Zendesk API Metrics for Talk: Live Queue and Today’s Figures Straight from Zendesk
Zendesk already counts some Talk numbers itself: how many calls are waiting right now, how many calls came in today, how long agents talked today. For those, Qvasa doesn’t recalculate anything. A Zendesk API metric asks Zendesk for its own figure every time the widget loads and shows exactly what Zendesk answered, so the number on your Qvasa dashboard matches the Zendesk Talk dashboard.
There’s a trade-off. Because the number is Zendesk’s and not built from your data in Qvasa, filters don’t apply and there’s no Inspect: Qvasa only receives the total, not the calls or agents behind it. This article explains where each figure comes from in Zendesk, which Zendesk plan gives you which figures, and how to use them alongside Qvasa’s own Talk metrics.
Before you start
Zendesk Talk metrics must be switched on for your Qvasa account. If you can’t find the widgets below in the widget picker, contact us and we’ll turn them on.
Your Zendesk Talk plan decides which figures Zendesk returns. The live queue figures work on every plan. About half of the "today" figures are only reported on Talk Professional and above (see Zendesk plans and which figures you get below).
Anyone who can edit a dashboard can add these widgets.
What makes a Zendesk API metric different
| Zendesk API metric | Normal Qvasa metric |
Where the number comes from | Zendesk’s Talk stats API, asked each time the widget loads | Calculated by Qvasa from your synced tickets, calls and agent statuses |
Matches the Zendesk Talk dashboard | Yes, it is Zendesk’s own number | Close, but calculated our way (and explained in each metric’s description) |
Date range | None. Either "right now" or "today so far" | Any date range you pick |
Dashboard and widget filters | Ignored. The widget has no filter button | Applied |
Inspect | Not available | Available |
Phone number or group | Chosen once in the widget’s settings when you add or edit it | Through filters |
History | None stored. Every load is a fresh answer from Zendesk | Full history |
Every Zendesk API metric says so in its description: "This is a Zendesk API metric, not a normal Qvasa metric." That sentence is the quickest way to tell them apart in the widget picker.
Where the numbers come from in Zendesk
In Zendesk, the real-time Talk dashboard lives in Admin Center → Channels → Talk and email → Talk → Dashboard. Its three sections map onto the three families of Qvasa widgets, and each family reads the matching endpoint of Zendesk’s Talk stats API:
Qvasa widget family | Zendesk Talk dashboard section | What it covers | Label on the widget |
Live queue | Current queue activity | The queue as it is right now: calls and callbacks waiting, wait times, agents online | Live from Zendesk · the time Zendesk answered |
Today’s calls | Overview | Call totals and averages since midnight today | Today from Zendesk · the time Zendesk answered |
Today’s agents | Agents activity (totals across all agents) | Calls accepted, missed and declined, talk, hold and status time across all Talk agents since midnight today | Today from Zendesk · the time Zendesk answered |
"Today" means since midnight in your Zendesk account’s timezone, up to the moment Zendesk answered. It resets at Zendesk’s midnight, not at the timezone of your Qvasa dashboard.
The time on the widget is when Zendesk answered, shown in your Qvasa account’s timezone. Zendesk recalculates its own Overview figures every few minutes, so a "today" figure can be a few minutes behind a call that just ended. The same lag shows in Zendesk’s own dashboard.
By group means every Zendesk Talk phone number assigned to that Zendesk group, added up by Zendesk into one figure.
Step 1: Add the widgets
Open a dashboard and click Edit, then add a widget and pick Quick stat.
Search for zendesk talk. Live queue widgets are named like Zendesk talk calls waiting, today’s calls like Zendesk talk today total calls, and today’s agents like Zendesk talk agents today total calls accepted. You can also search for zendesk api metric to list them all.
For a widget ending in by phone number or by group, pick the phone number or Zendesk group under Selected Widget. This is the only way to narrow a Zendesk API metric. To change it later, edit the widget.
Click Add Widget.
Turn on Auto Refresh for a wallboard: each refresh asks Zendesk again. When several widgets load at once, they share one answer from Zendesk for up to 10 seconds, so a full board doesn’t send Zendesk a flood of requests.
Step 2: Read the widgets
The label at the top tells you what kind of number it is. "Live from Zendesk" is the queue right now. "Today from Zendesk" is today so far.
Durations are shown as time (for example 4m 30s). Zendesk reports them in seconds.
There’s no filter button and no Inspect magnifying glass on these widgets. That’s expected (see below).
Setting a date range on the dashboard doesn’t change them. The Quick Filters Bar and dashboard filters leave them as they are.
Zendesk plans and which figures you get
Zendesk’s Talk stats API returns a basic set of figures on every Talk plan and adds more on Talk Professional and above. Zendesk includes Talk in its Suite plans as follows:
Zendesk Talk plan | Included in | Figures Zendesk returns |
Talk Team | Suite Team, Suite Growth | Every live queue figure, plus the basic "today" figures |
Talk Professional | Suite Professional | Everything |
Talk Enterprise | Suite Enterprise, Suite Enterprise Plus | Everything |
Qvasa can’t see which Zendesk plan you’re on, so every widget is in the picker. If you add one Zendesk doesn’t report on your plan, the widget doesn’t show a misleading zero. It says so instead:
"Zendesk did not return Talk Agent Average Talk Time Today for this account. The Zendesk Talk API only reports it on Zendesk Talk Professional and above." If you see this, either remove the widget or upgrade your Zendesk plan. Each widget’s description in the picker also notes when it needs Professional.
Why there are no filters and no Inspect
A normal Qvasa metric is built from records Qvasa has synced: every ticket, call and agent status. That’s what lets it apply a tag filter, change the date range, or list the calls behind a number when you Inspect it.
A Zendesk API metric is a single number Zendesk sends back, such as "6 calls waiting" or "418 calls today". Zendesk doesn’t say which calls those are, and its Talk stats API can’t be filtered by tag, brand, ticket field or agent. So Qvasa can’t filter the number or show the calls behind it without making up its own number, and the point of these widgets is that they show Zendesk’s.
The phone number and group options are the exception, because Zendesk itself accepts them. That’s why they live in the widget’s settings instead of the filters.
When to use Qvasa’s own Talk metrics instead
Use a Zendesk API metric when you want the number that matches Zendesk, right now or today. Use Qvasa’s own Talk metrics, calculated from your synced call data, when you need any of the following:
A date range or a trend over time, such as last week’s calls or wait time by day.
Filters, such as one brand, a ticket tag or a set of agents.
Inspect, to see the calls, tickets or agents behind a number. For example, Live Time in Queue for Talk and Messaging lists every waiting call.
Per-agent breakdowns. The Zendesk agent figures are totals and averages across all agents.
It’s common to put both side by side: Zendesk’s figure for the headline, and Qvasa’s for the drill-in. If the two differ a little, that’s usually timing or definition: Zendesk counts up to its last recalculation and in its own timezone, while Qvasa follows your dashboard’s date range and filters.
Reference: every Zendesk API metric for Talk
The names below are what the widget shows. In the widget picker the same metric appears in lower case with "Zendesk talk" in front, for example Zendesk talk today total calls.
Live queue (Live from Zendesk)
Widget | What it shows | Scopes |
Talk Calls Waiting | Calls waiting in the queue for an agent right now. | Account, phone number, group |
Talk Callbacks Waiting | Callback requests waiting in the queue right now. | Account, phone number, group |
Talk Web Widget Callbacks Waiting | Callback requests made from the Web Widget that are waiting right now. | Account, phone number, group |
Talk AI Agent Calls | Calls an AI agent is handling right now. | Account, phone number, group |
Talk Average Wait Time | The average wait of the calls in the queue right now. | Account, phone number, group |
Talk Longest Wait Time | The wait of the call that has been in the queue the longest. | Account, phone number, group |
Talk Agents Online | Agents Zendesk Talk counts as online right now. In the picker the account-wide one is Legacy zendesk talk agents online (see "Good to know"). | Account, phone number, group |
Every live queue figure is available on all Zendesk Talk plans.
Today’s calls (Today from Zendesk)
Widget | What it shows | Scopes | Zendesk plan |
Talk Calls Today | Every call today, inbound and outbound. | Account, phone number, group | All Talk plans |
Talk Voicemails Today | Voicemails left today. | Account, phone number, group | All Talk plans |
Talk Total Call Duration Today | All call time today added together. | Account, phone number, group | All Talk plans |
Talk Average Call Duration Today | The average length of a call today. | Account, phone number, group | All Talk plans |
Talk Average Queue Wait Time Today | How long callers waited in the queue today, on average. | Account, phone number, group | All Talk plans |
Talk Max Queue Wait Time Today | The longest any caller waited in the queue today. | Account, phone number, group | All Talk plans |
Talk Max Calls Waiting Today | The most calls that were waiting in the queue at the same time today. | Account, phone number, group | All Talk plans |
Talk Total Wrap-up Time Today | All after-call wrap-up time today added together. | Account, phone number, group | All Talk plans |
Talk Average Wrap-up Time Today | The average wrap-up time per call today. | Account, phone number, group | All Talk plans |
Talk Inbound Calls Today | Inbound calls today. | Account only | Talk Professional and above |
Talk Outbound Calls Today | Outbound calls today. | Account only | Talk Professional and above |
Talk Calls Abandoned in Queue Today | Callers who hung up while waiting in the queue today. | Account only | Talk Professional and above |
Talk Calls Outside Business Hours Today | Calls that came in outside your Zendesk business hours today. | Account only | Talk Professional and above |
Talk Calls Exceeding Max Queue Wait Today | Calls that waited longer than your maximum queue wait time today. | Account only | Talk Professional and above |
Talk Calls with Requested Voicemail Today | Callers who chose to leave a voicemail instead of waiting today. | Account only | Talk Professional and above |
Talk Callback Requests Today | Callers who asked to be called back today. | Account only | Talk Professional and above |
Talk Web Widget Callback Requests Today | Callback requests made from the Web Widget today. | Account only | Talk Professional and above |
Talk Textback Requests Today | Callers who asked for a text message reply today. | Account only | Talk Professional and above |
Talk Average Time to Answer Today | How long callers waited before an agent answered today, on average. | Account only | Talk Professional and above |
Talk Average Hold Time Today | The average time callers spent on hold today. | Account only | Talk Professional and above |
Talk Total Hold Time Today | All hold time today added together. | Account only | Talk Professional and above |
Talk Average Callback Wait Time Today | How long callers who asked for a callback waited for it today, on average. | Account only | Talk Professional and above |
Today’s agents (Today from Zendesk)
Widget | What it shows | Zendesk plan |
Talk Agent Calls Accepted Today | Calls agents accepted today. | All Talk plans |
Talk Agent Calls Denied Today | Calls agents declined today. | All Talk plans |
Talk Agent Calls Missed Today | Calls offered to agents that they missed today. | All Talk plans |
Talk Agent Total Talk Time Today | All agent talk time today added together. | All Talk plans |
Talk Agent Total Wrap-up Time Today | All agent wrap-up time today added together. | All Talk plans |
Talk Agent Average Wrap-up Time Today | The average wrap-up time per call today. | All Talk plans |
Talk Average Calls Accepted per Agent Today | Calls accepted today, averaged across agents. | Talk Professional and above |
Talk Average Calls Denied per Agent Today | Calls declined today, averaged across agents. | Talk Professional and above |
Talk Average Calls Missed per Agent Today | Calls missed today, averaged across agents. | Talk Professional and above |
Talk Agent Calls Put on Hold Today | Calls agents put on hold today. | Talk Professional and above |
Talk Average Calls Put on Hold per Agent Today | Calls put on hold today, averaged across agents. | Talk Professional and above |
Talk Agent Total Hold Time Today | All hold time today added together. | Talk Professional and above |
Talk Agent Average Hold Time Today | The average hold time today. | Talk Professional and above |
Talk Agent Average Talk Time Today | The average agent talk time per call today. | Talk Professional and above |
Talk Average Online Time per Agent Today | Time agents spent online today, averaged across agents. | Talk Professional and above |
Talk Average Available Time per Agent Today | Time agents spent available today, averaged across agents. | Talk Professional and above |
Talk Average Away Time per Agent Today | Time agents spent away today, averaged across agents. | Talk Professional and above |
Talk Average Transfers-only Time per Agent Today | Time agents spent in transfers-only status today, averaged across agents. | Talk Professional and above |
Talk Agent Transfers Accepted Today | Call transfers agents accepted today. | Talk Professional and above |
Talk Average Transfers Accepted per Agent Today | Transfers accepted today, averaged across agents. | Talk Professional and above |
Talk Agent Transfers Started Today | Call transfers agents started today. | Talk Professional and above |
Talk Average Transfers Started per Agent Today | Transfers started today, averaged across agents. | Talk Professional and above |
Today’s agent figures are account-wide only: Zendesk doesn’t split them by phone number or group.
Using these metrics through the Qvasa API and MCP tools
AI agents and scripts that read your metrics through the Qvasa MCP tools get the same live figure. The answer says so plainly: it carries the moment Zendesk answered (as_of), names Zendesk as the source (external_source), and reports filters_ignored: true. There’s no previous-period comparison. If Zendesk doesn’t answer, the call returns an external_source_unavailable error instead of an empty result.
Good to know
Two "agents online" widgets: Zendesk talk agents online is Qvasa’s own count from your agents’ Talk statuses, and you can filter it by skill, group and more. Legacy zendesk talk agents online is Zendesk’s own figure, a Zendesk API metric. On the dashboard, only Zendesk’s carries the "Live from Zendesk" label.
"Zendesk did not answer …": Zendesk was unreachable or rate-limited the request. Refresh the widget. If it keeps happening, check that your Zendesk connection in Qvasa is still authorized.
"No Zendesk Talk phone numbers belong to this group": the group you picked has no Talk phone numbers assigned in Zendesk. Pick another group, or assign numbers to it in Zendesk.
The number doesn’t match a Qvasa metric next to it: see When to use Qvasa’s own Talk metrics instead above. The two are counted differently on purpose.
The numbers reset overnight: "today" figures restart at midnight in your Zendesk account’s timezone.
Alerts work on these widgets. An alert condition on a Zendesk API metric asks Zendesk at the alert’s own schedule.