Supported Virtual Agent and Agent Chat features for custom chat integrations

  • Release version: Xanadu
  • Updated August 1, 2024
  • 4 minutes to read
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    Summary of Supported Virtual Agent and Agent Chat features for custom chat integrations

    The Custom Chat Integration Framework in ServiceNow’s Virtual Agent and Agent Chat provides a comprehensive set of features to deliver secure, seamless, and customizable conversational experiences. It supports synchronous authentication, secure data transfer, rich conversational controls, and integration with live agents. These capabilities enable you to build robust chat interactions tailored to your business needs while ensuring compliance with security and operational standards.

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    Key Features

    • User Authentication and Authorization: Supports synchronous message and provider authentication with immediate success or failure responses. Asynchronous authentication is no longer supported since Paris release.
    • Account Auto-Linking: Automatically links a user’s third-party account to their ServiceNow profile, avoiding guest mode conversations.
    • Secure Data Transfer: Sensitive information like passwords can be masked and securely transferred through the integration framework.
    • Trusted Media Domains: Validates URLs of attachments before upload to ensure security.
    • Rich Control Transformation: Enables design of unique conversational experiences via inbound/outbound scripts supporting all standard Virtual Agent controls.
    • Standard Virtual Agent Features: Includes support for context variables, system parameters, time zones, topic discovery via keywords or NLU, standard chat, long-running conversations, dynamic translation, customizable system messages, and notifications.
    • Agent Chat Features: Supports live agent transfer, persistent messages, interaction history, live agent availability and status display, agent avatar and name display, pre/post-chat surveys, and message delivery order control.
    • Custom Chat Experiences: Allows defining context-specific Virtual Agent experiences with multi-step responses, custom controls, skip options, branding, and typing indicators.
    • API and Provider Management: Features API rate limiting, versioning, and configuration of default portals for URL navigation in chat links.

    Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    • Improved Security and Compliance: Synchronous authentication and trusted domains ensure secure connections and data handling.
    • Streamlined User Experience: Auto-linking accounts and customizable system messages provide a smoother, personalized chat journey.
    • Enhanced Conversational Flexibility: Rich controls and multi-step dialogs enable sophisticated, engaging interactions tailored to specific use cases.
    • Efficient Live Agent Integration: Direct routing to live agents with status visibility and surveys enhances customer support effectiveness.
    • Operational Control: Timeout settings and message ordering options help manage chat session behavior and data consistency.
    • Customization and Branding: Ability to implement custom controls, branding, and contextual actions ensures alignment with your company’s identity and workflows.

    The chat integrations framework supports a multitude of Virtual Agent and Agent Chat features to provide a robust conversational experience.

    User authentication, authorization, and secure connection setup

    Synchronous authentication of messages
    Provider authentication is synchronous. They will get an immediate response with the request successful or failure code. For configuration information, see .
    Note:
    As of the Paris release, asynchronous authentication is no longer supported.
    Account auto-linking
    Allow a user's third-party account to be auto-linked to their ServiceNow® profile. This feature bypasses the prompt for the user to link their accounts manually. Without account linking, conversations will take place in Guest mode. For configuration information, see Account linking in pre-built messaging integrations.
    Configure the output response REST endpoint and outbound authentication for the Virtual Agent API
    Specify the outbound endpoint URL to which the Virtual Agent responses are posted and configure outbound authentication. For configuration information, see .
    Secure data transfer
    Sensitive data such as passwords can be masked and transferred via the integration framework securely.
    Trusted media domains
    Use trusted media domains to check the URLs of attachment files before uploading them. For configuration information, see Set up trusted media domains for secure file upload.

    Rich control transformation

    Design a rich and unique conversational experience for a channel through rich control transformation via inbound and outbound transformation scripts. All standard rich controls are supported. For detailed information about Virtual Agent controls, see the following sections:

    Supported Virtual Agent chat features

    No configuration or scripting required to implement these features in Custom Chat Integration Framework.

    Support for all standard Virtual Agent controls
    • Pass context variables, system parameters, or a user's time-zone along with user input.
    • By default the Virtual Agent processes only one user request at a time. If a user sends a second request before the first request is finished, the second request is ignored. This does not apply when the user is connected to a live agent.
    • Ignore duplicate requests from client.
    Topic discovery using keywords or Natural Language Understanding
    Custom chat integrations can avail topic discovery via keywords or NLU depending on how Virtual Agent is set up on your instance.
    Standard chat and long-running conversations
    Channels can be set up as either chat or messaging. For more information on long-running conversations, see Using Asynchronous Chat in messaging channels.
    Custom Virtual Agent chat experiences
    Define a custom chat experience for a specific context in which your users run Virtual Agent.
    Dynamic translation
    Display a message in chat client that messages are being translated if dynamic translation is enabled.
    Customize Virtual Agent and Agent Chat system messages
    System messages are a set of pre-built messages that can be served as bot response in common conversation scenarios such as greeting a user or transferring to a live agent. Admins can override the message text to suit their business needs.
    Notifications
    Deliver both simple and actionable notifications via the integration framework.
    Standard timeouts for idle agent conversations
    You can change the default timeout period for closing Virtual Agent and live agent conversations by adding the system property com.glide.cs.conversation_idle_timeout.
    Virtual Agent interaction records
    The channel (sys_cs_channel.Name), channel type (sys_cs_channel.Type), provider (sys_cs_provider.Name), provider identifier name (sys_cs_provider_application.Name) and provider channel id (sys_cs_provider_application.InboundID) fields are available for reporting.
    API rate limiting
    Ability to control the rate at which API calls are made via the platform rate limiting feature.
    API versioning
    Specify the version of the provider. The framework is able to send the expected inputs to actions and subflows and handle the expected outputs. See Configure a provider for your custom chat integration for more information.
    Specify the default portal for URL navigation at the Provider Channel Identities level
    For a provider channel, specify the portal in which chat links, including links in output cards and cards for Virtual Agent notifications and AI Search results, are opened. For details on setting the default portal in the Provider Channel Identities [sys_cs_provider_application] table, see Create a channel identifier for your custom chat integration. To learn more about URL navigation, see Configure URL navigation for chat links.

    Supported Agent Chat features

    Support for all standard live agent controls
    • Transfer to live agent from Virtual Agent or directly by user
    • Persistent messages after live agent is initiated
    • Interaction history (chat transcripts) for live agents
    • Channel-level flag to initiate conversations with live agents, bypassing Virtual Agent
    Live agent status for end users
    • Agent availability
    • Wait time for next agent
    • Display agent name and avatar, if enabled in Agent Chat settings.
    Channel-level flag to initiate conversations with live agents, bypassing Virtual Agent
    Enable the Live Agent Only option in the Messaging Channels [sys_cs_channel] table to route conversations directly to a live agent and skip the Virtual Agent conversation greeting. If an agent isn't available, the message No agent available is displayed to the user. For channel configuration information, see Create a new channel for your custom chat integration.
    Pass the agent avatar and name if enabled in Agent Chat settings
    When the Agent Names and Avatars field is enabled in Agent Chat settings, the Custom Chat Integration Framework supports the display of the agent name and avatar in the chat. For more information, see Setting up Agent Chat.
    Pre-chat and post-chat surveys
    After an agent ends a chat, the post-chat survey runs automatically when the following criteria are met:
    • The Virtual Agent Feedback setup topic is enabled.
    • The chat service channel and the queues that your live agents support are configured in Advanced Work Assignment.