Both triggers and automations consist of conditions and actions. The difference lies in the type of event that has to occur in order for the actions to be executed.

Every time a ticket is updated or created, Zendesk will run through all the triggers, check if the right conditions are met, and move straight to the actions.

This is not so when it comes to automations. An automation's conditions always include an extra factor, which is time. An automation would check for these specific conditions four hours after the ticket has been updated.

So when do we use an automation over a trigger?

For now, remember that if you want to automate a process and include time as a condition, you will need to make use of an automation. If you want to automate a process that reacts to a certain condition straightaway, you will go for a trigger instead.

Next, let's take a detailed look at triggers.