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Connecting to your customer service platform
Connecting to your customer service platform

Guide to setting up connections with ticket providers in Surfboard

Elva avatar
Written by Elva
Updated over a week ago

What is a connection?

Surfboard integrates with your existing customer service platforms to pull in your ticket data and create your forecast. We currently connect with 9 platforms, and we are adding more all the time.

Surfboard integrates with Zendesk, Front, Twilio, Aircall, Intercom, Dixa, Kustomer, Salesforce and Talkdesk


What data do you get and is it secure?

Surfboard can only see your ticket volumes, not the content. The content is redacted when we collect your data.

Surfboard is also proud to be SOC 2 compliant 🔒. SOC 2 is an auditing procedure that ensures that service providers securely manage their customers data to protect their privacy. We consider SOC 2 compliance as a minimal requirement for any SaaS provider.

For more information, you can read our privacy policy. If you would like a copy of our SOC 2 report, please contact security@teamsurfboard.com.


How does it work?

Once you have made your connection, Surfboard will collect your historic ticket volumes to start analysing trends in customer contacts.

Going forward, Surfboard will then collect updated ticket volumes each day which feed into your forecast. You can also compare your actuals to your forecast in the forecast page of Surfboard.

You can use ticket groups to filter your forecast and create more granular views of each of your inboxes, channels, groups or themes. Read more about ticket groups here.


How to connect your platform

1-click connections

API connections


Connecting with Intercom

In Surfboard

  1. Go to Connections in settings.

  2. Select 'Connect to Intercom'

  3. You’ll be taken to another screen to authorise your connection.

  4. Your platform will be connected and ready for forecasting. Depending on the volume of tickets in your platform, it usually takes around 24hrs for Surfboard to download enough data to generate forecasts.


Connecting with Front

In Surfboard

  1. Go to Connections in settings.

  2. Select 'Connect to Front'

  3. You’ll be taken to another screen to authorise your connection.

  4. Your platform will be connected and ready for forecasting. Depending on the volume of tickets in your platform, it usually takes around 24hrs for Surfboard to download enough data to generate forecasts.


Connecting with Twilio

In Surfboard

  1. Go to Connections in settings.

  2. Select 'Connect to Twilio'

  3. You’ll be taken to another screen to authorise your connection.

  4. Your platform will be connected and ready for forecasting. Depending on the volume of tickets in your platform, it usually takes around 24hrs for Surfboard to download enough data to generate forecasts.


Connecting with Aircall

In Surfboard

  1. Go to Connections in settings.

  2. Select 'Connect to Aircall'

  3. You’ll be taken to another screen to authorise your connection.

  4. Your platform will be connected and ready for forecasting. Depending on the volume of tickets in your platform, it usually takes around 24hrs for Surfboard to download enough data to generate forecasts.


Connecting with Salesforce

To connect Surfboard to your Salesforce account, you'll need to provide us with your Salesforce subdomain. (Your subdomain is its unique identifier for your organisation in Salesforce.)

The subdomain is used as your org-specific subdomain in Salesforce login and application URLs. For example, https://mycompany.my.salesforce.com.

In Surfboard

  1. Go to Connections in settings.

  2. Select 'Connect to Salesforce'

  3. You’ll be taken to another screen to authorise your connection.

  4. Your platform will be connected and ready for forecasting. Depending on the volume of tickets in your platform, it usually takes around 24hrs for Surfboard to download enough data to generate forecasts.


Connecting with Zendesk

To connect Surfboard to your Zendesk account, you'll need to provide us with your Zendesk subdomain. (Your subdomain is its unique identifier for your organisation in Zendesk.)

There are a couple of ways you can find this:

  • It’s usually included in your URL: https://yoursubdomain.zendesk.com

  • You can also get a list of Zendesk subdomains that your email address is associated with from the Remind me page.

Once you've got your subdomain, send it over to your Customer Success manager. We'll then add this data to your account so you can make your connection to Zendesk.

The remind me page in Zendesk will help you find your subdomain.

The remind me page in Zendesk will help you find your subdomain.


Connecting with Dixa

To connect Surfboard to your Dixa account, we’ll need an API token. You’ll usually need to have an admin account for Dixa to find this.

☝ An API token is a unique identifier for your account that authorises us to access information about your data.

In Dixa

  1. When logged into Dixa, go to the Settings page. Scroll down to the Manage menu and find Integrations.

  2. Choose API Tokens as a card and click on Configure API tokens.

  3. Choose the action Add API token.

  4. Give the API token a name that will make it easy to find it in the list, like “Surfboard”. Choose Dixa API as the API version, and click Add API token.

  5. Your token should now have been generated. Copy the token and make a note of it.

Your API token will be a long string of numbers and letters.

Your API token will be a long string of numbers and letters.

In Surfboard

  1. Go to Connections in settings.

  2. Find Dixa from the list and hit connect.

  3. You’ll be shown a field to enter your API token. Paste the token you generated from Dixa and hit save.

  4. Your Dixa account will be connected and ready for forecasting.


Connecting with Kustomer

To connect Surfboard to your Kustomer account, we’ll need an API key. You’ll usually need to have an admin account for Kustomer to find this.

In Kustomer

  1. When logged into Kustomer, go to the Settings page. Scroll down to the Security menu and find API keys.

  2. Give the API token a name that will make it easy to find it in the list, like “Surfboard”.

  3. You’ll be asked to select the roles required by the integration. There are 2 you’ll need to select:

    • org.permission.conversation.read

    • org.permission.message.read

  4. Choose not to give the API key an expiry date in the dropdown.

  5. Select create. Your token should now have been generated. Copy the token and make a note of it.

You’ll add the details in a form in Kustomer.

You’ll add the details in a form in Kustomer.

In Surfboard

  1. Go to Connections in settings.

  2. Find Kustomer from the list and hit connect.

  3. You’ll be shown a field to enter your API key. Paste the token you generated from Kustomer and hit save.

  4. Your Kustomer account will be connected and ready for forecasting.


Connecting with Talkdesk

To connect Surfboard to your Talkdesk account, we’ll need 3 sets of data. You’ll usually need to have an admin account for Talkdesk to find this.

In Talkdesk

  1. First, check that you have access to the 'Builder' section in Talkdesk. This is the section where you manage all of your integrations. If you don't have access to this, ask an admin from your team to help or request access directly from Talkdesk.

  2. Go to the OAuth client page in the Builder section of your Talkdesk account.

  3. Click New OAuth client.

  4. We recommend you name this client 'Surfboard' to make it easy to identify.

  5. Tick client credentials under 'Grant type'


  6. Click Add scopes.

  7. In the modal, add the following 2 scopes (You can search for these to make it easier)​:

    1. data-reports:write - Create new data reports.

    2. data-reports:read - Download previously generated data reports.


  8. Save these scopes and then click Create in the top right of the page.

  9. A modal will now open containing the IDs you need. You'll only be able to view this data once, so leave this tab open and open Surfboard in a new tab.

In Surfboard

  1. Go to Connections in settings.

  2. Find Talkdesk from the list and hit connect.

  3. You’ll be shown 3 fields.

  4. Paste your company's Talkdesk url into the first box. The format will change depending on which region you're in:

    1. US - https://{talkdesk-account-name}.talkdeskid.com

    2. EU - https://{talkdesk-account-name}.talkdeskid.eu

    3. CA - https://{talkdesk-account-name}.talkdeskidca.com

  5. Copy the Client ID from the Talkdesk tab and paste it in the second field.

  6. Copy the Client Secret from the Talkdesk tab and paste it the third field.

  7. Click Save.

  8. Your Talkdesk account will be connected and ready for forecasting.

🤔 Got another question, or is there something else you need help with?
Chat to us on Intercom or send us an email at contact@teamsurfboard.com and we’ll get back to you.

Happy surfing,

Team Surfboard

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