho and click Connect.
- 2Connect Zoho CRMChoose Zoho CRM and your data centre, then sign in and approve.
- 3Check the Zoho CRM pageSee the connection details and use Test connection.
- 4Set up Actions and approvalsSwitch on the Zoho CRM actions this agent needs and choose when they wait for approval.
- 5Try itAsk a read question in the Playground, then test a change.
- 6Review pending approvalsSee why approval was needed, then approve or reject in the Approval Queue.
Before you start
You need:
- A Zoho CRM account that can authorize the requested access.
- The data centre where your Zoho account is hosted.
- Access to the Contacts, Accounts and Deals modules the agent will need.
Find your Zoho data centre
Cevanos asks for one detail when you connect:
| Field in Cevanos | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Data centre | The region where your Zoho account is hosted: .com, .eu, .in, .com.au or .jp. |
- 1Open Zoho CRM and look at your Zoho account or CRM web address.
- 2Match its region to the Data centre field. For example, accounts.zoho.in is .in and accounts.zoho.eu is .eu.
No API key
You do not create a Zoho API key, client ID or client secret. You authorize Cevanos through the Zoho sign-in screen.
Step 1
Find Zoho CRM
- 1In Cevanos, go to Agents and select the agent you want to set up.
- 2Under Deployment, open Integrations.
- 3Use the search box or the category filters to find Zoho.
Result
You are ready to connect. Click Connect.
Step 2
Connect Zoho CRM
2a. Choose Zoho CRM
The Connect Zoho pop-up asks you to choose a product. Click Zoho CRM. Each product is connected on its own.
2b. Choose the data centre
In Data centre, enter the region that matches your Zoho account, then click Connect Zoho CRM.
2c. Approve access in Zoho
- 1Sign in to Zoho if asked, and select the correct account.
- 2Review the permissions requested for contacts, accounts, deals and permitted contact changes.
- 3Approve to continue.
2d. Connected
Return to Cevanos and check that Zoho CRM shows Connected.
Result
Zoho CRM is connected. Next, choose which actions each agent can use.
Step 3
Check the Zoho CRM page
- 1Open Agents → your agent → Deployment → Integrations.
- 2Click the connected Zoho CRM card to see the connection details and status.
- 3Click Test connection to check whether access is still working.
Result
You can confirm Zoho CRM is connected and still reachable.
Step 4
Set up Actions and approvals
Turn on the actions you need
- 1Go to Agents and select the agent you want to configure.
- 2Open the agent's Actions tab and click the Zoho CRM card.
- 3Turn on the actions the agent should be able to use. The switches save as you change them.
- 4Review the approval setting for any action that changes information in Zoho CRM.
Not on by default
A connected account does not automatically give every agent all actions. You decide which actions each agent can use.
Choose when an action needs approval
- Run without approval: when the agent has enough information and the request passes the checks that apply, it carries out the action without waiting for a team member.
- Wait for approval: the agent prepares the action but does not carry it out yet. A team member with approval access approves or declines it. Waiting actions appear in Pending actions; policy-controlled requests can also appear in Governance → Approval Queue.
The Zoho CRM-wide setting applies to every action by default. On a specific change action, you can choose Same as the system, Run without approval or Wait for approval. Read actions do not need an approval setting.
Governance policies
Run without approval does not override an active Governance policy. A policy may require approval even when an action is switched on or set to run without approval.
Result
You know which Zoho CRM actions this agent can use and which wait for approval.
Step 5
Try it
- 1Open the agent's Playground.
- 2Use a test customer who exists in Zoho CRM when testing personal information.
- 3Ask a question that uses a read action first.
- 4For a change action, check whether the request ran, needs customer confirmation, or is waiting for approval.
- 5Check the outcome in Zoho CRM before treating the change as complete.
| Ask | What to check |
|---|---|
| “Is there an active deal associated with my account?” | The agent looks up the customer, finds their linked deals and explains the details without changing any CRM records. |
Result
Your agent answers from Zoho CRM for the matched customer.
Step 6
Review pending approvals
If Governance is set up for this agent, a policy may require approval for a Zoho CRM request.
- 1In the Playground, send a request that uses an enabled action.
- 2If the result says Approval required, open Governance → Monitoring & Audits to see the decision and the policy that applied.
- 3Open Governance → Approval Queue, select Pending and click Review beside the request.
- 4An authorized reviewer approves or rejects the proposed action. For an operation with several steps, one approval can cover all the steps shown.
- 5After approval, check the execution status and confirm the outcome in Zoho CRM.
Result
You know whether the change was made. Approval is not the same as successful completion.
Reference
What Zoho CRM can do
Each action is available separately. Every one works on the customer matched in the conversation.
7 capabilities · 4 reads · 3 that change something
- Matched customer
Find this customer
Finds the matched customer's contact record.
zoho_crm.find_contact - Matched customer
Find this customer's company
Finds the account connected to that customer.
zoho_crm.get_account - Matched customer
Find this customer's deals
Lists deals linked to the customer.
zoho_crm.list_deals_for_contact - Matched customer
Read one of this customer's deals
Reads details for a specific deal associated with the matched customer.
zoho_crm.get_deal
- Matched customer
Log a note on this customer's contact
Adds a note to the identified customer's contact record.
zoho_crm.log_note - Matched customer
Create this customer's contact
Creates the contact if there is not already a matching one.
- Matched customer
Correct this customer's name or phone
Updates name or phone information on the customer's own contact. The email address is not changed.
Good to know
Only customer-linked CRM information is retrieved. This integration does not expose your team's internal notes as a read action.
Troubleshooting
| Problem | What to check |
|---|---|
| I chose the wrong data centre | Disconnect the incorrect connection and connect again using the region shown in your Zoho account web address. |
| A deal is not found | Make sure the person can be matched to a contact and that the deal is actually associated with that contact. |
| A contact change is waiting | Open Governance → Approval Queue or the agent's Pending actions view to see the request's status. |
Optional
Disconnect Zoho CRM
- 1Open Agents → your agent → Deployment → Integrations and click the Zoho CRM card.
- 2Click Disconnect to remove Cevanos's access to the account.
Your data stays
Disconnecting does not delete records in Zoho CRM.
Help from Zoho CRM
Ready to connect Zoho CRM?
Open your agent's Integrations and click Connect on the Zoho CRM card.