Getting Started with On-Call Scheduling

[Shivaji Varma]

On-Call Scheduling ensures the right person is notified when an incident, task, or case needs attention outside normal workflows. This article walks through the setup sequence in the order each piece actually needs to exist, so escalations work the way you expect from the first time you configure it. Demo videos covering these same capabilities are linked at the end.

On this page:

• Before you start
• The configuration dependency chain
  • 1. Schedule (Shift + Roster)
  • 2. Trigger rule
  • 3. Escalation policy
• Round-robin rotation
• Coverage gaps and conflicts
• Time between steps, at a glance
• Worked examples
• See it in action (demo videos)

Before you start

You need the On-Call Scheduling plugin (com.snc.on_call_rotation) activated, which requires the admin role. Day-to-day configuration after that (schedules, escalation policies, trigger rules) requires the rota_admin role; ongoing management tasks like approving time off and resolving gaps require rota_manager.

The configuration dependency chain

Set these up in the order below—each step depends on what the one before it creates. Following this order means everything downstream has what it needs the moment you configure it, since the platform will save each step on its own without checking whether the pieces around it exist yet.

1. Schedule (bundles Shift + Roster)

A Schedule is what puts your team's on-call coverage in place: it defines who's covering at any given time by combining a Shift (the recurring time period being covered, like 24/7 or business hours) with a Roster (the ordered list of people who rotate through it). For first-time setup, use All > On-Call Scheduling > Create/Edit Schedule: pick your group, choose an existing shift template or create a new one, configure the shift's timing/rotation, then continue to the Members page to name your roster(s) and add members, set basic escalation and reminder behavior, and click Finish to save and publish.

Once a schedule exists, you can edit its Shift and Roster individually from On-Call Calendars > right-click the shift > Edit Shift > Rosters related list—this is where you'll find fields like Order (rotation position), Rotation interval, Rotate every, Day of week for rotation, Rotation start date/time, and the reminder settings (# reminders, Time between reminders, Reminder lead time).

Start here: this is the foundation everything else notifies against—a trigger rule and escalation policy need an active schedule to actually have someone to notify.

2. Trigger rule

The trigger rule defines when an escalation process should start: which table and field changes to watch, what conditions must match, and what action to run (subflow, workflow, or script) once they do. Create it from On-Call Scheduling > Administration > Trigger Rules > New. ServiceNow's documentation is explicit that you define the trigger rule before configuring the escalation policy that goes with it, not after.

Configure this next: the trigger rule is what starts the escalation process—set it up before the escalation policy so there's already something watching for the conditions the policy will respond to.

3. Escalation policy

The escalation policy governs how an already-triggered escalation behaves: escalation steps, audience (roster/group/user/device/manager) at each step, wait time between steps, and reminders. Configure it against the same Table and Condition your trigger rule is watching, and mark it Active.

Configure this last: it defines how the escalation your trigger rule starts should actually play out—step it in after the trigger rule so there's already a match on Table and Condition for it to run against.

Note: the order above (trigger rule, then escalation policy) is what ServiceNow's documentation states directly. What it doesn't spell out is the exact internal mechanism that connects a fired trigger to "its" policy, beyond both being scoped to the same table and condition. Keep the trigger rule's table/conditions and the escalation policy's table/conditions aligned, and validate the flow end-to-end in a sub-production instance before relying on it in production.

Round-robin rotation

Roster members rotate through the Order field set when the roster was created, moving to the next member each rotation cycle. To change who's up next without disrupting history, use Modify the order of a member in a roster: pick a Move type (move the member after a target member, or swap positions with a target member) and a From date—the new order takes effect starting the next rotation, not retroactively.

Coverage gaps and conflicts

The platform flags two distinct problems on the On-Call Schedules page, under Pending Actions:

• Gaps—time off scheduled with no one covering, a member removed from the group, or a member marked inactive.
• Conflicts—a user assigned as both primary and secondary contact for the same shift.

To resolve: click Review in Pending Actions to open the calendar view with the problem highlighted, use the info icon for details, then right-click the shift and Edit shift. In the roster's Members list, set a To date on the outgoing/unavailable member and add a replacement with a From date to cover the gap. For pending time-off requests specifically, use Manage shift from the Actions menu to approve or reject them. This all requires the rota_manager role.

Time between steps, at a glance

Setting	Where it's configured	What it controls
# reminders / Time between reminders	Roster	How many reminder notifications a roster member gets, and the gap between them, before their shift starts
Reminder lead time	Roster	How many days before a shift the first reminder goes out
Wait time to next step	Escalation policy step	How long to wait for a response before escalating to the next step's audience
Step reminders	Escalation policy step	How many reminders (and timing) are sent within a single escalation step before moving on

Worked examples

For complete, worked configurations of common shift patterns—a basic weekday shift, a 24/7 follow-the-sun rotation across regions, and a split weekday/weekend shift—see On-Call Shift Examples, which builds directly on the dependency chain above.

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See it in action

These demo videos walk through the same capabilities covered above and are applicable to recent Platform releases.

On-Call Scheduling in Service Operations Workspace

Manage on-call scheduling within Service Operations Workspace, including how users interact with schedules and respond to incidents. Watch video

Create and edit shifts

Define on-call shifts, assign users, and make real-time updates to schedules to ensure proper coverage. Watch video

Create an escalation trigger and policy

Understand how escalation triggers work and how to configure policies to ensure alerts are routed correctly when primary responders are unavailable. Watch video

Create notification preference rule

Configure notification preferences so that users receive alerts through the appropriate channels based on their availability. Watch video

Manage your work and schedule an absence

Manage assigned work, update availability, and schedule planned absences without disrupting coverage. Watch video

Dashboards and reports

Use dashboards and reports to gain insights into on-call coverage, performance, and operational trends. Watch video

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These videos cover core on-call scheduling capabilities and are applicable to recent Platform releases. We welcome your feedback—please let us know which additional features or topics you would like to see covered in future videos.