Installing the Dropzone Connector for Freshdesk (Google Apps Script) [Legacy]

Our Dropzone Connector for Freshdesk allows you to integrate your SendSafely Hosted Dropzone with your Freshdesk portal. This Connector is available on the SendSafely Business and Enterprise plans.

NOTE: This Google Apps Script connector is a legacy offering, and as such, is not maintained for robust performance. Although it should suffice during a trial of SendSafely, our AWS, Azure, or GCP connector will be stabler, more secure, and better suited for use in a production environment.

Below are the steps for creating and configuring a Dropzone connector for Freshdesk using Google Apps Script. You should host the Google Apps Connector in your Google Workspace environment.

Once configured, the connector updates existing Freshdesk tickets with SendSafely secure links for file downloads. The connector uses the Dropzone lookup field (TicketID) to associate inbound files with the appropriate ticket in Freshdesk. This value can either be entered by the customer at the time of Dropzone file submission, or, more commonly, embedded in the Dropzone URL provided to the customer by the agent.

NOTE: The Freshdesk Portal hostname should end in freshdesk.com. If you are using a custom domain for your Freshdesk Portal you will still need to use the freshdesk.com hostname here. 

Step 1 - Obtain a Freshdesk API Token 

Obtain a Freshdesk API Token for the connector script to use. For this step, you'll need to be logged into Freshdesk with the identity you want the connector to use for updating tickets. Follow the steps outlined in this Freshdesk support article. 

For security purposes, SendSafely recommends regularly rotating API tokens. Note that SendSafely will, under certain circumstances, host a prospective customer’s connector for them during a pilot period. On conversion, we require the customer to generate a new API token upon transitioning to a self-hosted connector.

Step 2 - Enable your SendSafely Dropzone 

If you have not already done so, follow the instructions outlined here to turn on your SendSafely Dropzone. We recommend that you configure your Dropzone under a Service, or Alias account such as [e-mail] and then add each agent's named user account as a Dropzone Recipient.  This article provides instructions on managing Dropzones configured under service accounts as a SendSafely Administrator.

Step 3 - Configure and Deploy the Connector in Apps Script 

The Google Apps Script bridges the SendSafely Dropzone and the Freshdesk platform. The script ingests the SendSafely-generated secure link and related metadata, and updates the target Freshdesk ticket via the Freshdesk API from Step 1 above. If the ticket is unable to be updated via the API call, a notification email is sent to the Dropzone owner and file submitter.

To proceed, make sure you have a copy of the latest SendSafely Dropzone Connector Google Apps Script. You can request a copy from [e-mail], if not already provided.

Copy the Connector Template into your Google Drive.

Note: the account you are logged into Google Drive with will be the account used for sending notification emails if the Freshdesk update fails, for example when the customer provides an invalid ticket number. As such, you will want to use a generic login or configure your account to be able to send email on behalf of a generic alias (see here for steps on how to configure sending on-behalf-of in Gmail: https://support.google.com/mail/answer/22370?hl=en).

a. From the Spreadsheet view, select the “Extensions” menu, and then “Apps Script".

i. Navigate to the Editor > Code.gs view. Select setup from the dropdown menu then click Run. You will be prompted by Google to grant the necessary permissions for this script to work. Click “Allow”.

ii. Navigate to the Project Settings (gear icon) and scroll to the Script Properties section. Click the Edit script properties button to populate the following:

• company_name - Your company's name as you want it to appear within notification messages.
• freshdesk_portal_url - Your Freshdesk portal address (ie company.freshdesk.com or support.company.com)
• freshdesk_user_api_key - Your API Key for Freshdesk obtained from Step 1 above.  
• isPublic- controls whether the SendSafely secure links to uploaded files are posted to the ticket as public or internal notes. Defaults to "false", meaning secure links are posted as internal notes. 
• sender_email - This should be the user that owns/runs the connector. If this user is authorized by Gmail to send email on behalf of another address, you can choose another authorized address.
• sendsafely_validation_key - The Dropzone Validation Key for the account that owns the Dropzone. You can obtain this value from the "Dropzone" section of the "Edit Profile" screen in the SendSafely portal

iii. Click the blue Deploy button in the top right corner.

• From the Dropdown, choose "New deployment"
• Select "Web app" as deployment type.
• Under "Execute as" choose "Me"
• Under "Who has access" choose "Anyone"

Note: Anonymous users will only be able to execute the script but not view its contents. For security purposes, the script also only accepts data that is encrypted using the shared validation key.

b. After pressing "Deploy" copy the Current web app URL and perform the following steps to update the SendSafely Dropzone Webhook and Form Input Label. 

• Log into the SendSafely web portal and navigate to Edit Profile-> Dropzone.
• Paste the copied URL into the "Use a Webhook for notifications:" under Notification Settings.
• If you have not already done so, update the "Form Input Label" option to say "Freshdesk Ticket ID" (instead of "Name"). 

Step 4 - Add a Canned Response to Freshdesk for Inserting the Dropzone Link

In order to make it convenient for agents to send the correct Dropzone link to customers, we recommend creating a General Canned Response in Freshdesk that can be used to automatically insert the Dropzone link into an agent's reply. To create the canned response, browse to Admin > HelpDesk Productivity > Canned Responses > General Folder > Add New Canned Response. Next, add a descriptive title and include the Dropzone URL in the message body.

Note that the Dropzone URL also allows you to pre-populate the ticket ID in the URL so that your customer does not have to know the correct ticket ID to use. Click the Insert Placeholder button to insert the {{ticket.id}} placeholder within the Freshdesk Canned response template. This will automatically insert the correct ticket ID in the URL as demonstrated below.

https://demo.sendsafely.com/dropzone/freshdesk/{{ticket.id}}

 

Once the canned response has been saved, agents will have the option to use the canned response from the bottom of the agent console when replying to a ticket.

Step 5 - Test the Dropzone using a valid Ticket

Once you complete the steps above, you should be able to browse to the Dropzone URL and update any valid ticket. The following diagram depicts the logic implemented within the connector and shows what actions will result under various circumstances.

For additional assistance setting up the Freshdesk Dropzone Connector, contact [e-mail].