System and custom notification and delivery channel preferences in Next Experience

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated January 30, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of System and custom notification and delivery channel preferences in Next Experience

    The Next Experience in the Yokohama release enables ServiceNow customers to manage and customize notification preferences comprehensively. Users can control both system and custom notifications, specify delivery channels, and apply conditions or schedules for receiving notifications. This capability improves how users stay informed about important record changes and system events through preferred communication methods such as email, SMS, push notifications, or messaging apps.

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    Key Features

    • Standardized Notification Forms: From Yokohama release onwards, standardized forms are enabled for notification preferences and delivery channels by setting the property glide.notification.preference.snformenabled to true.
    • Search Notifications: Users can search notifications by name or use AI-powered search (requires AI Search for Notifications plugin) that searches within notification record fields for broader results.
    • System Notifications: Users can set preferences for alerts about record changes, enable/disable notifications globally or individually, and apply filters by category, delivery channel, or status. Scheduling options allow control over when notifications are delivered.
    • Custom Notifications: These are user-subscribed notifications with customizable conditions. Users can create, modify, or delete custom notifications, control subscriptions, and manage delivery channels. Note that custom notifications in Next Experience do not support notifications requiring related affected records (these must be managed in Core UI).
    • Delivery Channels: Users can manage channels such as email, SMS, instant messaging, and voice. They can enable/disable channels, create or edit channel settings, and schedule when channels receive notifications. Only administrators can delete channels from the system table.
    • Plugin Activation: The AI Search for Notifications plugin can be activated by admins to enhance search capabilities. It includes demo data and installs necessary related applications.

    Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    • Greater Control and Personalization: Users can tailor notification delivery to their needs, ensuring they receive only relevant alerts through preferred channels and schedules.
    • Improved Notification Management: The ability to enable/disable notifications globally or individually and filter notifications eases management of alert noise.
    • Efficient Notification Search: AI-powered search improves finding specific notifications quickly, enhancing user experience and responsiveness.
    • Flexible Delivery Options: Multiple channel support and scheduling empower users to receive notifications in the format and timing best suited for their workflows.
    • Administrative Oversight: Admins can manage delivery channels and enable advanced features, maintaining control over notification infrastructure.

    You can manage and set your own notification preferences, including customized notifications and channels for receiving them.

    With notification preferences, you can control the system notifications and custom notifications that you receive and apply conditions to restrict notification delivery and choose how the notifications are delivered to you.

    Note:
    Standardized forms across custom notification preferences and delivery channels have been enabled from Yokohama onwards. To use standardized forms, set the property glide.notification.preference.sn_form_enabled to true.

    Search notifications

    You can also search for notifications under both system and custom notifications. There are 2 types of searches, search on preferences that only searches if it matches the notification name and AI search.

    With AI search, the search functionality now goes beyond just looking for notification names. It can also search within fields of notification records, offering a broader and more accurate search experience. To use the AI search, the AI Search for Notifications plugin must be installed and index sources Platform Notifications V1 and Platform Notifications V2, for more information see Activate AI Search for Notifications plugin and Index AI Search for notifications.

    System notifications

    System notifications alert you of record changes that might concern or interest you. You can be notified via email, SMS text messages, push notifications, or messaging applications.

    With system notifications, you can:
    • Set your preferences for specific notifications by searching in the list of your notifications or by filtering them by category.
    • Set preferences at a global level.
    • Easily enable or disable all notifications or individual notifications.
    • Use advanced filter options based on categories, delivery channels, active or inactive notifications, email digest, and subscribable notifications.
    • Add or modify a notification schedule for individual delivery channels for each system notification.
    • Set a schedule for all notifications, individual system notifications, or delivery channels.

      For more information, see Apply notification conditions

    Custom notifications

    A custom notification is a system notification that you can subscribe to and customize by adding conditions.

    With custom notifications, you can:
    • Search for a specific notification in the list of your notifications to be able to set your preferences for that notification.
    • Use advanced filter options based on categories, delivery channels, active or inactive subscriptions, and email digest.
    • Create and modify custom notifications, which are subscriptions to notifications that are important to you.
    • Set preferences at a global level.
    • Easily enable or disable all notifications or individual notifications.
    • Enable or disable notification channels.
    • Add or modify a notification schedule for individual delivery channels for each system notification.
    • Set a schedule for all notifications, individual system notifications, or delivery channels.

      For more information, see Apply notification conditions

    Note:

    Custom notifications for Next Experience do not support notifications that require a related affected record. For these notifications, you have to set the preference in the Core UI. For more information, see Setting notification preferences in Core UI.

    Note:
    Subscription-based notifications are not domain aware and cannot support domain-specific settings.

    Delivery Channels

    Delivery channels is a list of your chosen channels such as email, SMS, instant message and voice channels for receiving notifications.

    With Delivery Channels, you can:
    • Enable or disable a particular channel for receiving notifications.
    • Create, edit, or delete notification channels for instant messages, email, SMS, and voice.
      Note:
      Only admins can delete channels from the cmn_notif_device table.
    • Choose how notifications are delivered.
    • Set a schedule for the record in the channel and apply to the notifications you want to receive.