Actionable notifications for Service Catalog requests in ITSM Virtual Agent

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated January 30, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Actionable notifications for Service Catalog requests in ITSM Virtual Agent

    ServiceNow’s ITSM Virtual Agent in the Yokohama release enables automated, actionable notifications for Service Catalog requests. These notifications keep employees informed about task updates, approvals, comments, and software request statuses directly through chat interactions. Activation of these notifications requires configuration in Workflow Studio.

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    Key Features

    • Citrix Provision Notification: Alerts end users to changes in their Citrix sessions or applications using pre-built Citrix topics.
    • Request Approved or Rejected: Notifies requesters when a generic Service Catalog request is approved or rejected, allowing them to view details or dismiss the notification.
    • Requested Item Approval Reminder: Sends reminders to approvers with options to approve, reject, and add comments directly within the chat, streamlining the approval process.
    • Requested Item Commented: Informs requesters when new comments are added to their requests. Requesters can view recent comments and add their own via chat.
    • Requested Item On Behalf of Requester: Notifies end users when a request is submitted on their behalf, enabling them to view details, comment, or skip the notification.
    • Requested Item Update: Sends updates to requesters whenever the state of their Service Catalog request changes, with options to view or skip details.
    • Software Installation Requests: Allows end users to request software from the Software Catalog and receive actionable notifications upon approval. Notifications include links to the software center and relevant Knowledge Base articles.

    Practical Considerations

    • Notifications must be activated in Workflow Studio to function.
    • Approvers benefit from direct chat-based actions, reducing the need to switch contexts.
    • End users can interact with notifications to add comments or access detailed information instantly.
    • Software installation notifications require the use of Client Software Distribution.
    • Administrators can customize which Knowledge Base articles appear in notifications by modifying the snitsmva.catitemrelatedkb system property.

    Key Outcomes

    By leveraging actionable notifications in ITSM Virtual Agent, ServiceNow customers can enhance communication and responsiveness around Service Catalog requests. This leads to faster approvals, improved user engagement, and streamlined request management—all within conversational chat experiences.

    Notify employees of Service Catalog tasks and alerts with notifications from ITSM Virtual Agent.

    You must activate these notifications in Workflow Studio. For details, see Set up actionable notifications for ITSM Virtual Agent.

    Citrix provision notification

    End users are notified whenever a change occurs to a Citrix session or application. For information about pre-built topics for Citrix, see Citrix session pre-built topics for ITSM Virtual Agent.

    Request approved or rejected

    Virtual Agent sends a notification to the requester of a generic Service Catalog request. The requester can choose to view the details or skip the notification.

    Requested Item approval reminder

    Virtual Agent sends a notification to the approver of a Service Catalog request. The approver can choose to view the request details or skip the notification.

    Approvers can approve or reject the request directly in the chat. Approvers can also add comments to rejected requests directly in the chat.

    Requested item approval reminder.

    Requested item commented

    Virtual Agent sends a notification to employees who have requested Service Catalog items when a new comment is added to the request. Requesters can choose to view the comment or skip the notification.

    If the requester selects View Comment, Virtual Agent displays the three most recent comments and the requester can choose to add their own comment.

    Notification for Requested item commented.

    The requester enters a comment and Virtual Agent adds the new comment directly from the chat.

    Requested item on behalf of requester

    Virtual Agent sends a notification to an end user when a Service Catalog request is opened on the end user's behalf. The requester can choose to view request details, add comments directly in the chat, or skip the notification.

    Requested item on behalf of requester notification.

    Requested Item Update

    Virtual Agent sends a notification to the requester of a Service Catalog request any time the state changes. The requester can choose to view the details or skip the notification.

    Software Installation

    End users (requesters) can submit a request for software from the Software Catalog by selecting the link displayed under Use the link below to submit your request.

    Submitting a software request.

    When the submitted request is approved, Virtual Agent sends an actionable notification to the end user letting them know that the software has been assigned and will be available soon.

    Note:
    End users must be using Client Software Distribution.

    Software assigned.

    The requester can do the following:
    • See details about the software request by selecting Take me to the software center.
    • See a list of relevant Knowledge Base (KB) articles, if any, by selecting OK, I'm done.

      By default, Virtual Agent displays the articles included in the sc_2_kb table. An admin can define which table is used by changing the value of the sn_itsm_va.cat_item_related_kb system property.