Configuring Virtual Agent notifications

  • Release version: Xanadu
  • Updated May 15, 2025
  • 5 minutes to read
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    Summary of Configuring Virtual Agent notifications

    ServiceNow Virtual Agent notifications allow you to send messages directly to users via the Virtual Agent chatbot on supported messaging channels such as web chat widgets, SMS (Twilio), Slack, Microsoft Teams, Workplace from Facebook, and Facebook Messenger. Notifications can be simple informational messages or actionable messages with interactive buttons. This functionality is available through the Glide Virtual Agent plugin and Virtual Agent Lite, with the latter supporting only simple notifications.

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    Users without ServiceNow profiles can still receive non-actionable notifications.

    Key Features

    • Simple Notifications: Informational messages, record cards, or image cards delivered immediately, even during active conversations with agents or bots.
    • Actionable Notifications: Include buttons to perform actions like adding comments or requesting a live agent. These notifications are delivered only when users are not in active conversations and are stored in a queue for up to 8 hours (configurable up to 72 hours).
    • Dynamic Content: Notifications can be personalized with dynamic headers and messages using parameter substitution or scripts that pull data from multiple sources, including third-party services.
    • Notification Context Variables: Variables such as table name, record ID, and action ID can be passed to notifications for context, enabling tailored responses and interactions.
    • Processing Controls: Limits exist on the maximum number of recipients (default 100,000 per notification per channel) and maximum notifications per day (default 100,000), adjustable via system properties. Third-party channel limits may also apply.
    • User Subscription Management: End users can subscribe or unsubscribe from notifications per channel, using toggles in the chat menu or commands in integrations like Slack and Teams.
    • Notification Delivery Behavior: Simple messages appear immediately, allowing ongoing conversations. Actionable notifications appear after conversations end, prompting users to take action or skip.

    Practical Application for ServiceNow Customers

    Admins can configure notifications to keep users informed and engaged through various chat and messaging channels. Actionable notifications support workflows like password resets, incident updates, approvals, surveys, and onboarding follow-ups, enhancing user interaction and response rates.

    Customization options allow notifications to convey relevant, dynamic information linked to specific records or events, improving communication precision.

    By managing recipient lists and respecting channel limits, admins ensure efficient notification delivery without overwhelming users or breaching platform constraints.

    End users benefit from an intuitive notification experience, with control over subscription preferences and clear prompts to engage with actionable items.

    Next Steps

    • Create Virtual Agent notifications, specifying triggers and recipients including those without ServiceNow accounts.
    • Define additional recipients to broaden notification reach on chat or messaging channels.
    • Design notification content tailored for chat or messaging platforms.
    • Configure delivery channels by specifying messaging channel details.
    • Define actionable notification actions and link them to Virtual Agent topics or flows.
    • Enable Virtual Agent notifications to activate the feature for end users across supported channels.

    Send ServiceNow notifications directly to users via the Virtual Agent chatbot on supported messaging channels. Notifications can be simple informational messages for review, or actionable messages with buttons that users can select to perform certain actions.

    Notifications are sent to recipients via the Virtual Agent bot in the chat widget, pre-built messaging integrations (for example, SMS Twilio, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Workplace from Facebook services, and Facebook Messenger messaging platform), and custom chat integrations.

    Notification functionality is included with the Glide Virtual Agent (com.glide.cs.chatbot) plugin and also with Virtual Agent Lite, which is included with the ServiceNow AI Platform. However, Virtual Agent Lite users can receive only simple notifications, while Virtual Agent users can receive both actionable notifications and simple notifications. Users with no associated ServiceNow profiles in the [sys_user] table can receive non-actionable Virtual Agent notifications.

    How Virtual Agent notifications work

    As an admin, you can define different types of notifications that have specific layouts and content. You can also customize certain aspects of notification content, such as the message heading and message content.
    Simple notifications
    The content can be a standard informational message, record card, or an image card. Simple notifications are delivered to users immediately, even when they're engaged in a conversation with a virtual or live agent.
    Actionable notifications

    These notifications have buttons that enable the recipient to perform certain actions, such as adding a comment or requesting a live agent. When you create an actionable notification, you associate an action with a published Virtual Agent topic, a scriptable action, or a flow action that handles the action to be performed. To encourage users to act on a notification, admin users can choose to remove the Skip option. If the user still doesn’t act, the conversation will be completed as inactive.

    Note:
    The notifications are actionable only when there is an associated link action to its content.

    Actionable notifications are delivered to users when they're not in an active conversation with a virtual or live agent. A queue stores actionable notifications that are waiting to be delivered, for up to eight hours by default.

    Actionable notifications are best suited for conversational purposes, such as:
    • Password reset
    • Incident update
    • Approval request
    • Course survey
    • Service follow-ups and surveys
    • Employee onboarding follow-ups

    When a topic conversation completes, Virtual Agent automatically prompts the user to view pending notifications (if any). Admins can suppress this prompt by setting the com.glide.cs.show_pending_notifications_prompt property on the System Properties table to false.

    Notifications with dynamic content
    You can personalize Virtual Agent notifications by adding dynamic content to message headers and messages. For record- and event-based notifications, you use parameter substitution to specify the variables that identify the record values (from the notification table) to be included in the content.
    Advanced notifications with dynamic content
    You can create Virtual Agent notifications that use a script to add dynamic content in message headers and messages. The content can come from multiple data sources and include third-party services, such as URL shortening.
    Variables in notifications
    You can pass information to a completed survey when the notification is triggered. Context is defined by the script found in the notification topic. This script cannot be modified.
    vaVars.global_notification_context = 
  JSON.stringify({
    'tableName': table_name, 
        'tableSysId': sys_id, 
        'actionId': actionId, 
        'eventParm1': eventParm1, 
        'eventParm2': eventParm2});
    Notifications are triggered by records updates or by creating a platform event in the event queue. actionId is the ID number for the action. The platform event takes in the eventParm1 and eventParm2 parameters. If a notification is triggered, the parameters are passed to the topic. To capture the notification incident number in your topic, use the following script.
    var notificationContext = JSON.parse(vaVars.global_notification_context);
vaVars.sysId = notificationContext.tableSysId;
varVars.tableName = notificationContext.tableName;

    Notification processing

    Virtual Agent notifications have certain processing controls and limitations, such as the maximum number of recipients allowed per notification and the number of notifications that can be sent per day. The following table identifies these processing controls and the system properties that can be used to change their default values.

    Table 1. Virtual Agent notification processing controls and limitations
    Notification processing control or limitation Default value Associated system property
    Maximum number of recipients per notification per channel 100,000 recipients com.glide.cs.per_notification_user_limit

    Max limit: None

    Note:
    • If there are more recipients than the configured number, warning messages are displayed to reduce the recipient list while you’re configuring the notification and when the notification is delivered. The warnings are displayed only when there is Virtual Agent content associated with the notification.
    • Recipient limits may apply to third-party delivery channels based on the level of service or subscription.
    Maximum number of notifications per day, per channel 100,000 notifications com.glide.cs.daily_notification_limit

    Max limit: None

    Note:
    Rate limits may apply to third-party delivery channels based on the level of service or subscription.
    Lifespan of actionable notifications (a queue stores actionable notifications that are waiting to be delivered) 8 hours com.glide.cs.idle_actionable_notification_timer
    Note:
    You can specify a maximum value of 72 hours.
    Allow access to notification card content and parameter substitutions in notification headings and messages False (not enabled) com.glide.cs.notification_record_access_check
    Note:
    This property does not apply to advanced notifications.

    Notification experience for end users

    The notification experience for end users depends on the type of notification that they're receiving. End users can also manage how their notifications are delivered by subscribing to or unsubscribing from notifications.
    • Simple message notifications - These notifications are delivered immediately to the end user, even when the user is chatting with a bot or live agent. The user sees the incoming message but can continue with the current conversation.
    • Actionable notifications - These notifications are delivered only when the user is not in an active conversation with a virtual or live agent. When users complete their conversation with a bot or live agent, they can use the Show notification command to view a list of pending notifications, which displays the heading of each notification. Users can select a pending notification to review, then perform the appropriate action for the notification, or skip the action.

    User subscriptions for notifications

    End users can subscribe or unsubscribe to notifications on the channel that they're using. For example, the chat menu provides a toggle switch that users can use to subscribe or unsubscribe to notifications on the web channel.

    In the conversational integrations for Slack, Microsoft Teams, Workplace from Facebook services, end users manage their notification subscriptions by using the Subscribe and Unsubscribe commands.

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