Exploring Critical Event Management

  • Release version: Xanadu
  • Updated July 31, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Exploring Critical Event Management

    Critical Event Management (CEM) in ServiceNow provides a structured platform for reporting, managing, and resolving critical situations. It enables employees or operators to report emergencies, while on-site responders assist impacted individuals. Operators monitor the event continuously until resolution, ensuring efficient handling of emergencies.

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    Key Features

    • User Roles:
      • Admin: Manages CEM administration.
      • Agent: Oversees the critical event lifecycle from initiation to resolution, including task assignments and communication.
      • Employee: Reports emergency requests.
      • On-site Responder: Addresses emergencies on location and coordinates impacted people.
    • Critical Event Workflow:
      1. Reporting of the critical event by employee or agent.
      2. Assignment and activation of responders by the agent.
      3. Sending notifications to impacted individuals and responders.
      4. On-site responders conduct roll calls and coordinate impacted people.
      5. Agents manage communications and responses throughout the event.
      6. Event closure by the agent, including creation of Health and Safety incidents if necessary.
    • Notifications: Agents can send mass notifications and track sent notifications to keep all parties informed.
    • Tracking Impacted People: The system enables roll calls and status updates through a dedicated portal for on-site responders to use.
    • Health and Safety Incident Creation: Admins can create related incidents directly within the CEM framework after event resolution.
    • Guided Playbook: Agents benefit from a step-by-step playbook for managing events efficiently.

    Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    • Streamlines emergency response by clearly defining user roles and responsibilities.
    • Improves communication with automated notifications and real-time tracking of impacted individuals.
    • Supports compliance and safety management through Health and Safety incident integration.
    • Provides a guided, repeatable process to handle critical events, reducing confusion and response times.

    Next Steps

    To maximize the use of Critical Event Management, customers should explore configuration options, learn to report events as agents and employees, manage impacted people effectively, and utilize notification capabilities during incidents. These resources help tailor the solution to organizational requirements and improve emergency responsiveness.

    Learn how to create and manage critical event tickets, assign tasks to on-site responders, and track the impacted people.

    Critical Event Management overview

    Critical Event Management offers a platform to report and manage critical situations. Employees or operators report an event, and on-site responders assist the impacted people. The operator monitors the critical event closely until it’s resolved.

    Critical Event Management Users

    Table 1. Critical Event Management users
    Users Description
    Admin Administrator for Critical Event Management
    Agent Works on the Critical Event Management record from initiation to resolution.
    Employee Raises emergency requests.
    On-site responder Addresses the emergency incident reported by an agent or employee.

    Critical Event Management workflow

    1. Report the critical event

      An employee reports the critical event, or an agent creates the critical event.

    2. Assign and activate

      The agent assigns the critical event to relevant responders and activates the critical event.

    3. Send notifications

      The agent sends notifications to the impacted people and on-site responders.

    4. Initiate roll call and coordinate

      On-site responders coordinate people at the assembly point and take roll calls to update their status in the impacted people list.

    5. Manage communication and responses

      The agent manages the response from the impacted people and communicates with them and the responders.

    6. Close the critical event

      Once the situation is resolved, the agent resolves the critical event, creates Health and Safety incidents if needed, and then closes the event.

    Critical Event Management benefits

    Table 2. Critical Event Management benefits
    Benefit Feature Users
    Efficiently manage critical events with the clear, step-by-step guide with a playbook. CEM Playbook tab Agent
    Create critical event tickets. Report a critical event as an employee Employee
    Create critical event tickets. Report a critical event as an agent Agent
    Send notifications to on-site responders and mass notifications to impacted people. Sending notifications during a critical event Agent
    View sent notifications. View sent notifications for a critical event Agent
    Track impacted people. CEM Impacted people tab Agent
    Conduct roll calls and update the status of impacted people by logging in to their portal. Conduct a roll call as an on-site responder On-site responders
    Create Health and Safety incidents. Create a Health and Safety incident in Critical Event Management Admins

    What to explore next

    To learn more about configuring and using Critical Event Management, see: