Tier 1 (Chat) → Tier 2 (Email) Escalation Flow

Same ticket, one continuous conversation, channel switches from live chat to email partway through. Native Zendesk config only, no custom middleware.

Chat channel Email channel Automated (trigger/macro/SLA) Manual agent action Untested / blocked
1
Customer starts a conversation
Automated

Customer opens the messaging widget (Sunshine Conversations-based). Conversation routes straight to a human Tier 1 agent: Zendesk's built-in AI Agent has been disconnected from the messaging channel, so it no longer intercepts new conversations.

Chat
2
Email captured automatically, the moment chat opens
Automated (native)

Zendesk's built-in "Request email" flow fires immediately at conversation start: email is auto-added to the requester's profile, and the customer is automatically sent a verification link to confirm it. No agent action needed here.

Chat
3
Tier 1 handles the conversation live
Normal chat

Standard live chat handling. Email is already on file from step 2, so no email ask or manual entry is needed at this stage.

Chat
4
Agent decides to escalate
Manual decision

Tier 1 agent judges the conversation needs Tier 2. No data entry required at this point, the email capture already happened automatically in step 2.

Chat
5
Agent applies macro: Escalate to Tier 2 – Continue via Email
Automated (once triggered)

Single macro action sets: public reply + Group → Tier 2 + Status → Open + tag escalated_to_tier2. The public reply is the entire "informing" step: it tells the customer Tier 2 will follow up by email, and that they're welcome to close the chat window and await the email. There is no channel selector and no call option offered anywhere in this flow. The agent never picks a channel, they just tell the customer email is coming next.

5a
Agent adds internal handoff note
Manual

Separate internal note summarising the issue so Tier 2 doesn't have to re-ask the customer what's wrong. Not part of the macro, added manually straight after. A macro can only add one comment, so this can't be folded into step 5.

No channel switch happens here: customer was just told email is coming
6
Messaging trigger fires in the background: customer sees nothing further
Automated

Messaging trigger (fires on tag escalated_to_tier2) runs its "Send message to customer" action as a backend backstop, but this does not actually add anything visible to the chat. The customer doesn't see any further notification beyond the macro's reply in step 5; there's no native release-control/switchboard action at trigger level either, so the widget can't be forced to visually "close."

Chat
7
SLA policy starts the clock
Automated

Regular SLA policy (not Group SLA): condition tag escalated_to_tier2, metric Next reply time = 4 business hours.

8
Ticket routes to Tier 2
Automated

Omnichannel routing ("reassign tickets through queues") reroutes the ticket to Tier 2. Backstop trigger Tier 2 handoff – catch manual reassignment catches any case where an agent manually changes the Group instead of using the macro, applying the same tag/autoreply/status so nothing bypasses the customer notice or SLA. Unverified: whether Tier 2 agents need messaging-channel capacity/availability configured for auto-assignment to work, given they don't work live chat.

9
Tier 2 agent selects Email as the reply channel
Manual, easy to miss

Tier 2 agent opens the ticket, sees the internal handoff note for context, and manually selects Email as the reply channel on their first reply. This is a deliberate agent action, not automatic. From that point on, the conversation continues natively via email: the customer receives a plain, reply-able email, and their replies route back into the same ticket.