An admin creates one or more Departments and assigns Technicians and unattended device groups to each. A Technician can only see and connect to unattended devices within their assigned Department. Department settings also control session-level configurations: whether Session Recording is mandatory, which file transfer permissions are enabled, and the customer notification language. When a new unattended device is registered, it is assigned to a Department during setup, determining who can access it from that point forward.
Create a Department for each logical team or client that requires a distinct set of devices and technicians. A managed service provider might create one Department per client, ensuring that engineers working for one client cannot access another client’s machines. An internal IT team might use Departments to separate servers, workstations, and point-of-sale devices, assigning specialised engineers to each. Use one Department for all support if your team is small and access segregation is not a requirement.
A device can only belong to one Department at a time in Zoho Assist; moving a device between Departments changes which Technicians have access to it. Technicians can belong to multiple Departments, giving senior staff broader access without needing administrator rights. Department-level Session Recording settings override individual Technician preferences, so use this to enforce mandatory recording policies. Plan your Department structure before deploying unattended agents at scale, as reorganising devices after deployment requires accessing each device to reassign it.
Yes. Each Department has its own configuration for session features including mandatory Session Recording, file transfer permissions, chat availability, and customer notification settings. This allows an admin to enforce strict recording in a Department that handles sensitive servers while using lighter settings for a Department that supports internal workstations, all within the same Assist account.
The number of Departments available depends on your Zoho Assist subscription plan. Higher-tier plans support more Departments to accommodate larger or more complex organisations. If you are evaluating Assist for a managed service provider use case with many clients, confirm the Department limit for your target plan before committing, as this directly determines how many distinct client environments you can manage with proper access segregation.
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