Notifications

  • Release version: Xanadu
  • Updated August 1, 2024
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Notifications

    After defining your data model and enabling user interaction, configuring notifications in ServiceNow is essential for effective communication. Notifications alert users to important application events, share knowledge base information, and support multiple languages. The ServiceNow AI Platform supports notifying users via email, SMS, or push notifications.

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    Triggers: Event Driven Notifications vs Table Updates

    Notifications can be triggered based on table updates or specific events:

    • Event-based triggers are recommended when notification conditions are complex or originate from workflows, simplifying debugging and management.
    • For simple use cases, use the Notification activity in workflows or the Send an email action in Flow Designer.
    • For critical or complex notifications, trigger an event via workflow or Flow Designer, then configure a notification to respond to that event.

    Notification Content

    ServiceNow notifications support both static and dynamic content through email templates, scripts, and variables:

    • Notification variables enable dynamic insertion of field values from the base or related records using dot-walking, without scripting.
    • Use the URIREF variable to link directly to the originating record.
    • Email scripts can further customize content and notification details like recipient and sender addresses.
    • Create reusable email templates for subject lines and message bodies shared across multiple notifications.
    • Note: Use notification email scripts via System Notifications > Email > Notification Email Script for reliable scripting instead of inline tags.

    Configuring Recipients

    Notifications can be sent to individual users, groups, or specific email addresses:

    • When sending to groups, enabling the "Include members" option ensures all group members receive the notification along with the group email.
    • Enable the Subscribable option to allow recipients to select which notifications they want to receive.
    • The Mandatory option overrides subscription preferences, ensuring recipients always receive the notification.
    • Optionally, include unsubscribe links in emails so users can opt out of notifications.
    • Email watermarks are automatically added to notifications to track user responses unless the "Omit watermark" option is selected, which should only be done if no responses are expected.

    Troubleshooting

    For common notification issues, refer to the Troubleshooting Outbound Email knowledge base article accessible via the HI portal.

    After the data model is defined and users are able to interact with the application, determine how the application should communicate with users. Configure notifications to alert users to important application related events, share application information in the knowledge base, and add translations to allow users to interact with the application in their native language.

    The ServiceNow AI Platform can notify users by email, SMS text message, or push notifications.

    Triggers: Event Driven Notifications vs Table Updates

    Configure notifications to trigger based on updates to a table or based on an event. Use event-based triggering when triggering requirements cannot be easily implemented in the notification conditions or when the notification is triggered from a Workflow. Creating specific events also enables easier notification debugging.

    Use the Notification activity in a workflow or the Send an email action in Flow Designer for simple notification use cases. For complex or critical notifications, trigger an event from a workflow or a Flow Designer flow and configure a notification to fire off that event.

    Notification Content

    ServiceNow notifications support static and dynamic content using email templates, email scripts, and notification variables.

    Notification variables add dynamic information to the body of a notification, such as field values from the base record. The variables also support dot-walking, which allows field values from any related records to be included in the content without scripting.

    For example, use the URI_REF variable to point to the record that originated the email.

    Use email scripts or dot-walk from the base record to include dynamic content that is not available in the record. Use the mail script API to set notification details, such as the recipient and sender addresses, etc.

    Note:
    Scripts entered in the notification body using <mail_script> tags may not always work correctly. Always create email scripts at System Notifications > Email > Notification Email Script and include them in the notification body with ${mail_script:script_name}.

    Create email templates for content used in multiple notifications. Adding the content to an email template enables administrators to create reusable content for the subject line and message body of email notifications.

    Configure recipients

    ServiceNow emails can be sent to users, groups, or individual email addresses. When sending to groups, check the Include members field on the group record for the notification to be sent to all members of the group in addition to the group email.

    Subscription-based notifications - Select the Subscribable option on the notification to allow recipients to pick and choose the emails they want to receive.

    For a subscription-based notification, the Mandatory option can be set to true for the recipients to receive the notification regardless of their individual preferences. Optionally, configure unsubscribe links in the outgoing email to allow users to remove themselves from the notification.

    ServiceNow uses email watermarks to correctly process user responses to notifications. Email notifications automatically include watermarks unless the Omit watermark option is selected in the notification. Omit watermarks only when no email response is expected from the recipients.

    The Troubleshooting Outbound Email knowledge base article provides troubleshooting steps for the most common notification issues. Log in to the HI portal (https://hi.service-now.com) to access the article.