Migrating to Octocom
A practical playbook for moving from Zendesk, Gorgias or another help desk: ticket history, macros, users, views, email inboxes, contact forms and your help center.
Moving your help desk to Octocom is straightforward. Our team uses AI agents and APIs to transfer your ticket history, macros and working setup. Once your team is ready, we coordinate the switch of your email inboxes and other support channels.
With API access to your current help desk, most of the transfer can be automated. You do not need to copy tickets or saved replies by hand. Whether you use Zendesk, Gorgias or another help desk, the same principles apply, and our team guides the move.
How long does it take?
A straightforward migration can be completed within one business day when access is ready and your team wants to move quickly. Some teams prefer extra time to test, double-check their setup or introduce one brand at a time. That is fine too: we agree on a switchover time that works for you.
The main dependencies are access to your current help desk, someone who can connect your email inboxes, and any website changes needed for contact forms. If you need DNS changes, allow time for those to take effect. We confirm the scope and timing with you before moving live traffic.
What we move
Most migrations come down to a few familiar things:
| Item | What happens |
|---|---|
| Ticket history | We import the history you want to retain, whether that is recent months or several years, so agents can look up past customer conversations. |
| Macros and saved replies | We transfer the reply library and adapt placeholders and actions to Octocom's macros. |
| Users and teams | We invite or set up your agents, team membership and appropriate permissions. |
| Views and folders | We recreate the queues your team needs as views, filtered by brand, team, status or other criteria. You can also refine them as you go. |
| Email inboxes | We connect your support addresses and coordinate when incoming email starts reaching Octocom. |
| Contact forms | Your IT team reconnects forms on your website using our documentation. Copilot can add a contact form to your Octocom help center. |
| Help center | If you want to move it to Octocom, we help transfer articles and prepare the replacement site. Your team updates links on your own website. |
Imported ticket history is a read-only archive, separate from live tickets. It gives agents context without filling their active queue or triggering replies to old conversations. Before the move, we agree how to handle tickets still awaiting an answer: finish them in the old system or arrange their continuation with our team. Importing history alone does not turn an unfinished ticket into a live Octocom ticket.
What we need from you
To get started, share:
- Your current help desk and API access. Our team will guide you through providing the necessary access securely.
- The brands and support addresses you want to move, plus someone who can connect the mailboxes or change forwarding and DNS if needed.
- Your agent list and any team or brand separation you want to keep.
- How much history you want to retain, and any open tickets that need attention during the move.
- Your contact forms and help center, plus the person on your team responsible for updating website forms and links.
- Your preferred timing, and any unusual automations or integrations you rely on.
You do not need to design every view or folder before launch. Many teams switch their inboxes and adjust those details as they start working.
The migration playbook
1. Prepare your workspace
We agree on the brands, channels and history to move, then set up users, macros and the initial views. We also check the integrations your agents need, such as store and order information.
The everyday workflow will feel familiar: find a ticket in a view, reply, assign, tag, close or snooze it. The agent guide covers those basics. A short walkthrough helps your team understand which queues need their attention and how to close resolved tickets.
2. Try it first, if you want to
Testing beforehand is optional. We can help you set up a trial business, invite your team and connect an inactive or dedicated test inbox. Send test emails, try your macros and views, and see how replies and assignments work before moving live support.
Select the test business before connecting its inbox. Keep live support routing unchanged until you are ready to switch.
Teams already comfortable with the workflow can move straight to the switchover after the setup is ready.
3. Transfer history and prepare your other entry points
Our team imports the agreed history and checks the transferred setup. We account for any new activity in the old system before completing the move.
Forms on your website: your IT team is responsible for changing these. We provide the contact form guide and help with questions, but cannot edit your website. A form that emails your support address may only need its delivery checked; a form that sends directly to the old help desk needs reconnecting. Test that submissions arrive under the customer's email address so agents can reply correctly.
Forms in your Octocom help center: Copilot can add a contact form page for you. If changing your existing website form is difficult, a quick option is to point your website's Contact Us links to that page. This can help when IT is unavailable but someone on your team can update website links.
Help center: you can keep your existing site or move it to Octocom. With Copilot, you can build and maintain a help center using the customer portal, including custom pages and forms. If moving it, we help transfer articles, preserve the intended public/private visibility, and coordinate domain changes. Your team updates links on your website. Also check links in articles and saved replies, including how visitors using old article URLs will reach the new content.
4. Switch your email inboxes
This is the main go-live step. Depending on your provider, you connect Gmail or Outlook, use SMTP/IMAP, or configure forwarding with Octocom Mail. The email setup guide explains the options.
At the agreed time, we coordinate the email connection or forwarding changes and stop the old help desk from processing the same incoming mail. Your IT team switches any forms, links or widgets on your website included in the move. If Octocom's AI already works through your old help desk, we also switch that integration to direct handling in Octocom.
We check that a new email arrives, an agent can answer from the correct support address, and the customer's reply comes back. We also test a reply to an older email thread and each contact form. Your team then works from Octocom, with ours available to help with adjustments.
5. Refine as you go
Views, folders and assignment rules are easy to adjust as the team settles in. Copilot can help configure your workspace, and our team can help translate your existing way of working into Octocom.
Moving the help desk and enabling AI replies are separate decisions. Your human agents can work in Octocom while AI replies remain off, or you can enable AI only for selected inboxes when ready.
Can we move one brand or channel first?
Yes. If your brands or channels have clearly separate responsibilities, you can move one first and expand afterwards. For example, one brand's email inbox or a team's chat conversations can move while the rest stay in the current system.
Agree which system handles each inbox, form and channel during that period. A gradual move means some coordination across two systems; a direct switchover keeps the whole team together. Either approach works, and a phased rollout is optional.
What if a customer replies to an old email thread?
Customers can keep replying to their existing emails. The reply needs to reach an address connected or forwarded to Octocom. We check the old system's reply addresses as part of the move, including any provider-owned addresses that may still depend on its routing.
If the reply belongs to a thread Octocom does not recognise, it can arrive as a new live conversation. The agent can consult the customer's imported history in the sidebar and continue helping them. The archived ticket remains a separate record; importing it does not guarantee that a new reply will be appended to it.
This is why we test an actual pre-migration email thread during the switchover. For ongoing Octocom conversations, see email auto-merging.
What about complex automations or custom sidebars?
Most companies do not need an extensive automation review. If you have a more involved setup, such as custom sidebar apps, sophisticated routing or integrations that update other systems, let our team know before the move.
We will review what those tools do and help recreate the required behavior using Octocom's REST API, sidebar widgets, sidebar actions, configurable permissions and automations.
Could we switch back if needed?
Yes. We have never needed to move a customer back to their previous help desk, but the option is there. Our team can help restore email routing and use APIs and AI agents to transfer the conversations handled during the Octocom period back to the previous system.
There would be some operational disruption while routing and records are reconciled. We would coordinate that work with you, including what the previous system's API can import. Keep access to the old system until the migration has been checked and your team is comfortable.
Ready to move? Contact your Octocom account manager or our team with your current help desk, the brands and inboxes involved, and your preferred timing. We will help make the migration easy.