--- sourceDocument: Yokohama Conversational Interfaces sourceDocumentLink: https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/r/yokohama/conversational-interfaces Release : - yokohama ft:locale : - en-US ft:publication_title : - Yokohama Conversational Interfaces ft:clusterId : - convint bundleId : - convint workflow : - Platform --- # Exploring Virtual Agent # Exploring Virtual Agent {#ariaid-title1} Release version: Yokohama Updated January 30, 2025 ![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 4 minutes to read Summarize ![AI sparkle icon](https://servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ai-sparkle-icon) Summarized using AI This content was generated using new OpenAI-powered functionality. Results are provided on an as is basis and are not guaranteed to be accurate or complete. ## Summary of Exploring Virtual Agent The ServiceNow Virtual Agent platform offers an intelligent messaging interface that assists users through automated conversations. It helps users quickly obtain information, make decisions, and perform common work tasks, reducing the workload on agents and technicians by handling routine issues. The chat experience is customizable to fit various business audiences and can operate across multiple messaging channels. The platform includes tools to monitor bot performance and enhance topic authoring with large language model (LLM) capabilities through Now Assist in Virtual Agent. Show full answer Show less ## AI Agents and Capabilities Virtual Agent supports AI agents that understand and process user queries by reasoning, planning, and executing across multiple components such as conversational topics, catalog items, knowledge bases, and AI skills. It supports handling multi-intent queries when multiple AI agents relate to a user's input. ## Pre-built Topics and Versions ServiceNow Store offers pre-built Virtual Agent topics tailored to common issues and integrated with ServiceNow workflows, including ITSM, Customer Service, and HR Service Delivery conversations. The platform is available in two versions: * **Virtual Agent Professional:** A full-featured subscription enabling creation and deployment of conversations with a comprehensive set of tools. * **Virtual Agent Lite:** A limited, trial version included with the ServiceNow AI Platform for ITSM standard customers. The Glide Virtual Agent plugin automatically installs core features such as the Virtual Agent Designer, chat widget, notifications, custom chat integration framework, admin configuration console, topic recommendations, and conversational analytics. ## Key Features and Benefits * **Conversation Designer:** Build and test conversations visually using drag-and-drop with options for branching, looping, and scripting, requiring no advanced scripting skills. * **LLM Topic Discovery:** Use generative AI to create more natural conversational experiences, improving deflection rates and reducing manual topic creation effort. * **Custom Chat Experiences:** Tailor chat clients to meet specific user needs and branding requirements. * **Seamless Escalation:** Transfer conversations with full context to live agents for efficient resolution of complex issues. * **Multi-Channel Integration:** Deploy Virtual Agent in web portals, mobile apps, and popular collaboration tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams, Facebook Messenger, and more. * **Performance Analytics:** Monitor Virtual Agent effectiveness through preconfigured dashboards. * **Notifications:** Deliver real-time alerts and actionable notifications across multiple channels, including SMS. * **Localization:** Support international users with language and locale options. * **Integration with ServiceNow AI Platform:** Enhance user experience by connecting with AI Search, Workflow Studio for automated workflows, and Integration Hub for third-party service access. * **Developer and API Support:** Use Virtual Agent API for flexible bot deployment and Virtual Agent Bot Interconnect to manage diverse chat environments. ## Practical Use for ServiceNow Customers ServiceNow customers can leverage Virtual Agent to automate routine support tasks, improving user satisfaction and operational efficiency. The platform's flexibility allows easy customization and integration with existing communication channels and workflows, helping to reduce workload on support staff while providing consistent and rapid self-service options. Monitoring tools and analytics enable ongoing optimization of chatbots, while LLM-powered topic discovery accelerates content creation and enhances conversational quality. For developers and administrators, comprehensive tools and APIs facilitate advanced customization and integration, ensuring Virtual Agent can scale and adapt to complex enterprise environments. The ServiceNow Virtual Agent platform provides user assistance through conversations within an intelligent messaging interface. Design and build automated conversations with an out-of-the-box system that help your users quickly obtain information, make decisions, and perform common work tasks with Virtual Agent.{#exploring-virtual-agent__virtual-agent-desc2} ## Overview of Virtual Agent {#exploring-virtual-agent__section_ljr_bwy_1bc} Virtual Agent helps solve ordinary issues and delivers results for common requests, leaving your agents and technicians free to focus on more complex user issues. You can change the look and feel of the chat experience to suit each audience for your business, including running your chatbot in a variety of common or custom messaging channels. Monitor your bot's success with the Conversational Analytics dashboard. When you add Now Assist in Virtual Agent skills, your developers have access to large language model (LLM) topic discovery. The Now Assist topics skill includes LLM controls that make topic authoring easier so that you can deliver self-service solutions more quickly. ## AI agents in Virtual Agent {#exploring-virtual-agent__section_dd5_v4w_dfc} Virtual Agent supports AI agents. When a user ask a question to the virtual agent, the agent understands the query and can reason, plan, and execute across AI agents, virtual agent topics, conversational actionsand sub-flows, catalog, KB, AI agent skill kit, and any Now Assist for Virtual Agent supported skills to help the user. Virtual Agent supports multi-intent query with AI agents if there are associated AI agents per user query. ## Pre-built Virtual Agent topics {#exploring-virtual-agent__section_glm_fbz_1bc} Pre-built Virtual Agent topics are available from the ServiceNow Store. These topics are designed to handle common issues that can occur and are customized for ServiceNow workflows. Available plugins include the following: * ITSM Virtual Agent conversations * Customer Service Virtual Agent conversations * HR Service Delivery Virtual Agent conversations {#exploring-virtual-agent__ul_ydx_sbz_1bc} ## Virtual Agent and Virtual Agent Lite {#exploring-virtual-agent__section_blr_1zc_gmb} The Virtual Agent platform is available as a professional subscription or in a limited version (Virtual Agent Lite) that is automatically included with the ServiceNow AI Platform®. Virtual Agent Professional provides all the core functionality for creating and deploying Virtual Agent conversations. Virtual Agent includes the following features, which are automatically installed with the Glide Virtual Agent plugin (com.glide.cs.chatbot): * Virtual Agent Designer (supports Natural Language Understanding (NLU) in Virtual Agent conversations) * Virtual Agent chat widget * Virtual Agent notifications * Conversational custom chat integration framework * Conversational Interfaces console for admin configuration * Topic Recommendations (ServiceNow Store app) * Conversational Analytics (ServiceNow Store app) {#exploring-virtual-agent__ul_pwd_3zf_xsb} Virtual Agent Lite provides a limited (trial) version of Virtual Agent for ITSM standard customers. For more information, see [Virtual Agent Lite](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/fo2FkcFKLiliP9ChQXUYfw "Virtual Agent Lite is a limited version of Virtual Agent that is available to ITSM standard customers."). ## Virtual Agent benefits {#exploring-virtual-agent__section_o3d_bf3_fwb} {#exploring-virtual-agent__table_ogy_wpy_1bc__entry__3} | Benefit | Feature | Role | |-|-|-| | Use a conversation designer to build and test conversations without scripting or advanced skills. Drag and drop elements on the graphical canvas to see the entire flow. Go further with branching, looping, and scripting. | [Virtual Agent Designer](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/hXK1a2WxbA1AZcuxy8H8rw "The Virtual Agent Designer is a diagram tool for creating and managing topics, which are blueprints for conversations between a virtual agent and user. You can design topics that help your users resolve common work issues or guide them through self-service tasks. You can also view and manage conversational subflows and actions for LLM-enabled conversations in the Assistant Designer Asset library.") | virtual_agent_admin or admin | | Use LLM topic discovery instead of Natural Language Understanding (NLU) or keywords to create more conversational experiences. Now Assist in Virtual Agent uses LLMs and generative AI skills to improve deflection rates and reduce the amount of time-consuming work that NLU topic discovery requires. | [Now Assist in Virtual Agent](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/1~J10WE8SDWls7FRBjKH1g "Use generative AI skills in your conversational experiences. Now Assist in Virtual Agent uses large language models (LLMs) to create a natural-language conversational experience that can improve the success of your self-service workflows.") [LLM topic discovery in Virtual Agent](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/eaoCBmq5p39_sDHGhcAuhw "Large language models (LLMs) enable Virtual Agent to process user statements in plain language. Conversations that use LLMs can outperform those conversations that use Natural Language Understanding (NLU), with easier setup.") | virtual_agent_admin or admin | | Create custom chat experiences for users from where they run Virtual Agent. | [Configuring assistants overview](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/Iq8pGh6Fvy4~YMEuJyerJQ "Use Assistant Designer to build and optimize large language model (LLM) assistants for your conversational needs. Assistant Designer is a centralized assistant administrator experience that allows you to create and manage both chat and voice assistants.") [Branding your chat client](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/Z_geM9oTUBT~XFZm69OXFg "Customize your chat interface with your own brand, including company logo and bot avatar, UI color schemes, fonts, and the chat support menu displayed to your users.") [Setting up chat experiences for Virtual Agent users](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/PZtZdH0sCnoPnRgUx6lX2A "Create different chat experiences for your end users based on the context in which they initiate a conversation with Virtual Agent.") | virtual_agent_admin or admin | | Seamlessly transfer the entire conversation history and context to the right human agent so they can quickly address any escalations and resolve user issues. | [Using Virtual Agent with a live agent](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/yw6T~evKd4dZlChL8wrHRg "Sometimes a conversation requires human intervention. When this occurs, you can transfer the user to a live agent in Agent Chat.") | virtual_agent_admin or admin | | Connect to where your employees and customers already are---in web portals, Now® Mobile apps, and collaboration tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams, Facebook Messenger consumer app, Workplace from Facebook enterprise messaging app, and any other popular chat or messaging app. | [Integrating Virtual Agent with other channels](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/EmU9gUH38ELSNDx~LuSazA "Integrate and extend the capabilities of Virtual Agent by connecting to your employees and customers where they already are. They are engaged in web portals, Now Mobile apps, and collaboration tools such as Slack, Microsoft Teams, Facebook Messenger consumer app, Workplace enterprise messaging app, and any other popular chat or messaging app.") | virtual_agent_admin or admin | | Analyze the performance of Virtual Agent through preconfigured dashboards. | [Analyzing Virtual Agent performance](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/YORZlBEV85H1DAED1YUWww "Analyze the performance of Virtual Agent through preconfigured dashboards.") | virtual_agent_admin or admin | | Deliver real-time alerts and status updates to employees, including actionable notifications and SMS notifications. Deliver notifications via all supported channels, including web, Slack, Workplace, and SMS. You can quickly collect feedback for critical decisions and resolve requests faster. | [Configuring Virtual Agent notifications](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/G0QPUogxMveNLyzIjncUzA "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.") | virtual_agent_admin or admin | | Serve your international Virtual Agent users, regardless of their language and locale. | [Localization options for Virtual Agent](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/cBoOo8Z6OSXpCwnjmGO_lQ "The ServiceNow platform provides several methods for serving your international Virtual Agent users, regardless of their language and locale. Professionally localize your conversations, use dynamic machine translation, or a combination of the two.") | virtual_agent_admin or admin | | Integrate with other ServiceNow AI Platform applications, such as AI Search. Use Workflow Studio to add automated workflows to conversation topics, and access many third-party services using Integration Hub spokes. | [Improving the user experience with AI Search](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/x~YNIooc6hVuWyEARqixDA "Virtual Agent uses the ServiceNow AI Platform AI Search application to return search results in bot conversations as a fallback when there are no relevant topics to display to end users. Virtual Agent also provides a Run AI Search topic block that topic authors can use to generate search results in a topic.") [Integrating Virtual Agent with Workflow Studio workflows](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/A2w1FBkERShL9xQrqIklMA "The workflows of ServiceNow Workflow Studio can be integrated within ServiceNow Virtual Agent topics. You can then use these workflows in Virtual Agent conversations.") [Integration Hub](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=integrationhub&version=yokohama&pubname=yokohama-integrate-applications&ft:locale=en-US) | virtual_agent_admin or admin | | The Virtual Agent API enables developers, advanced users, and admins to use Virtual Agent as a standalone or secondary bot in your chat environment. Use Virtual Agent Bot Interconnect as the primary bot in a diverse chat environment. | [Using Virtual Agent API](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/GLg0dpQKkftqNIcRVeTl9g "Use the ServiceNow Virtual Agent API app to integrate any chat interface or a bot with ServiceNow Virtual Agent or Agent Chat. The app is available from the ServiceNow Store.") [Using Virtual Agent Bot Interconnect in your configuration](https://servicenow-prod.fluidtopics.net/COdOb6xIAq~e5ZtdiSIxxA "Use Virtual Agent Bot Interconnect to create a unified chat experience across multiple channels. You can support secondary bots, such as Google Dialogflow, Microsoft Power Virtual Agents, and ServiceNow Virtual Agent.") | virtual_agent_admin or admin | [ ] {#exploring-virtual-agent__table_ogy_wpy_1bc} Note: For developer training, go to the [Developer's Portal](https://developer.servicenow.com/dev.do) (login required). Navigate to LearnCoursesVirtual Agent. *[\>]: and then