Visualize Live Freshdesk Data in Power BI (via CData Connect AI)

Power BI transforms your company's data into rich visuals for you to collect and organize so you can focus on what matters to you. When paired with CData Connect AI, you get access to Freshdesk data for visualizations, dashboards, and more. This article shows how to use CData Connect to create a live connection to Freshdesk, connect to Freshdesk data from Power BI and then create reports on Freshdesk data in Power BI.

Configure Freshdesk Connectivity for Power BI

Connectivity to Freshdesk from Power BI is made possible through CData Connect AI. To work with Freshdesk data from Power BI, we start by creating and configuring a Freshdesk connection.

1. Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection
👁 Adding a Connection

2. Select "Freshdesk" from the Add Connection panel
👁 Selecting a data source

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Freshdesk.

   FreshDesk makes use of basic authentication. To connect to data, set the following connection properties:

   • Domain: Set this to the domain associated with your FreshDesk account. For example, in your URL: https://my_domain.freshdesk.com.
   • APIKey: Set this to the API key associated with your FreshDesk account. To retrieve your API key, Log into your support Portal -> Click on profile picture in the top right corner -> profile settings page. The API key will be available below the change password section to the right.
   👁 Configuring a connection (Salesforce is shown)
   
4. Click Save & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Freshdesk Connection page and update the User-based permissions. 👁 Updating permissions
   

With the connection configured, you are ready to connect to Freshdesk data from Power BI.

Query Freshdesk Tables

Follow the steps below to build a query to pull Freshdesk data into the report:

1. Open Power BI Desktop and click Get Data -> Online Services -> CData Connect AI and click "Connect"
2. Click "Sign in" and authenticate with your CData Connect AI account 👁 Authenticating with Connect AI
   
3. After signing in, click "Connect" 👁 Connecting to Connect AI
   
4. Select tables in the Navigator dialog 👁 The available tables. (Salesforce tables are shown)
   
5. Click Load to establish the connection to your Freshdesk data from Power BI

Create Freshdesk Data Visualizations

After connecting to the data into Power BI, you can create data visualizations in the Report view by dragging fields from the Fields pane onto the canvas. Select the dimensions and measures you wish to visualize along with the chart type.

Click Refresh to synchronize your report with any changes to the data.

Live Access to Freshdesk Data from Data Applications

With CData Connect AI you have a direct connection to Freshdesk data from Power BI. You can import more data, create new visualizations, build reports, and more — all without replicating Freshdesk data.

To get SQL data access to hundreds of SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources (including Freshdesk) directly from your on-premise BI, reporting, ETL and other data applications, visit the CData Connect AI page and start a free trial.