Using the Government Service Portal in Public Sector Digital Services

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated July 31, 2025
  • 4 minutes to read
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    Summary of Using the Government Service Portal in Public Sector Digital Services

    The Government Service Portal offers a centralized, customizable interface that enables constituents and businesses to interact efficiently with government services. Users can report issues, request services, track their cases, access public records, update personal information, and communicate with government agents—all within a single platform tailored to their needs.

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    Using the Government Service Portal as a Constituent

    Constituents access the portal via a homepage that agencies customize differently for registered and unregistered users. Registered users benefit from personalized views and access to a variety of communication options, including browsing services, tracking cases, viewing recent and popular services, and engaging with community discussions.

    Key functionalities available to registered constituents include:

    • Knowledge Tab: Search and view top-rated knowledge base articles.
    • Services Tab: Access the full service catalog and recently used or popular services.
    • Your Cases Tab: Manage and view all personal cases.
    • Your Information Tab: Quick access to personal details and business contacts (agent experience only).
    • Notifications Tab: Monitor updates on cases, publications, and approvals.
    • Tours: Optional guidance tours to help users navigate the platform.
    • Live Chat: Connect with virtual or customer service agents for assistance.
    • Engagement Messenger: Submit service requests via external third-party applications.
    • Profile Menu and Search: Manage user profile and perform keyword searches across the portal.
    • Article Access: View lists of most viewed, featured, and most useful knowledge articles.

    Unregistered users can register, create profiles, browse information, and request services or public records. Once registered, constituents gain access to detailed records such as received services, licenses, permits, cases, publications, notifications, and household profile information.

    Using the Government Service Portal as a Business

    Businesses and their contacts have similar access to constituents with added permissions to manage business-specific records. They can:

    • Register new businesses.
    • Request services related to licenses, benefits, permits, and other service requests.
    • View received services, information records, licenses, permits, and existing cases.
    • Access business and child business profiles and contact information.
    • Receive publications and notifications, including government announcements and contact approvals.

    Customizing the Government Service Portal

    Administrators can customize the portal’s appearance and functionality via the ServiceNow Service Portal configuration. This customization capability allows agencies to tailor user experiences to specific constituent and business needs, ensuring relevant and accessible service delivery.

    By using the Government Service Portal, constituents and businesses can report issues, access and view the status of existing service requests, request public records, search for information about a question or issue, view and update their contact information, and request assistance from a government service agent— all within a customizable interface.

    Using the Government Service Portal as a constituent

    The Government Service Portal experience begins on the portal homepage for constituents. Agencies usually customize their homepages to be viewed by registered users, and users who aren't registered. For example, registered users may see different information on the homepage than the users who aren’t logged in.

    This example shows an example default homepage for a registered user of the Public Sector Digital Services Government Service Portal.
    Figure 1. Government Service Portal default homepage (Constituent view)
    Different interaction options on the Constituent view. For more information, refer to the text that follows.

    Constituents on the Government Service default homepage can select the following communication options:

    1. Browse and request services or information, track cases, view received services, and report issues.
    2. Get the latest information on policies and programs by searching and viewing articles.
    3. Discuss issues with neighbors and share perspectives by asking the community.
    4. View your recent services and see the popular services on the site.
    Note:
    Administrators can customize Government Service Portal homepages in Service Portal, so homepages may differ visually across government agencies. For more information on customization, see Customize the Government Service Portal.

    The following table lists what constituents can access through the homepage.

    Table 1. Government Service Portal homepage for registered constituents
    UI component Description
    Knowledge Tab where constituents can access the Knowledge homepage and search or view a list of the top-rated or most viewed knowledge base articles.
    Services Tab where constituents can find all the available services in the catalog. They can search through the service catalog or view a list of the recently used or most popular catalog items.
    Your Cases Tab where constituents can find all their cases.
    Your Information Tab where constituents can access quick links to their personal information:
    • Businesses (agent experience only)
    • Contacts (agent experience only)
    • Publications
    Notifications Tab where constituents can see their notifications for resolved cases, cases awaiting information, publications, and approvals.
    Tours Link where constituents can view a tour for additional guidance on how the Public Sector Digital Services application works. An administrator determines whether tours appear on pages.
    Live Chat Link where constituents can chat with a virtual agent or a customer service agent. For more information on using Virtual Agent to get help, see Get help with Public Service requests using Virtual Agent.
    Engagement Messenger Link where constituents can use Engagement Messenger to submit service requests from a third-party web application that is outside of the ServiceNow environment. For more information, see Configure Engagement Messenger for Playbooks.
    Profile menu Link where constituents can access a profile photo to either view a profile or log out.
    Search Link where constituents can search the portal by either entering a keyword to use the type-ahead search or enter one or more words to view all search results.
    Most viewed articles Link where constituents can view a list of the most viewed articles.
    Featured articles Link where constituents can view featured community content.
    Most useful articles Link where constituents can view the most useful knowledge articles by the usage count of the articles.
    Unregistered constituents can do the following tasks in the Government Service Portal:
    • Register as a new user, create a login, and create a user profile.
    • Search for information, browse knowledge articles, and engage with the community.
    • Get help using Virtual Agent.
    • Request services such as street repair, trash removal, building inspections, and other public maintenance.
    • Request information and public records from local, state, and federal public agencies.
    After registering and logging in to the Government Service Portal, constituents can:
    • View the services that they received.
    • View information records that they requested.
    • View all license or permit requests.
    • View constituent profiles (includes household information, such as names, addresses, and other constituent information).
    • View existing cases.
    • View publications and notifications including government pamphlets and newsletters about services as well as government notifications.

    For more information on the services that are offered in the Government Service Portal service catalog, see Government Service Portal service catalog list.

    Using the Government Service Portal as a business

    The Government Service Portal enables businesses to access their cases and service information as well as report issues. Business or business contacts can use the Government Service Portal to view their submitted cases, and raise requests by using the service request catalog.

    Business contacts have the same functionality as a constituent user, with a few additional permissions. In addition to the constituent user tasks, business contacts can do the following tasks in the Government Service Portal:
    • Register a new business.
    • Request services that are related to licenses, benefits, permits, and service requests.
    • View services that they received.
    • View information records that they requested.
    • View all license or permit requests.
    • View items that they received.
    • View their existing cases.
    • View business and child business profiles.
    • View business contact information such as names, addresses, and other contact information.
    • View publications, such as government pamphlets and newsletters about services.
    • View notifications such as government notifications and new contact approvals.

    Customizing the Government Service Portal

    To customize this portal, navigate to Service Portal > Portals and select Government Service. See Service Portalfor more information about creating a custom interface.