n8n Webhook: Manage Zendesk Tickets & Contacts via Placetel AI Calls

Turn Placetel AI calls into instant Zendesk context—without manual ticket handling

This n8n Webhook workflow lets a Placetel AI Voice Agent look up callers and then manage Zendesk users and tickets by sending an operation in each request. The workflow normalizes the caller phone number, performs the requested Zendesk action, and returns a speech-ready JSON response for the agent to read aloud.

What this workflow does

• Receives POST requests from Placetel at the POST /placetel-zendesk webhook endpoint, including an operation and caller context.
• Extracts and routes by operation using n8n logic so the correct Zendesk action runs (search/create/update).
• Normalizes caller phone numbers to a consistent German +49 format to improve matching accuracy in Zendesk.
• Caller identification: searches Zendesk users by the normalized phone number and returns speech output indicating whether a matching customer is found and/or verified.
• Ticket operations: creates callback, call-log, or regular tickets in Zendesk—or fetches/updates an existing ticket for status, internal notes, or escalation.
• Returns a JSON response containing a concise speech string plus key IDs like customer_id and ticket_id for the ongoing AI conversation.

Use cases

• When someone calls, your Placetel AI agent checks if they exist in Zendesk and speaks the result back instantly.
• Create a callback or call-log ticket automatically during the call based on the caller’s intent.
• Escalate or update an existing ticket with new status and internal notes as the conversation progresses.
• Update a Zendesk user record when the caller’s information changes.

Technical details

• Integrations/Nodes: webhook, switch, code, zendesk, sticky note, respond to webhook.
• Authentication: add a Zendesk OAuth2 credential in n8n and select it in each Zendesk node.
• Placetel setup: configure the Placetel AI Voice Agent custom tool to POST to the webhook URL and always send an operation.