Enhance collaboration between requestors and fulfillers with ServiceNow for Microsoft 365
Capabilities available for Agent Productivity and collaboration
- Agent to employee Microsoft Teams chat
- Live Agent Chat
- Request Based Chat
- Agent to employeeMicrosoft Teams conference call
- Major Incident Management (MIM)
- Sidebar integration
1. Agent to employee Microsoft Teams chat
i. Live Agent Chat
In today’s fast-paced work environment, employees expect quick and seamless support. With Live Agent chat in ServiceNow, organisations can deliver just that—enabling employees to connect directly with support agents in real time and get the help they need, when they need it.
How It Works
Employees can initiate a live chat with an agent using the Virtual Agent (VA) in Microsoft Teams. Once a request is made, it enters a queue managed by Advanced Work Assignment (AWA). AWA intelligently routes chats to available agents based on factors like queue length, agent availability, and expertise—ensuring that every request is handled efficiently.
Seamless Experience Across Platforms
Once the chat is accepted, the employee continues the conversation within the VA interface, while the agent responds from their workspace—whether that’s Service Operations Workspace (SOW) or HR Agent Workspace or any other workspace. This setup keeps the experience smooth and familiar for all.
Beyond Chat: Enhanced Agent Capabilities
Agents aren’t limited to just messaging. During a live chat, they can:
- Initiate a Microsoft Teams call for deeper engagement.
- Create an incident directly from the conversation.
- Access additional tools and workflows to resolve issues faster.
By integrating Live Agent chat into your support strategy, you’re not just improving response times—you’re transforming the way your employees experience support. Whether it’s a quick question or a complex issue, ServiceNow ensures that help is always just a message away.
How to get access?License required - Agent Chat is available with HRSD std or above, ITSM std or above. Plugins required – Agent Chat Plugin id: com.glide.interaction.awa Technical details – Admins have a lot of flexibility while configuring agent chat: · Automatic assignment of chats and work items to agents based on criteria that you define, such as agent availability, capacity, skills, Agent Affinity, and variable work item sizing. · Automatic queue overflow handling · Chat timeout reassignment If you are still on classic service desk UI, you can still leverage Agent Chat features. Refer to Agent Chat Product Documentation |
ii. Request Based Chat
Agent-to-employee chat—also known as request-based chat—is a powerful collaboration tool that allows agents to initiate conversations directly from an incident or request. This enables faster issue resolution by connecting agents with requestors in real time.
Collaborate Tool in ServiceNow
The Collaborate feature is available in both Classic UI Workspace and the newer Service Operations Workspace (SOW). It allows agents to initiate a Microsoft Teams group chat from within a case. Agents can:
- Add multiple participants.
- Exchange information in real time.
- Understand and resolve issues more efficiently.
Chat Import Options
Once the conversation concludes, agents have two options for importing chat content into the incident:
- Manual Import: Agents can select specific messages to import as work notes.
- Automatic Import: If not manually imported, the chat is auto-imported after 10–15 minutes.
Availability and Roadmap
- Currently, Collaborate is available only in SOW.
- A Safe Harbor Notice applies: It is on the roadmap to extend this capability to other workspaces, but timelines are yet to be finalised.
Product documentation on Request based chat
2. Agent to employeeMicrosoft Teams conference call
In addition to chat functionality, the Collaborate tool in ServiceNow also enables agents to initiate Microsoft Teams conference calls directly from within a case. This enhances real-time collaboration and accelerates issue resolution.
Capabilities
- Agents can select participants for the call, similar to how they initiate group chats.
- The call is launched via the Notify Connector, which handles the backend integration with Microsoft Teams.
- Even the Teams calls initiated during live agent chats are powered by the Notify Connector.
How to get access?License required -Agent Conferencing call is a baseline platform feature and is available with all the ServiceNow products; HRSD std or above, ITSM std or above, App Engine, LSD, WSD, PSM, and GRC. Plugins required –
Pre-Requisites:
Technical details – You can integrate Notify connector with your ServiceNow instance for both per-published app (Single Microsoft Teams tenant to single ServiceNow instance) and self-configured app (Single Microsoft Teams tenant to multiple ServiceNow instance) approach.
If you are still on classic service desk UI, you can still initiate Teams conferencing call and collaborate with requestors and other agents. Refer to Notify connector for Microsoft Teams Product Documentation for additional details. |
3. Major Incident Management (MIM)
This integration empowers incident managers to handle major incidents and outages more effectively by creating dedicated communication channels in Microsoft Teams. These channels serve as central hubs for sharing updates, assigning tasks, and coordinating responses across teams.
Capabilities
- Create Teams Channels: Automatically set up communication spaces for incident response.
- Send Updates and Tasks: Distribute critical information and action items to incident managers and their teams.
- Leverage Existing Plans: Utilise pre-defined communication plans and Teams groups for faster execution.
- Multi-Channel Notifications: Participants can receive updates via Microsoft Teams, Email, or Slack, depending on preference.
Benefits
- Enables rapid response to high-impact incidents.
- Centralises communication for better visibility and coordination.
- Reduces resolution time through streamlined collaboration.
How to get access?License required – Major Incident management is available to all the ServiceNow customers. Plugins required – Incident Management - Major Incident Management plugin (com.snc.incident.mim) must be manually activated for new and existing customers. Incident Management - Major Incident Management plugin activates these related plugins if they are not already active: i. Incident Communications Management (com.snc.iam) ii. Incident Updates (com.snc.incident.updates) iii. Task-Outage Relationship (com.snc.task_outage) Technical details – Admins can give permission to agents to promote an incident or group of incidents to major incident. Manage major incidents better with MIM dashboards and KPIs: Provides information on Active Major Incidents, Number of resolved major incidents, Average resolution time of Major Incidents, and New Major Incidents Vs Resolved. Refer to Major Incident Management Product Documentation for more details |
4. Sidebar integration
To enhance collaboration and productivity, ServiceNow offers a Sidebar tool that enables real-time conversations between requestors and fulfillers. This feature allows fulfillers to initiate Microsoft Teams conversations directly from within a case, bringing in requestors and subject matter experts (SMEs) as needed.
Capabilities
- Teams Group Chat: Fulfillers can start a Teams group chat with requestors and other participants, facilitating faster issue resolution.
- Stay in Workspace: Agents remain within their ServiceNow workspace, while other participants engage via Microsoft Teams, ensuring seamless collaboration across platforms.
- File and Knowledge Sharing: Sidebar supports sharing of files, knowledge base (KB) articles, and other resources directly within the chat.
You’ll need to:
- Create an app in Microsoft Azure.
- Set up an app in the Microsoft Teams Admin Center.
- Once configured, you can control who has access to the Sidebar—this can be based on user groups or individual users.
Benefits
- Enables real-time, cross-platform collaboration.
- Reduces resolution time by connecting the right people quickly.
- Offers flexibility in access control and content sharing.
How to get access?License- Sidebar is available to all the ServiceNow products, but you will need a full virtual agent for the integration which will require HRSD pro or above if you are an HRSD customer or ITSM pro or above if you are an ITSM customer. Plugins required – omni-experience standard feature set App (sn_oe_sfs) Technical details – To have Sidebar integration for real-time collaboration with requestors in Teams requires a self-configured virtual agent bot, which is not possible with out of the box virtual agent which comes with Pre-Published app approach. Refer to Sidebar Product Documentation for more details Curious to know more about Sidebar? Watch this video Getting started with Sidebar |
Frequently Asked Questions:
- Is Virtual Agent (VA) required, or can we use Live Chat without VA in Employee Center Pro?
VA is not required for agent-to-employee chat. Agents can initiate chats from Agent Workspace, and employees will receive messages in Microsoft Teams as regular chats—not through VA.
- Are there integrations with Microsoft Calendar for employees to schedule time with HR through ServiceNow?
Not currently. However, employees can schedule time with HR agents using the Appointment Booking capability available with Employee Center Pro. https://www.servicenow.com/community/employee-center-articles/appointment-booking-employee-center-pr...
- If Virtual Agent chats aren’t configured in Employee Center, can employees still chat with HR agents?
Yes. Employees can chat with agents via Microsoft Teams, even without VA. The chat appears as a regular message initiated from Agent Workspace.
- Can the Teams Virtual Agent be rebranded to our company’s brand?
Yes, branding can be customized via the Teams Admin Portal.
- Can ServiceNow integrate with SharePoint, and will this be covered in the webinar?
Yes, integration is possible using External Content Connectors. This webinar won’t cover it, but https://www.servicenow.com/community/employee-center-articles/external-search-connectors/ta-p/264285... and https://www.servicenow.com/docs/bundle/yokohama-platform-administration/page/administer/ai-search/re... will help.
- Can employees initiate case-specific chats in MS Teams like HR agents can?
Currently, only agents can initiate MS Teams chats, and this is supported only in UI16 (Classic), not in HR Agent Workspace.
- Is Teams call information captured as text in the incident ticket?
Yes, call details are captured in the incident.
- Can Teams call links be posted in worknotes?
Yes, with minor custom code. Some functionality is available out-of-the-box.
- Does this functionality work on Microsoft Teams mobile?
Yes, though some features may vary depending on device, OS, or version.
- Is the VA in Teams the same as in Employee Center? Do they need separate configuration?
They are the same VA. Topics and conversations are shared, but enabling VA in one platform doesn’t automatically enable it in the other.
- Is the VA in “ServiceNow for MS Teams” the same as in Employee Center?
Yes, it’s the same VA. Topics and conversations don’t need separate configuration. However, enabling VA in EC doesn’t automatically enable it in Teams—you’ll need to configure it separately.
- Do we need to install any plugins to initiate Teams meetings?
Yes, the Notify Connector for Microsoft Teams is required and has dependencies.
- Can we hide the agent’s name in MS Teams?
Not currently.
- Why is the call option missing in Teams despite chat being available?
A separate setup is needed for Notify integration to enable call functionality. https://www.servicenow.com/docs/bundle/zurich-employee-service-management/page/product/notify2/conce...
- Can Now Assist/VA start the chat before transferring to a live agent?
Yes. VA can initiate the conversation and transfer to a live agent. Alternatively, agents can start chats directly from Agent Workspace, bypassing VA.
- What’s the difference between Agent Workspace chat and VA chat?
VA chat assigns agents based on availability. Workspace chat creates a group chat in Teams and doesn’t appear via the bot.
- Is this a separate license with additional costs?
Yes, IntegrationHub transactions are metered based on volume and may incur charges.
- Are screenshots/images from Teams chat saved in ServiceNow?
Yes, they are stored in sys_attachment when imported.
- Do these interactions count toward our IntegrationHub quota?
Yes, especially when using the Notify connector for Graph API calls.
- Can we install only the Notify plugin for calls without chat?
Yes, that’s possible.
- Do VA notifications need separate configuration in EC and Teams?
Yes, VA notifications must be configured separately for each platform.
- Are Teams meeting details saved in the ticket (start/end time, attendees, etc.)?
Yes, details are stored in Notify tables and can be customized further.
- Where can I view Teams meeting details like duration and attendees?
The side panel displays start time, duration, and other metadata.
- Can Now Assist summarize Microsoft Teams chat sessions? Are there Microsoft-side costs?
Yes, Now Assist can summarize chats. Microsoft-side costs depend on licensing and usage.
- Is the VA in Teams the same as in Employee Center? Do they need separate configuration?
They are the same VA. Topics and conversations are shared, but enabling VA in one platform doesn’t automatically enable it in the other.
