Virtual Agent where to put the no agent available

jxsaxton421
Kilo Sage

11 hours ago

We recently had a task at my organization to update the No Agents available message in Virtual Agent with more information on when the agents are there (hours). I found there are two places that this message is being updated and I am unsure of what takes precedence. 

Under the Conversational Interface Admin settings: Conversational Interfaces > Settings in the navigator, there is this help text for when agents are unavailable. After clicking the settings to go the Settings tab and the Agent Chat sidebar. 

 

screenshot_20260120_160658.png

 

In my PDI on Zurich, there is a No Agents Available message in the sys_ui_message table. Key: "No Agents are available".

It looks like the Conversational Interface settings override this message key but does one matter more than the other in the ServiceNow instance? 

 
 

 

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Itallo Brandão
Tera Guru

4 hours ago

Hi @jxsaxton421 ,

That is a great question about hierarchy. It is common to get confused between the "Configuration" layer and the "Localization" layer.

The Short Answer: The Conversational Interfaces > Settings takes precedence. Whatever you type in that specific field (as shown in your screenshot) will override the system's default behavior.

How the Hierarchy Works:

  1. Conversational Interfaces Settings (Primary): This is the Configuration Layer. It tells the specific chat client (Agent Chat) exactly what string to display for that context. If you enter text here (e.g., "No agents available. We are open 9am-5pm"), the widget will display exactly that.

  2. sys_ui_message Table (Secondary/Fallback): This is the Translation & Default Layer.

    • Scenario A (Default): If the field in CI Settings is empty, the system falls back to the default key in sys_ui_message ("No agents are available").

    • Scenario B (Translation): If you enter custom text in CI Settings, the system uses that text. However, if you support multiple languages (e.g., Spanish), you would copy your new custom text into the sys_ui_message table as the "Key" to provide the Spanish translation.

Recommendation: Use the Conversational Interfaces > Settings to make your update.

  • Why? It allows you to be specific to the Agent Chat configuration. Changing the global key in sys_ui_message might inadvertently change the message in other parts of the platform that happen to use the same generic key.

If this clarifies the precedence, please mark it as Accepted Solution.
This helps future admins find the correct answer faster!


Best regards,
Brandão.

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