Exploring Now Assist in Virtual Agent

  • Release version: Xanadu
  • Updated January 30, 2025
  • 4 minutes to read
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    Summary of Exploring Now Assist in Virtual Agent

    Now Assist in Virtual Agent leverages large language models (LLMs) and generative AI to enhance Virtual Agent capabilities by simplifying topic discovery and improving deflection rates. This reduces the extensive setup and expertise traditionally required for Natural Language Understanding (NLU) topic configuration, enabling faster deployment and better user experiences. Now Assist integrates with multiple platforms including chat widgets, mobile apps, and Microsoft Teams.

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    Key Features

    • LLM-Driven Topic Discovery: Uses generative AI to streamline topic creation and migration from existing NLU or keyword-based topics, minimizing months of development and expert involvement.
    • Guided Setup: Allows administrators to configure Now Assist quickly without specialized AI knowledge, accessible through the Conversational Interfaces or Now Assist Admin consoles.
    • Now Assist Skills: Includes AI-enhanced skills such as:
      • Q&A Genius Results: Provides users with synthesized, actionable answers and options, with the ability to request more results.
      • Multi-Turn Catalog Ordering: Enables conversational, natural language interactions for service catalog requests, allowing users to refine their orders seamlessly within the same chat session.
      • Topics Skill: Lets admins create and manage LLM topics for more dynamic conversational experiences.
    • Customizable Skill Picker: Admins can tailor the skill selection interface, including labels and promoted topics, to fit user needs.
    • Multi-Portal Deployment: Supports deployment across various user access points such as web chat widgets, mobile applications, and Microsoft Teams.
    • Performance Monitoring: Provides monitoring tools within the Conversational Interfaces and Now Assist Admin consoles to track usage and value metrics.

    Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    • Faster Implementation: Guided setup and AI-driven topic discovery reduce time and effort needed to launch effective Virtual Agent solutions.
    • Improved User Experience: Users benefit from natural language interactions that handle complex queries, switch topics mid-conversation, and provide actionable results efficiently.
    • Reduced Live Agent Dependency: Enhanced deflection through more accurate AI responses lowers the need for live agent intervention, improving operational efficiency.
    • Flexibility and Control: Admins can easily activate or deactivate skills, customize user interface elements, and manage conversational topics to align with organizational requirements.
    • Cross-Platform Accessibility: Now Assist’s availability across chat widgets, mobile apps, and Microsoft Teams ensures users can engage through their preferred channels.
    • Insightful Analytics: Built-in monitoring helps track adoption and effectiveness, supporting continuous improvement of Virtual Agent interactions.

    Now Assist in Virtual Agent uses large language models (LLMs) and generative AI skills to improve deflection rates and reduce the amount of time-consuming work that Natural Language Understanding (NLU) topic discovery requires.

    Now Assist capabilities bring generative AI to Virtual Agent. Using LLMs for topic discovery simplifies the amount of setup and configuration required for Virtual Agent. Topics that use keyword and Natural Language Understanding (NLU) discovery often require months of development and the involvement of dedicated subject matter experts. Unusual issues or questions may lead a user to contact a live agent instead. You can continue to use your existing NLU topics and migrate them into new LLM topics using the topic migration feature within Virtual Agent Designer. For more information on topic migration, see Migrating NLU/keyword Virtual Agent topics to LLM topics.

    Use the guided setup to configure Now Assist in Virtual Agent in a few minutes. No expertise is necessary to launch the experience. For more information, see Configuring Now Assist in Virtual Agent.

    Now Assist in Virtual Agent is available through portals on the chat widget, the mobile app, and Microsoft Teams.

    Now Assist skills in Virtual Agent

    Now Assist skills in Virtual Agent enhance the user experience by combining AI Search with chat. These skills can increase issue resolution in Virtual Agent and reduce deflections to a live agent.

    The following figure shows how the requester uses natural language rather than keywords in the chat. Now LLM Service determines the most likely option based on the requester's input and sends a synthesized response with possible action items. Queries can apply to both information searches and service catalog requests.

    Figure 1. Example of standard chat's synthesized response with conversational and non-conversational catalog options
    A summary of the iPad options along with catalog options to either Go to request or Start request in the Virtual Agent.

    The Now Assist Q&A Genius Results skill shows users the best possible answer to a query, in the form of actionable options displayed along with the results. The bot may generate answers based on what it found, or return actionable options or links. Users have the option to see more results as needed.

    The Now Assist Multi-Turn Catalog Ordering skill gives users access to available options in the Service Catalog. Users can request an item, such as a mobile phone. The user can then provide more information to refine the search. For example, they may refine their request to a blue 256-GB iPhone. They can even request a new item instead, all in the same conversation, and the generative AI creates its responses using natural language.

    The Now Assist Topics skill enables admins to create LLM topics for Now Assist in Virtual Agent. For more information, see LLM assistants. Activate the Now Assist Topics skill in the Now Assist guided setup. For more information, see Configuring Now Assist in Virtual Agent.

    For more examples of having a conversation with Now Assist in Virtual Agent, see Using Now Assist in Virtual Agent.

    Figure 2. Example of standard chat's View all topics option
    View all topics shows all Virtual Agent Designer topics.

    Now Assist in Virtual Agent skills are available in the Now Assist Admin console. For full catalog functionality in the chat window, enable the generative AI experience for catalog item request submissions. For more information, see Configure Now Assist in Conversational Catalog Request.

    The skill picker is configurable based on the user's requirements. For example, a user can change the View all topics label in the skill picker and add or remove the bullet list of promoted topics from the skill selection message.

    Figure 3. Now Assist in Virtual Agent skills in the Now Assist Admin console
    Features tab in the Now Assist Admin console, showing Conversational experience skill card.

    Benefits

    Now Assist in Virtual Agent provides the following benefits.

    Benefit Feature User
    Configure Now Assist in Virtual Agent in a few minutes, from either the Conversational Interfaces console or the Now Assist Admin console. Guided setup experience virtual_agent_admin or admin
    Now Assist skills can be turned on within the guided setup. Activate a Now Assist skill virtual_agent_admin or admin
    Deploy Now Assist in Virtual Agent on multiple portals using the chat widget, the mobile app, and Microsoft Teams. Configuring Now Assist in Virtual Agent virtual_agent_admin or admin
    Generative AI enhances the user search experience with the ability to generate answers and enabling the user to select the Show more results option for a new search. Now Assist Q&A Genius Results skill requesters
    Give users in-chat access to available options in the Service Catalog. Now Assist Multi-Turn Catalog Ordering skill requesters
    Now Assist lets Virtual Agent switch easily between requests, using plain language when new queries are made in the same conversation. Mid-topic switching during Now Assist in Virtual Agent conversations requesters
    Monitor performance metrics for Now Assist in Virtual Agent from the Conversational Interfaces console. Conversational Interfaces console virtual_agent_admin or admin
    Monitor value metrics (Now Assist usage versus Now Assist in Virtual Agent) from the Now Assist Admin console. Now Assist Admin console virtual_agent_admin or admin