Zoho SalesIQ

Connect your Zoho SalesIQ account to Cevro for automated AI support

This guide covers what you need to know about the Cevro + Zoho SalesIQ integration — how conversations are handled, how escalations work, and what settings you can configure.

Your Customer Success Manager handles the initial integration setup (OAuth, webhooks, operator creation). This guide covers how the integration works and what your team can configure.

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How It Works

Once connected, Cevro operates as a dedicated operator in your Zoho SalesIQ account:

1. A player starts a chat on your website via the SalesIQ widget
2. The conversation is routed to Cevro’s operator
3. Cevro’s AI handles the conversation — authenticating the player, looking up account data, and resolving their request
4. If the AI can’t resolve the issue, it escalates to your human support team

Cevro stays online 24/7 through an automated presence system (Sentinel), so your AI agent is always available.

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Brands & Multi-Brand Support

If you operate multiple brands in Zoho SalesIQ, each brand can be independently configured:

• Automated brands — Cevro handles conversations with AI
• Non-automated brands — Conversations pass through to your human agents immediately

You can toggle automation per brand in Settings > Brands within the Cevro dashboard.

Even non-automated brands send webhook data to Cevro for analytics. This gives you conversation volume metrics across all brands, not just automated ones.

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Escalation to Human Agents

When the AI determines a conversation needs human attention — whether the player asks for a person, the issue is too complex, or a policy requires human review — Cevro escalates the conversation to your support team.

Choosing an Escalation Mode

There are two ways Cevro can hand off conversations. You can configure this in the Cevro dashboard under Zoho SalesIQ Configuration > Escalation Routing.

Department Transfer

This is the default mode.

When a conversation is escalated, Cevro transfers it to your configured Zoho SalesIQ department queue. Your agents see the transfer request and accept it when ready.

How it works:

• Cevro sends the conversation to the department
• Zoho handles the queue and agent routing
• Agents see a transfer notification and choose to accept
• The conversation includes an internal note summarizing why it was escalated

Best for: Teams that prefer agents to manage their own queue and pick up conversations at their pace.

Direct Operator Assignment

Recommended for faster handoffs.

When a conversation is escalated, Cevro checks which operators in your department are online and available, then directly assigns the conversation to the least-busy agent — the one with the fewest active chats.

How it works:

• Cevro queries your department for online operators
• Filters out operators who are at their concurrent chat limit
• Assigns the conversation to the operator with the fewest active chats
• The agent sees the conversation appear instantly — no accept dialog needed
• If all operators are busy, Cevro retries every 3 minutes for up to 20 minutes
• If no one becomes available, falls back to department transfer

Best for: Teams that want fast, automatic handoffs with fair distribution across agents. Respects each operator’s concurrent chat limit configured in Zoho SalesIQ.

The concurrent chat limit is read from each operator’s Zoho SalesIQ settings. If an operator’s limit is set to 5 and they already have 5 active chats, Cevro skips them and assigns to the next available agent.

Cross-Department Setup (Facilitator Operator)

If your bot operators and human agents are in different Zoho SalesIQ departments (e.g., “AI Support” vs. “Live Support”), Cevro needs a way to see conversation counts across both departments for accurate load balancing.

Without this, all human operators appear to have 0 active chats — because the bot operator can only see its own department.

To fix this, configure a Facilitator Operator:

1. Create or designate a multi-department operator

   In Zoho SalesIQ, create an operator account (or repurpose an existing one) that belongs to both the bot department and the human agent department. This operator doesn’t handle chats — it’s only used for API queries.

2. Ensure it's connected to Cevro

   The facilitator operator must be connected to your Cevro workspace with valid OAuth credentials. Use the Connect Operator button on the Zoho SalesIQ settings page to authorize it, or ask your CSM to help.

3. Set it in the dashboard

   Go to Zoho SalesIQ Configuration > Escalation Routing and select the operator from the Facilitator Operator dropdown.

You only need a facilitator operator if bot and human operators are in different Zoho departments. If everyone is in the same department, load balancing works automatically.

Setting the Escalation Department

You need to tell Cevro which Zoho SalesIQ department should receive escalated conversations:

1. Go to Zoho SalesIQ Configuration in the Cevro dashboard
2. Under Escalation Routing, select your department from the Default Department dropdown
3. Save the configuration

Without a department configured, escalations will fail. Make sure at least the default department is set before going live.

If different brands need to escalate to different departments, your CSM can configure per-brand department overrides.

What Happens When No One Is Available

If no human agents are online or available to take the conversation:

1. Cevro sends the player a message letting them know no agents are currently available
2. A full conversation transcript is emailed to your brand’s escalation email address (configured in Settings > Brands)
3. The conversation is closed in Zoho SalesIQ

This ensures no player request is lost, even outside business hours.

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Settings Reference

These settings are available in the Cevro dashboard under Zoho SalesIQ Configuration:

Setting	Description
Default Department	The Zoho SalesIQ department where escalated conversations are sent. Required for escalation to work.
Escalation Mode	Choose between Department Transfer (agents accept manually) or Direct Operator Assignment (automatic, least-busy-first routing).
Facilitator Operator	An operator with access to multiple Zoho departments, used for accurate load balancing when bot and human operators are in different departments. Only needed with Direct Operator Assignment.
Chat Pickup Behavior	Whether Cevro picks up new conversations immediately or waits for a transfer from your Zoho chatbot. Enable “Wait for transfer” if you have a Zoho chatbot handling initial engagement.
Player Authentication	Automatically verify player identity using data your website passes to the SalesIQ widget (e.g., player ID, session data).
Country Detection	Automatically detect the player’s country from the page URL they’re chatting from (e.g., /en-gb/ → United Kingdom).

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FAQ

Can I use both escalation modes for different brands?

The escalation mode is set at the workspace level and applies to all brands. If you need different behavior per brand, talk to your CSM about per-brand configuration options.

What happens if an operator goes offline mid-assignment?

If Cevro tries to assign a conversation to an operator who has gone offline, Zoho returns an error. Cevro automatically tries the next available operator. If all attempts fail, it falls back to department transfer.

How does Cevro stay online 24/7?

Cevro uses an automated presence system (Sentinel) that maintains an active session in Zoho SalesIQ. This keeps the AI operator’s status set to “Available” around the clock, with automatic recovery if the session drops.

Do I need to update the webhook when I add new brands?

Yes. When you add a new brand in Zoho SalesIQ, you need to update the webhook workflow to include the new brand. Go to Zoho SalesIQ > Settings > Developer > Workflows > Data Workflows, edit the Cevro webhook, and add the new brand.

Does direct operator assignment respect chat limits?

Yes. Cevro reads each operator’s maximum concurrent chat setting from Zoho SalesIQ. Operators at their limit are skipped. The default limit is 5 if not explicitly configured in Zoho.

Why do all operators show 0 active chats in load balancing?

This happens when your bot operators and human agents are in different Zoho SalesIQ departments. The bot can only see conversations in its own department. Configure a Facilitator Operator (an account that belongs to both departments) to give Cevro cross-department visibility. See the Direct Operator Assignment section above.