Managing activities in Zoho Desk — tasks, calls, and events — is straightforward once you understand how the Activities module is structured and what each activity type is designed for. This guide, from Beam Help (independent expert support for Zoho, not official Zoho support), walks you through the core actions you'll need.
Why this matters
The Activities module in Zoho Desk is the central hub for tracking all work items that agents and teams need to complete. Whether you're logging a customer phone call, scheduling a follow-up event, or assigning a task to a colleague, keeping activities organised directly impacts response quality and SLA compliance. Without a clear process for managing these items, work falls through the cracks and customer interactions go untracked. [1]
Step-by-step
Step 1. Understand the three activity types.
Zoho Desk's Activities module covers three distinct item types: tasks, calls, and events. Tasks are discrete work items with a defined deadline — either standalone (such as sending a follow-up document) or linked to a specific ticket. Calls represent logged phone interactions with customers. Events are time-bound, location-specific activities with a set duration. Knowing which type to use ensures your records stay meaningful and searchable. [1]
Step 2. Navigate to the Activities module.
From your Zoho Desk portal, open the Activities module. This is where you can create and monitor all tasks, calls, and events in one place. Each activity record stores key metadata including start time, duration, priority level, and current status — all accessible directly from within the record. [2]
Step 3. Add, edit, or delete a task.
To create a task, open the Tasks section within Activities and select the option to add a new task. Provide a title, set a due date, assign a priority, and optionally link the task to an existing ticket. To edit an existing task, open the record and update the relevant fields. To remove a task that is no longer needed, use the delete option within the task record. Tasks are listed both on the Tasks home page and inside their associated ticket records. [2]
Step 4. Assign a task owner.
Every task requires an owner — the agent responsible for seeing it through to completion. When creating or editing a task, you can assign it to yourself or to any other agent on your team. Keep in mind that task ownership can also be set automatically through automation rules, so it's worth reviewing your workflow configuration if tasks are being assigned unexpectedly. [1]
Step 5. Add, edit, or delete a call.
Calls are among the most critical activity types in a support environment. To log a call, navigate to the Calls section and create a new record. Capture details such as the call direction (inbound or outbound), duration, and outcome. Logging calls consistently helps your team track call volume, identify recurring issues, and maintain a complete history of customer interactions. Edit or delete call records using the options within each record. [1]
Step 6. Add, edit, or delete an event.
If you need to schedule an activity that has a specific place, time, and duration — such as an on-site visit or a product demo — use the Events section. Zoho Desk's built-in event manager lets you and your team create, modify, and remove events as needed. Open the Events section, create a new event, fill in the location, start time, and duration, then save. To update or remove an event, open the record and use the edit or delete controls. [1]
Step 7. Use task views to stay organised.
Zoho Desk provides pre-defined task views that let you filter your task list by criteria such as completion status or due date — for example, viewing only tasks due today or only completed tasks. You can also create custom views to filter records based on your own criteria. If you accumulate too many custom views over time, use the archive option to tidy them up without permanently deleting them. [2]
Step 8. Search for activity records.
Rather than scrolling through long lists, use the Search option within Zoho Desk to locate specific activity records. The search function works across multiple modules — including Tickets, Customers, Articles, Products, and Activities — saving time when you need to find a particular call, task, or event quickly. [2]
Step 9. Mark an activity as spam if needed.
If an activity record is found to be irrelevant or erroneous, Zoho Desk allows you to mark it as spam. This is available for calls, tasks, and events associated with contacts or tickets. The spam marking option is accessible from within the individual activity record. [2]
Common pitfalls
- Forgetting to link activities to tickets. Tasks and calls can be standalone or ticket-associated. If your team expects all activities to be traceable back to a ticket, make sure agents are linking records at creation time rather than leaving them as orphaned standalone items. [1]
- Over-accumulating custom views. It's easy to create many custom list views over time. If your Activities view list becomes unwieldy, use the archive feature to reduce clutter without losing the view configuration entirely. [2]
- Relying solely on manual task assignment. Task owners can be set through automation rules as well as manually. If you notice tasks being reassigned unexpectedly, check your automation configuration — rules may be overriding manual assignments. [1]
What to check
- Confirm that each task has an assigned owner and a clear due date before saving, so nothing sits unowned in the queue. [1]
- Verify that calls are being logged consistently by all agents, including duration and outcome, to maintain an accurate record of customer interactions. [1]
- After creating custom views, review the full list periodically and archive any that are no longer actively used to keep navigation clean and efficient. [2]