Migrate from Intercom to Zendesk with precision & ease

Do I need professional help for this migration?

Yes. Professional help ensures proper field mapping and preservation of relationships between records. Our engineer-led approach catches edge cases that automated tools miss.

Does ClonePartner provide guidance before committing?

Yes. We provide a free consultation and assessment. We'll review your data structure, discuss your requirements, and provide a detailed migration plan and fixed-price quote before you commit to anything.

Do you use an off-the-shelf tool to migrate from Intercom to Zendesk, or is this built for our data?

It is built for your data. Each migration is a set of custom scripts written for your data model, not a generic import tool. That is also why we start with a sample migration: you see your own records in Zendesk before the full migration is committed.

Can we see a sample of our Intercom data migrated to Zendesk before the full migration runs?

Yes. We run a sample migration on your own data first, so you can review how your records look in Zendesk before the full migration goes ahead. We run validation scripts to confirm the record counts match your source, and you check the sample against your source records; if a field is missing or mapped wrong, or anything else needs adjusting, we fix it in the migration scripts and re-run the sample as many times as you need. The full migration only runs after you've approved the sample. On projects delivered in phases, each phase gets its own sample migration for you to approve.

How many sample migrations do we get, and can we choose which Intercom tickets go into them?

You can run the sample as many times as you need, until you are satisfied with how the data looks in Zendesk. By default it uses your most recent tickets, and you can name specific tickets to include instead, such as ones with long or complex threads you want to check.

Do we need to keep our Intercom account active during the migration?

Usually, yes. Keep it active until we confirm the migration is complete, including the final delta migration, because we read your data directly from your Intercom account throughout the project. If your subscription is due to end mid-project, extending it to cover the migration window keeps everything on track, and we tell you when it is safe to cancel. If it has to close sooner, we can pull your data out before it closes and migrate from that copy.

Will the sample tickets be removed from Zendesk before the full migration runs?

Yes, if you want them removed. Before the full run, we delete the tickets the sample migration created in Zendesk, so the full migration does not duplicate them.

Do we need to connect our support email to Zendesk before the migration from Intercom starts?

No. Your support email doesn't need to be connected for the historical tickets to migrate. It matters for go-live, and so does its timing: once Zendesk is receiving email directly, a sync run after that point can pull in the same tickets a second time, so we line the final delta sync up with your email switchover. Some items, such as rules that depend on your email channel, may need it connected before they can be migrated.

Will the original assignees, message authors and created dates be preserved?

Yes. Created-time metadata is carried across, and so are assignees and message authors who have a user account in Zendesk. Where Zendesk cannot store one of them natively, it is kept as embedded metadata on the migrated record.

If the new system can't natively support an old record type, what are my options?

We handle it case by case. While mapping your data, we identify every record type without a direct counterpart in Zendesk, review sample records from it and propose how it can be represented, based on what Zendesk supports: map it to the closest native object, create a custom field or object, fold it into the parent record as text or a note, attach it as a file, or keep it in a read-only archive. You choose the approach, we write the migration scripts to place the data there, so it comes across in the form you choose instead of being left behind, and you see how it looks in a sample migration before we run the full set.

Do you migrate our Intercom workflows, triggers and automations to Zendesk, or just the tickets?

They can be part of the migration. We recreate your existing Intercom triggers and automations in Zendesk using its own conditions and actions, and agree the exact list of rules with you during scoping. Designing new workflows beyond the ones you have today is separate, and is best done by your team or your implementation partner.

Are the times of each Intercom comment, reply and update preserved in Zendesk, not just ticket creation dates?

Yes. Each ticket's creation time is preserved exactly, and so is the time of each comment and reply, so the history shows when every update happened. The one possible exception is the ticket-level 'last updated' field, which some platforms set themselves when a ticket is written, so it may show the migration date; the original update history stays in the comment timestamps.

What happens to Intercom tickets assigned to agents who have left the team or don't have an account in Zendesk?

They still come across. Before the migration runs, you decide where they go: to a fallback owner you choose, or left unassigned where Zendesk allows it. Either way, each ticket can get a tag with the original agent's name, for example Assigned_to_Jane, so your team can still see and filter who handled it and reassign them later.

Can we leave out inactive Intercom macros and custom fields we don't use?

Yes. Scope is set for each migration, so you can limit macros to the active ones and bring across only the custom fields your team relies on. We confirm the final list with you before the migration runs, so nothing unused clutters Zendesk.

Can we merge several Intercom accounts into one Zendesk account and still tell which account each ticket came from?

Yes. Tickets from several Intercom accounts can be consolidated into one Zendesk account, and each ticket is tagged with the account it came from so your team can filter by origin. A shared migration tag can also go on every imported ticket, which keeps historical records separate from new work.

Do our Intercom ticket attachments come across to Zendesk?

Yes. Attachments are migrated along with the ticket conversations they belong to, not just the text. We can also carry over reference fields such as the original ticket number and a link back to Intercom, so your team can cross-check any record. You can review attachments and dates in the sample migration before the full run.

Our Intercom setup has custom ticket statuses that Zendesk doesn't have. How do they get mapped?

We map every Intercom status to a status in Zendesk and send you a proposed mapping for the ones that need a decision. You confirm or correct it before the full migration, and the sample migration shows exactly how your tickets' statuses land.

Which of our Intercom ticket tags carry over to Zendesk, and can migrated tickets be marked so we can tell them apart?

The tags on the tickets being migrated. Tags come across as part of each migrated ticket, so a tag that isn't on any migrated ticket isn't created in Zendesk, and you can also limit the migration to a list of tags you choose in the migration checklist. Each migration is a custom script, so we can also stamp every imported ticket with a tag such as "migrated", or, where Zendesk has custom ticket fields, a field value you choose, so they are easy to filter, and if you ask for a change after reviewing migrated tickets, we re-sync those tickets with the update. The sample migration shows exactly how your tags appear before the full run.

Will the migration set off automations or send emails or notifications to customers, our team or anyone else?

No. Before the sample or full migration starts, we confirm with you that nothing in Zendesk will send messages about the migrated data: we import with notifications switched off wherever Zendesk allows it, and either pause any automation that could send them for the migration window or give it a condition, such as a suppression tag, that skips migrated records, which lets your live automations keep running for new records. We only proceed once you have confirmed it. If you want anyone told about the move, that message is sent separately, once the migrated data has been checked.

Will you migrate our Intercom knowledge base articles as well as tickets?

Yes. Knowledge base articles can be part of the same migration as your tickets, and move into your Zendesk knowledge base.

Can we migrate only our Intercom contacts who have tickets, not our whole contact list?

Yes. We pull your tickets first, collect the distinct requesters from them, and migrate only those contact records. Contacts with no ticket history are not added to Zendesk.

Can you migrate data that Zendesk can't take in through an API?

In many cases, yes. Where something can't be written through an API, we recreate it through Zendesk's user interface where the interface allows it, and where that work is repetitive we script and automate it. We tell you up front which items are handled this way, because recreating them through the interface can add time to the schedule.

If we don't recreate all our Intercom custom fields in Zendesk, will that data still be kept on our old tickets?

Yes. We can write custom field values onto each migrated ticket as an internal note, laid out as readable field-and-value pairs. Your team can still see that information on every historical ticket, and only the fields you plan to keep using need to be recreated.

Will full Intercom ticket conversations come across, or only notes on each ticket?

We migrate the full conversation on each ticket, not a summary saved as notes. Where Intercom's API doesn't expose part of the history, our engineers retrieve it from Intercom directly and work out a route to load it into Zendesk. You check the result in a sample migration before the full run begins.

What happens if Zendesk requires fields our Intercom data doesn't have?

We check the destination for required fields your source data cannot fill and bring each one to you before those records are migrated. Together we agree how each one is handled, such as a mapping from an existing field, a default value, or, where Zendesk lets that field be made optional, setting it to not required for the migration so you can make it required again once the migration is complete. The migration then runs with that rule applied, so no records are rejected or left behind.

What happens if some Intercom tickets fail to migrate?

Every ticket that errors is logged. We review it, fix the cause and re-sync it, then validate the result before cutover. When the migration is complete you receive a list of every migrated ticket, so you can check it against Intercom.

What happens to Intercom comments written by agents who have since left the company?

Their comments migrate with the rest of the ticket history. If the original author does not have an account in Zendesk, we can add a line at the start of the comment naming who wrote it, so it stays attributable.

Do internal notes and system-generated notes from Intercom migrate to Zendesk, or only customer-facing replies?

Internal notes can come across, and so can system-generated notes where Intercom's API makes them available. During scoping you choose which notes to include, so Zendesk holds the history your team will actually use.

Can you assign migrated tickets to Zendesk groups based on the email address they were sent to?

Yes, where Intercom's API shows which address each ticket was sent to and Zendesk's API lets us set each ticket's group. Routing rules like "every ticket sent to this address goes to that group" are written into the migration script, so tickets arrive in Zendesk already in the right groups. You confirm the rules with us up front and check the result on the sample migration before the full run.

Can you map our Intercom ticket categories or field values to different ones in Zendesk?

Yes. You give us the mapping, including what blank values should become, and we apply it in the migration script so every ticket arrives in Zendesk with the new values. You check the mapping on the sample migration before the full run.

Can we keep spam and sales emails out of Zendesk?

Yes. We agree filtering rules with you up front so spam and sales emails are excluded rather than imported. Afterwards you receive a list of every ticket we pulled from Intercom, with excluded tickets marked as skipped.

Will emojis and special characters in our Intercom tickets come through correctly in Zendesk?

Yes, as long as Zendesk can store them. Our scripts carry emojis and special characters across intact, and we can clean out stray encoding characters left behind in older tickets before anything is written to Zendesk. You can check the result in the sample migration before the full run.

Can you migrate hundreds of thousands of Intercom tickets and contacts to Zendesk?

Yes. Every migration is a custom script built for your project, so volume is something we plan for, not a limit on what can move. At large volumes, run time is set mainly by how fast Intercom's and Zendesk's APIs accept requests, and we plan the full run around that. Before the full run, we test the mapping and throughput with a sample migration.

We use a lot of custom fields in Intercom. Can you map them to Zendesk?

Where Zendesk has a place for them, yes. Each migration is a custom script written for your project, so your custom fields and structure are mapped to Zendesk's model rather than forced through an import template. Where field types differ, such as a value stored as text in Intercom that Zendesk needs as a number, the script converts it. We agree the mapping with you and prove it on a sample migration before the full run.

Will our Intercom macros keep their formatting in Zendesk?

The macros you choose to migrate arrive in the format they have in Intercom, so their content reads as your team wrote it. If you want them restructured or reformatted on the way over, tell us the layout you prefer or share a CSV with it, and we migrate them in that format.

Can you combine data from Intercom and other support tools into one Zendesk account?

Yes. Each tool's data is extracted separately and written into the same Zendesk account. How records from the different tools fit together is settled in the data mapping before the build. The sample migration includes data from every source, so you can check the combined result before the full run.

Can you fix Intercom tickets that are linked to the wrong company during the migration?

Yes, where Zendesk lets a company be set on each ticket. Each migration runs as custom scripts against the source and destination APIs, so we can set the correct company on each ticket as it is written to Zendesk. We agree the assignment rules with you first. The corrected links show up in the sample migration, so you can check them before the full run.

Will our Intercom ticket formatting, including HTML content, carry over to Zendesk?

Yes. The migration script converts ticket content, including HTML, into the format Zendesk expects, and our verification checks compare migrated tickets with the originals, including how the HTML renders. The sample migration lets you compare migrated tickets side by side with the originals before the full run, and if anything renders differently, such as HTML appearing as raw text, we adjust the script and re-run the samples until you sign off.

Our Intercom account already holds tickets imported from an earlier migration. Will that cause problems when we migrate to Zendesk?

It can make the number of tickets we pull differ from the count Intercom shows, so tell us about the earlier import during scoping. We compare those two numbers before the full run, so if earlier-imported history makes them differ, we find out why first. When the migration is complete, the reconciliation report accounts for every ticket.

Are deleted Intercom tickets included in the migration?

Only if you want them. You decide during scoping whether deleted and spam tickets are included, and we apply that choice to every run, including the final delta sync. Some platforms keep deleted tickets as scrubbed records with no remaining content; we flag any we find and migrate them only if you ask.

Do you migrate Intercom live chat, SMS and messaging conversations, such as WhatsApp, to Zendesk, and do they keep their original channel?

Yes. Chat conversations and messages from channels such as WhatsApp or Instagram are migrated as tickets alongside your email history, where Intercom makes them available through its API or an export. Zendesk may not let imported tickets keep every original channel: some platforms take most imported tickets in through a general API channel instead. So we keep the original channel wherever Zendesk allows it, and can tag each ticket with its original one, such as chat, SMS or WhatsApp, so your team can still find and filter them. If an export leaves out the message content for some channels, we tell you and agree another way to retrieve it.

Will our migrated tickets end up with duplicate comments?

Not normally, and we check for it. Our verification checks compare each migrated ticket with its original, including the message content, and each delta round is checked against what earlier rounds already migrated. If a ticket is found with duplicated comments, we can delete and reimport it, and it keeps its original creation time and conversation timestamps.

Will Intercom tickets that have no customer email address, or whose contact can't be found, still be migrated to Zendesk?

Yes, if you want them. We look the contact up again before leaving any ticket behind: when a ticket can't be linked to its contact on the first pass, we run a second lookup, also checking elsewhere in the ticket's data, and attach the requester before the ticket is migrated. Some help desks need an email address or telephone number to create the customer a ticket belongs to, so we flag every ticket whose requester still has neither, including where Intercom's privacy settings hide the email from its API, and send you the list. You can then give us the right email for each requester, or have the tickets migrated with placeholder email addresses, and we migrate them that way.

If our Intercom spam tickets are migrated to Zendesk, will they still be marked as spam?

Yes, they can be. If you choose to include spam tickets, we mark them, for example with a spam tag, alongside a migration tag if you use one, so they stay easy to find and filter in Zendesk, and we include some in the sample so you can check them. If you'd rather leave spam behind, we agree a filter during scoping and it isn't imported.

If we collect customer satisfaction (CSAT) ratings in Intercom, can you migrate them to Zendesk?

Yes, where Zendesk can store them. Where it accepts satisfaction ratings, we migrate them with their tickets, which can need an extra permission on the new account's connection. Where it has no native place for historical ratings, we bring the scores across another way, such as a custom field or a tag on each ticket, agreed with you during scoping.

Can the activity history on each Intercom ticket, such as status changes and assignments, be migrated to Zendesk?

Usually not as a native timeline. Event history such as status changes and assignment timestamps stays with your Intercom account and generally isn't something a help desk accepts on import, so it is left out of the migration. Each ticket still arrives with its full conversation, status and assignee, and with its original timestamps where Zendesk accepts them, and parts of the history that matter to you can be kept another way, such as a tag with the ticket's original status or an internal note.

Can you migrate Intercom tickets that belong to private or restricted categories?

Yes, once the migration's connection can reach them. If a category or group is private or restricted in Intercom or Zendesk, the account we connect with may not be able to read or create tickets in it, so we flag every ticket this affects. You can then lift the restriction or give the connection the access it needs, such as an admin-level account, and we migrate the remaining tickets, or tell us to leave them out.

If we have Facebook and Instagram comments in Intercom, will they keep the right author and show where they came from in Zendesk?

Yes, as far as Intercom records it. Each message is attributed to the author Intercom's API reports, and messages from your team show under the right agent as long as that agent's account exists in Zendesk before the tickets are migrated; otherwise they fall back to the default agent. We also carry over the message source in as much detail as the API provides, for example telling comments on Instagram posts apart from comments on Instagram ads.

Can you also migrate email threads from our email account, such as Gmail, that never became tickets in Intercom?

Yes. Once your email account, such as Gmail, is connected, we can pull selected email threads directly from it, for example for a date range you choose, and migrate them into Zendesk as tickets. We share the list of threads with you to confirm before anything moves. Because they were never tickets, some details can look different from tickets migrated from Intercom.

Will Intercom tickets that have no messages or comments still be migrated to Zendesk?

Yes, if you want them. Some help desks can't create a ticket without at least one message, so we flag every ticket that has none and send you the list rather than skipping them silently. We first check whether the content is stored elsewhere in Intercom, such as a ticket description we can use as the first message. Otherwise we can migrate the ticket with a placeholder message, or leave it out if you prefer.

Do you download attachments for every Intercom ticket, or only for the tickets being migrated?

It depends on the source platform. For some sources, our scripts fetch attachments at the time each ticket is migrated rather than during the initial data pull, so files are downloaded only for the tickets in scope. For others, attachments are pulled along with the initial data. Either way, only the tickets you choose are migrated.

Can our Intercom macros or saved replies keep their folder structure in Zendesk?

Usually, in a form Zendesk supports. Each macro's folder is captured in the migration checklist, and you can rename folders there before the run. Where Zendesk has no folders for macros, we apply a tag named after each original folder, so your team can filter and find them grouped the way they're used to. Where it does have folders, we can place the migrated macros in a folder you choose.

Can you migrate our Intercom phone and voice call tickets to Zendesk, including call recordings kept in a separate phone system?

Yes. Tickets from your phone or voice channel are migrated with the rest of your history, and call logs from a separate phone tool can be brought in alongside them. Call recordings stored outside the help desk, for example in a cloud storage bucket your phone system writes to, can be matched to their tickets wherever a match exists. We agree with you in the mapping where calls and recordings will appear in Zendesk, and you check them in the sample migration.

At what stage of the migration are our macros moved over?

Usually during the historical migration, before the final delta sync at go-live, though the timing is agreed with you. Macros can also go into the sample migration so your team can review them before the full run. Any you decide you want after go-live can be migrated then.

What happens to a conversation in Intercom that mixes email and chat messages if Zendesk keeps those channels separate?

We agree the approach with you during scoping. One option is to split the conversation into a ticket for each channel, each carrying the same subject, tags and other details, so the two are easy to find together on the same customer. If you'd rather have a single thread, we confirm during scoping whether Zendesk can hold it that way, and you check the result in the sample migration.

Why might some of our Intercom macros not migrate to Zendesk?

Usually because something a macro depends on isn't in Zendesk yet. A macro whose actions reference a team, field or other setting that doesn't exist there can't be created until that item is set up, so we list those macros for you to create the missing items or tell us how to adjust them. Others may have been left out by choice in the migration checklist, not returned by Intercom's API, or blocked by a limit on how many macros your Zendesk account can hold. Any you want later can still be migrated.

Will a customer in Intercom with several email addresses or telephone numbers end up as duplicate contacts in Zendesk?

Not if we agree the merges with you first. We identify records that share an email address or telephone number and propose merges in the migration checklist, where you confirm each one and choose which address stays primary. Each merged set becomes one contact holding all of that customer's tickets and, where Zendesk allows it, all of their email addresses. We don't merge on a guess, so records you don't confirm stay as they are.

If we use a chatbot in Intercom, do you migrate it and its conversation flows to Zendesk, or only the conversations it handled?

We migrate the conversations it handled, not the chatbot itself. Every chat conversation the bot took part in comes across with your ticket history, while the chatbot's own setup isn't migrated as data and is set up again in Zendesk where it offers one. Workflows and automation rules are a separate item, and the ones you have today can be recreated in Zendesk as agreed during scoping.

Will our customers be able to see their migrated conversations in Zendesk, for example in a customer portal?

It depends on Zendesk. Migrated tickets are attached to each customer's contact record like any other ticket, so where Zendesk has a portal that shows customers their own tickets, the migrated ones can appear there, while internal notes stay private to your agents. Some portals only show tickets or replies set up in a particular way, so we confirm during scoping how imported tickets show to customers in Zendesk and check it in the sample migration.

Can our agents reply to customers from migrated Intercom tickets in Zendesk?

Yes, where Zendesk treats migrated tickets as regular tickets and your support email is connected to it. An agent's reply from a migrated ticket then goes out to the customer, and the customer's next reply continues on that same ticket. Some help desks keep imported tickets read-only, so we confirm this for Zendesk and test it on your account before your team relies on it.

Will the information that integrations show in our Intercom tickets be migrated to Zendesk?

Not if that information lives in the integration rather than in Intercom. Widgets and similar panels are often drawn live by the integration, and where Intercom doesn't store that data or return it through its API, it can't be migrated with the tickets. The tickets and their conversations migrate as normal, and your team reconnects each integration to Zendesk after cutover.

Will fields Zendesk fills in automatically, such as AI-detected intent or sentiment, be set on our migrated Intercom tickets?

Not with your old values. Where Zendesk fills a field with its own AI, such as intent or sentiment, we leave that field out of the mapping, because the platform sets it itself: AI intent, sentiment and call status fields, for example, may not be writable through the API. The platform's own AI can still act on migrated tickets, though. Rules that analyse open tickets may tag them by detected intent and sentiment, and AI triage features can fill these fields when a note is added, so we agree with you beforehand whether those rules should skip migrated tickets.

How long does the Intercom to Zendesk migration take?

Most migrations complete within 1–5 business days, depending on data volume and complexity; very large migrations, such as several hundred thousand records, take longer. We provide a detailed timeline after the initial assessment and can often complete small migrations in under 24 hours.

Will there be downtime when migrating from Intercom to Zendesk?

No. Our migration process is designed for zero downtime. Intercom stays fully operational throughout: the bulk migration runs in the background and the cutover is fast, so there is no disruption to your live business operations.

Can we choose which Intercom tickets move to Zendesk first, such as active tickets before the backlog?

Yes, either way round. With a hard go-live date, we can migrate open and active tickets first, so your team can work in Zendesk from go-live day; a delta migration on that date brings across every ticket created or updated since the first pass, and the historical backlog then keeps migrating in the background. Or closed tickets can move first while your team keeps working open tickets in Intercom, with open tickets moving in a separate delta run close to switchover, so active conversations are the last data to transfer.

If we go live on Zendesk before the migration finishes, can you bring over tickets that come in afterwards?

Yes. A follow-up delta migration brings over tickets that reached Intercom after your team switched. Because your team is already working in Zendesk by then, we agree with you how rules in Zendesk that would otherwise fire on imported tickets are kept from firing, for example by pausing them for the run, and let you know when the run is complete so you can turn any paused rules back on. Some duplicates are possible because your team is already live, and we tell you about that before the run.

What happens to tickets that are still open in Intercom on the day we switch to Zendesk?

Tickets that are open at the final cutover come across as open tickets, so your team picks them up and keeps working without a gap. Closed tickets come across as history, and if you want that history kept apart from live work, they can be kept in a separate archive group where Zendesk's API lets us set a ticket's group.

Our team has already started working in Zendesk. Can we still migrate our Intercom history?

Yes. We take the exact date, time and time zone your team went live as the cutoff, and migrate the history up to that point, so the work already done in Zendesk is left as it is. That go-live moment separates the two systems' records, so we confirm it with you before anything runs.

Can we leave Intercom attachments out of the migration to finish it faster?

Yes. Attachments are transferred file by file, so excluding them from historical tickets, or from tickets older than a cutoff date you choose, shortens the run considerably. Before you decide, we give you a revised completion estimate for each option so you can weigh the time saved against what you keep.

What is a delta sync, and when does it run before we switch to Zendesk?

Moving tickets through the platforms' APIs takes time, so we migrate the bulk of your history, mainly closed tickets, well before your switchover date. A delta sync then brings across everything created or updated in Intercom since the previous pass of the migration. The final delta sync runs at your switchover time, so Zendesk is current on the day your team starts using it: you share your switchover date, time and time zone, giving us about a week's notice, and we schedule it around that. Timing it to the cutover matters, because a sync run after your team is already working in Zendesk can create duplicate records.

How long does it take to export a very large ticket history from Intercom?

Extraction time depends on volume: a history of more than half a million tickets can take several days to pull. Your Intercom account needs to stay active until extraction is finished, so we confirm its end date with you at the start and plan the schedule around it.

Can we run more than one delta migration to Zendesk, moving only tickets that changed since the last round?

Yes, when your cutover plan needs more than one. Each round picks up only the tickets created or changed since the previous round and is checked against what earlier rounds already migrated, so no ticket is created twice. Your agents keep working in Intercom until you switch over.

How do you avoid duplicate tickets when we switch our support email and other channels from Intercom to Zendesk?

We agree one cutoff time with you and line up the switchover of your email and of each other channel with it. Everything received in Intercom up to that moment is migrated, and everything after it arrives directly in Zendesk. While a channel is connected to both, new messages land in both, so Zendesk creates its own copy of a conversation that the migration also brings across. Intercom and Zendesk can stay live side by side after go-live, as long as each one is connected to its own support email addresses so incoming mail lands in only one place. Once your support email is connected to Zendesk and tickets are arriving there directly, a delta sync run after that point can pull in the same tickets a second time, so we time the final sync around your email cutover and flag it if a sync you ask for falls after your switchover point. If a conversation was captured both ways, the two tickets sit on the same customer and, where Zendesk supports merging tickets, can be merged. The final list of migrated tickets with their new Zendesk IDs lets you check the boundary and spot any ticket that came in around the switch.

Can we port our support phone number on the day we switch from Intercom to Zendesk?

We can line the migration up with it. We run the final migration at your agreed switchover time, so if the port is scheduled for that time, the latest tickets are already in Zendesk when calls start coming in.

Can we change fields or settings in Intercom or Zendesk while the migration is running, and is there anything we should switch off?

Mostly yes, and your team can keep working as normal, but leave the fields being migrated as they are, in Intercom and Zendesk, until the migration, including the final delta, is complete. The field mappings are set before the run starts, so hold off on renaming or removing those fields, and changing a migrated field's options, archiving it, or marking it as required or conditional can stop records from migrating. Where needed, and as agreed with you, we set the matching fields in Zendesk to active, not required and not conditional for the duration of the migration. Other fields can be added or removed in the meantime. Also pause any AI agents, automations or rules in Zendesk that could act on migrated records, so they don't fire on historical records as they arrive; if some must keep running for live work, we can instead agree a condition that makes them skip migrated records. Once the migration is complete, you can switch them back on, restore those field settings and rename fields freely.

If a customer replies to an old Intercom ticket after we switch to Zendesk, will the reply join the migrated ticket or start a new one?

It depends on who replies first. If the customer replies to an email sent from Intercom, many help desks open a new ticket on the same customer rather than adding the reply to the migrated one, for example where replies are threaded by the original email's message ID, which migrated messages don't keep. Where Zendesk supports merging tickets, your team can then merge the two. If an agent replies from the migrated ticket first and Zendesk allows replies from migrated tickets, the customer's next reply continues on that ticket.

Can we whitelist a single IP instead of opening our network to your migration tool?

Yes. All migration traffic runs through a centralized system using one fixed IP, which your IT team can whitelist instead of opening broader network access.

Is migration pricing a flat fee, or does it scale with data volume?

It's a flat fee with no hidden costs. The price we agree with you for your scope is the price you pay, and small variances in the final volume, a bit more or less, are included.

How do I validate that everything migrated correctly?

Every client receives a Migration Validation Report with comprehensive metrics including record-count comparison, attachment integrity verification via checksum, and full audit logs of the migration run, showing every record created, skipped or failed. If any item didn't come across, the report names each one, the specific reason, and how to bring it across if you want it there. We also offer unlimited sample migrations, so you can check your data before the full migration runs.

What support do you provide after the migration goes live?

At ClonePartner, we consider ourselves your partners in this journey. We take full accountability for your migration's success. Once your migration goes live, we provide 30 days of comprehensive post-migration support as standard, and longer support, such as 60 or 90 days, can be agreed for your project. During this period, we help with anything related to your migrated data, so your migration is a complete success.

Will we get a migration report and a mapping sheet linking old record IDs to new ones?

Yes. We provide a comprehensive migration report along with an ID-mapping sheet that links each old Intercom record ID to its new ID in Zendesk. This ensures full traceability, simplifies post-migration verification, and helps your team validate that records have been migrated accurately.

After migration, do I contact ClonePartner or the platform's own support if something looks wrong?

ClonePartner is the contact for anything about the migrated data itself. Questions about the platform itself, such as how its features and settings work, go to the platform's own support or to whoever administers it for you.

Why are thousands of old 'open' tickets suddenly showing up in Zendesk after our migration?

Views in Intercom may have kept old tickets that were never formally closed out of sight. Zendesk's default views surface every open ticket regardless of age, so tickets that were technically still open, sometimes for years, can all become visible at once after migration. This isn't a migration error, and we can help bulk-close dormant tickets older than a cutoff date you choose, so your team only sees what's actually live.

Why did Zendesk assign closed tickets to one person's name instead of leaving them unassigned?

Zendesk requires an assignee before an agent can solve a ticket. If migrated tickets have none, bulk-closing them in Zendesk with its default settings assigns them to whichever account authorized the API connection used for the migration, which can skew per-agent reporting if left as-is. We flag this before running a bulk close so you can tell us who they should be assigned to instead.

If a migrated ticket has to be deleted and reimported to fix an issue, does it lose its original dates or history?

No. A ticket reimported to fix an issue, such as broken inline images, keeps its original creation time and its conversation history with the original timestamps. Tickets that have been changed in Zendesk since the original migration are left out of any reimport, because overwriting them would lose those updates.

Can our customers be told that their open Intercom tickets have moved to Zendesk?

Yes, if you want them to be. Once the migrated tickets have been checked, we can send each requester of an open ticket a notification through Zendesk's API where it supports this, with wording you approve. If you'd rather not tell customers, no message is sent.

Can we keep an offline archive of our old Intercom data?

Yes. The archive is delivered to you as a set of local files: folders holding the ticket data and attachments, plus an HTML file that reads from those folders so you can browse tickets in a web browser. Nothing is hosted on our servers and there is no software to install, so you can store it wherever suits you, such as Google Drive or Box.

Can we migrate more Intercom saved replies or canned responses after go-live?

Yes. You choose which saved replies to migrate during scoping, and if you later want any that you left out, tell us and we migrate them into Zendesk. Keeping the scope adjustable after go-live means you don't have to get every choice right on the first pass.

Can you keep our CRM updated with support activity after we move from Intercom to Zendesk?

Yes, where Zendesk's API makes that activity available. We build an ongoing sync on Zendesk's and your CRM's APIs that writes support activity to the right contacts and companies, and you decide what gets logged. It is a separate piece of work from the migration, scoped and priced on its own.

What if we later want Intercom tickets we chose to leave out of the migration?

Tell us which tickets you want added, for example by status, and we migrate them in a follow-up run. We can also share a list of every excluded ticket so you can review exactly what was left out. After the follow-up, you get a list matching each original ticket to its new ticket ID and URL, so your team can find it straight away.

If we use an AI agent in Zendesk, can our migrated Intercom tickets be used to train it?

It depends on how Zendesk's AI agent learns. Some AI agents draw on your knowledge base and guidance content rather than on historical tickets, so check with Zendesk how its AI uses past conversations before deciding how much history to migrate for that reason. Migrated tickets arrive as regular tickets, and we can tag them, for example so the AI agent doesn't respond to them, or so you can include or exclude them.

If we use an AI agent, will it work straight away after the migration to Zendesk, and can its knowledge and guidance come across?

Partly. Knowledge base articles that the AI agent draws on can be migrated, so it has the same content to work from on day one. Some AI-specific settings, such as guidance written for the AI agent, can't be transferred between accounts and have to be set up again in Zendesk, and some AI agents also learn from your team's feedback in a way that stays with the old account, so they refine again in the new one. We confirm during scoping which of your AI agent's content can move, so nothing is assumed. Keep the AI agent paused while historical tickets load, or give it a condition that skips migrated tickets so it keeps serving live customers, and switch it back on once the migration is complete.

Why don't our ticket counts or open ticket numbers match between Intercom and Zendesk after the migration?

Usually because the two numbers aren't counting the same tickets. A count in Zendesk can include tickets created there directly as well as migrated ones, and rules in Zendesk can close migrated tickets automatically. Open tickets also keep changing until the final delta sync, which brings their latest status across. We check the counts against the migrated tickets and the list of every ticket we migrated, and if a gap remains, we investigate specific examples with you.

Will migrated historical tickets skew our help desk reports, such as resolution time?

Yes, they can, so it's worth planning for. Some timing data, such as when a ticket was assigned, closed or changed status, stays with your old account because the platform's API doesn't provide it, so reports that measure resolution or closed tickets can count old tickets as resolved on the day they were migrated. How fully each platform's reports and analytics count imported historical tickets also varies, so confirm it with Zendesk before you rely on those reports for past periods. If you want, every migrated ticket can carry a migration tag, so you can keep it apart from new work in views and, where your reports can filter by tag, in reports. We also recommend exporting your historical reports from the old platform before you close it.

Will all of our historical Intercom tickets stay searchable in Zendesk after the migration?

Yes. Historical tickets are migrated as regular tickets with their messages, customers and statuses, so your team can search them in Zendesk like any other ticket. If you want, each one can also carry a migration tag, so history can be filtered apart from new work, and the original ticket ID is kept in a field and in the ID-mapping file, so any old ticket number can be looked up.

Can you tag tickets that changed in Intercom after the first migration run, so our team can review them in Zendesk?

Yes. When a follow-up sync adds new comments to tickets that were already migrated, we can put a tag of your choice on those tickets, for example only the ones that are still open, so your team can filter for them and review them. Because each sync runs as a custom script, we can also leave each ticket's current status, assignee and other details unchanged while the new comments are added. We confirm the rule with you first, such as whether "open" means the status in Intercom or in Zendesk.

Can a ticket migrated from Intercom be reopened later in Zendesk if a customer or agent needs it?

It depends on Zendesk and on the status the ticket arrives with. You choose the status migrated tickets come in with, such as closed for old history, and if you later want tickets set differently we can update them in bulk. Whether an agent can reopen a ticket that arrived closed, or move it from an archive area back into a live one, depends on how Zendesk handles closed tickets, so we check that with you during scoping and can test it on a sample ticket before go-live.