Importance of Data Security in Zoho Desk
Introduction
Security is more important than ever especially for businesses handling customer data online. Whether you’re running a large enterprise or a growing e commerce business, it’s vital to control who can access what is within your support system.
Zoho Desk offers robusttools to help UK businesses manage help desk security through role-based access control, field level restrictions, and data sharing rules. In this guide, we’ll show you how to secure your Zoho Desk workspace, step by step.
Step-by-Step Instructions:
1. Create and Manage Roles
Roles define the hierarchy within your help desk and determine who reports to whom. Think of roles like job titles. E.g. CEO, Support Manager, Agent, etc.
To manage roles:
- Go to Setup > User Management > Roles
- Click Add Role
- Enter the role name (e.g. Supervisor)
- Select a reporting manager
- Click Save
2. Set Up Teams for Better Collaboration
Teams allow you to group agents so they can work together on shared tickets, regardless of their individual roles or departments.
To create a team:
- Go to Setup > User Management > Teams
- Click Add Team
- Name the team and assign members
- Set team responsibilities and access
3. Define Profiles and Permissions
Profiles in Zoho Desk control what users can do from replying to tickets to modifying layouts.
To create or edit a profile:
- Go to Setup > User Management > Profiles
- Click New Profile or select an existing one
- Set permissions for:
- Modules (e.g. Tickets, Contacts)
- Features (e.g. Email replies, Tag management)
- Administrative functions (e.g. Manage Teams, Rebranding)
- Click Save
4. Control Data Sharing Rules
Want to control how data flows across your organisation? Data Sharing Rules let you decide who can view, edit, or delete records whether it’s managers, peers, or teams across departments.
Access levels include:
- Private Only the record owner and their superior can view/edit
- Public Read Only Everyone can view, but not edit/delete
- Public Read/Write/Delete Full access to all records
To manage sharing rules:
- Go to Setup > User Management > Data Sharing
- Click Edit Data Sharing
- Set the appropriate access level for each module
- Click Save
5. Enable Field Level Security
Not every agent needs access to every field. Field level security allows you to control which profile you can see, edit, or hide specific fields in a module (e.g. customer phone numbers, financial data).
To manage field access:
- Go to Setup > Customisation > Layouts and Fields
- Select a module (e.g. Tickets)
- Choose the field you want to manage
- Set visibility for each profile
Tips for Strengthening Help Desk Security
- Use "Least Privilege": Only give users the access they need to do their job.
- Review permissions regularly as roles and teams evolve.
- Enable audit logging (in Enterprise plan) to track changes.
- Train team leaders on security best practices in Zoho Desk.
