Configure Playbooks for Customer Service Management

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated January 30, 2025
  • 3 minutes to read
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    Summary of Configure Playbooks for Customer Service Management

    This guide explains how to configure playbooks in ServiceNow Customer Service Management (CSM) to optimize case handling and agent workflows within the Workspace environment. Playbooks provide structured, stage-based guidance for managing customer cases, and their configuration involves settings in both UI Builder and playbook experience records.

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    Key Configuration Areas

    • Playbook Record Pages: Customize the layout of case records using horizontal or vertical stage page variants available in the Playbooks for CSM application. These record pages define how case information is presented in the Workspace.
    • Playbook Record Page Settings: Control page availability, priority, display conditions, and audience targeting to tailor the user experience for specific roles or contexts.
    • Playbook Activity Views: Choose how stages and activities appear within the playbook component in UI Builder. Options include different visual layouts (e.g., stacked or focused views) to suit agent preferences and workflow needs.
    • Stage and Activity Visibility: Configure visibility rules to hide inaccessible activities based on user permissions and to manage the display of pending activities (those not yet triggered). This ensures agents see only relevant tasks.
    • Compact Mode: Enable compact mode to display the playbook as a contextual side panel instead of a full tab, allowing agents to interact with playbook activities while simultaneously viewing other case details.
    • Playbook Experience Selection: Use playbook experiences to define the overall look, behavior, and mappings of user actions for playbooks. Different playbooks or cases can leverage distinct experiences to customize workflows.
    • Preview Capabilities: Administrators with the playbook experience admin role can preview playbook configurations in real time within non-production environments to validate settings before deployment.
    • Record Generators and Optional Activities: Configure playbooks to start with automated record creation and include optional activities that agents can insert as needed during case handling, enhancing flexibility.

    Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    • Improved Agent Efficiency: Structured playbooks guide agents through standardized case handling steps, reducing errors and accelerating resolution times.
    • Customizable User Experience: Tailoring playbook layouts, visibility, and interaction modes ensures the playbook fits specific organizational and user needs.
    • Enhanced Flexibility: Optional activities and multiple playbook experiences allow adaptation to diverse business processes and case types.
    • Seamless Integration with Workspace: Compact mode and UI Builder configurations enable smooth embedding of playbooks within the ServiceNow Workspace for a streamlined interface.

    Configure different playbook settings, such as selecting the activity view and determining activity visibility.

    Some of the configuration for a playbook is performed in UI Builder as part of the playbook component configuration. Additional settings can be configured in the playbook experience configuration record. These settings include selecting the playbook activity view and configuring playbook stage and activity visibility.

    Table 1. Playbook configuration tasks
    Configuration task Description
    Create or customize a playbook record page A record page provides the base structure for how a record is displayed in CSM Configurable Workspace. The following playbook record pages are available with the Playbooks for Customer Service Management application [com.sn_csm_playbook]:

    For more information, see Manage UI Builder pages and page variants.
    Configure the playbook record page settings Each UI Builder record page includes the following settings:
    • Active: Enabling this check box makes the page available to the selected audience.
    • Order: This value indicates the page priority. The page with the lowest order value is the default page.
    • Conditions: Determine when a page variant is displayed.
    • Audience: Determines who can see the page.
    For more information, see the following topics:
    Select a playbook activity view The activity view determines how the stages and activities are displayed in the playbook.
    • Stacked: <add description>
    • Focused: <add description>
    Users with the system administrator role can select a playbook activity view in the playbook component configuration in UI Builder.
    Configure playbook stage and activity visibility
    The following fields control the visibility of playbook stages and activities.
    • Hide Inaccessible Activity: Accessibility is determined by user permissions. When enabled, the user cannot see an activity if they do not have permissions to view the data associated with the activity. If all activities in a stage are inaccessible to the user, the stage is also hidden.
    • Control Activity Display: Pending activities are those activities that have not yet been triggered. Select one of the options in this field to show or hide pending activities.

    Users with the system administrator role can in the playbook experience configuration record.
    Configure a playbook to use compact mode Compact mode moves the playbook from a tab in the Workspace to the contextual side panel. Agents can complete playbook activities in the side panel while viewing other tabs in the record page.

    Users with the system administrator role can configure a playbook to use compact mode in the playbook component configuration in UI Builder. For more information about configuring this feature, see Integrate Playbook with Workspace.
    Preview a playbook Users with the playbook experience admin role [playbook_experience.admin] can preview a playbook in real time within a non-production environment. With this feature, playbook experience administrators can easily see and test different playbook settings.
    Select a playbook experience A playbook experience is a defined set of configurations that determines how the system renders a playbook in Workspace. You can use playbook experiences to customize the look and feel of a playbook, map user actions, and override activities.

    The Playbook Experience plugin (com.playbook_experience) includes the Global Playbook Experience record, which defines a default playbook configuration.

    The Playbooks for Customer Service Management plugin (com.sn_csm_playbook) includes the following additional playbook experience records:
    • CSM Configurable Workspace Playbook
    • CSM Agent Workspace Playbook

    Users with the system administrator role can select a playbook experience when adding a playbook to a page in UI Builder.

    Different playbooks for the same record type can use different playbook experiences. For example, if a complaint case uses two playbooks, each playbook can use a different playbook experience.

    For more information, see the following topics in the Workspace administrator documentation:
    • Create Playbook experience configurations
    • Preview a playbook
    Set up a record generator for a case type Create a record for a case type by using a playbook record generator. With a record generator, the system creates a record as the first step in the playbook.
    Confgure an optional activity for a playbook Configure optional playbook activities so that agents and fulfillers can insert activities during a playbook run. For example, a customer may want to schedule an optional activity such as making an appointment to visit a location.

    Playbook experiences

    Playbook experiences are used to customize the look and feel of a playbook. Settings in a playbook experience control how UI Builder renders a playbook in the CSM workspaces. System administrators can configure settings in the playbook experience record that determine the playbook stage and activity visibility.

    Within UI Builder, system administrators can configure playbook component settings such as:
    • Selecting a playbook experience
    • Selecting an activity view
    • Enabling compact mode

    For more information, see Configuring playbooks for Customer Service Management.