Universal Request versus Interaction Records (New Call record)

  • Release version: Washingtondc
  • Updated February 1, 2024
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Universal Request versus Interaction Records (New Call record)

    Universal Requests and Interaction Records are essential tools used by agents in various departments to manage employee interactions. Understanding their differences is crucial for effective service management in ServiceNow.

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    Key Features

    • Interaction Record: Used for documenting live chats or phone calls, allowing agents to note details and outline next steps. Agents can attach interactions to existing requests, create new department tickets, or generate a Universal Request.
    • Universal Request: Created from an Interaction Record when a task needs to be escalated or transferred to another department. It serves as a requester-facing record, enabling employees to initiate requests through the self-service portal.

    Key Outcomes

    Utilizing these records effectively allows for:

    • Seamless handoffs between departments, ensuring issues are addressed by the appropriate teams.
    • A unified ticketing experience for requesters, enhancing visibility and tracking of their requests.
    • Improved reporting capabilities, with Universal Requests supporting cross-departmental analysis, unlike Interaction Records.

    Universal request and interaction records are created and used by agents of various departments. However, they differ in the way they are handled. The following information provides an overview of both the records and how they differ from each other.

    Interaction Record

    An Interaction Record or a New Call record is used by an agent to take notes and determine the next steps during a live chat or a phone call. From an Interaction Record, an agent can perform one of the following actions:
    • Attach the interaction to an existing request, such as an IT incident, an HR case, or a Universal Request.
    • Create a new department ticket, such as an IT incident or an HR case.
    • Create a Universal Request and assign it to a Tier 1 agent or assignment group in a specific department.
    Let's say an agent gets a live chat from a customer who is experiencing a technical problem. The agent documents the conversation in an interaction record and determines that the issue needs expertise of IT department. To ensure a seamless hand off, the agent creates an IT incident.

    Universal Request

    A Universal Request is created from an Interaction Record or New Call record when an agent determines that a new task record must be transferred to a different department by assigning it to a Tier 1 assignment group.

    Let's say an employee wants to find specific information about medical benefits on the company's self-service portal. The employee searches for information about medical benefits and finds no relevant catalog items. In this case, the employee can select Request help on the portal to create a universal request.

    The following table lists the high-level differences between an Interaction Record and a Universal Request.

    Table 1. Differences between Universal Request and Interaction Record
    Universal Request Interaction Record
    Universal Requests are task records used by Tier 1 agents to either resolve or escalate an employee issue through any channel. Interaction records are temporary records used by agents to capture initial interactions with an employee from a chat or phone call. The agent determines whether to create a new task record or add it to an existing record.
    Universal Requests are requester-facing records. The universal requests are listed on the requester's ticket list page. They can view the individual tickets in the standard ticket page. Interaction records are not requester-facing records.
    Universal Request is a task type that agents work on. Universal Request supports cross-departmental ticket transfers and a unified ticket page experience for the requester. Interaction record is not a task type.
    Universal Request is a task type that serves as a parent record for other records that are created as child records, such as INC, HRC, and custom task types. It is also used for all cross-departmental reporting. Interaction records cannot be used for cross-departmental SLA reporting.