This blog is a deep dive into the new features for the August 1st, 2024 release of the Workplace Service Delivery (WSD) Store Apps.
Please note that this is a summary of the most notable items, not an exhaustive list. For full details, refer to the Product documentation and release notes on the ServiceNow Store.
New features:
- Workplace Services Kiosk – Self-service visitor experience
- Workplace Space Management – Multi-building Scenario Planning
Enhancements:
- Workplace Reservation Management:
- Retain services when using the drag’n’drop capability to change the time and location of a reservation
- Edit reservation details from the side panel
- Open Location Directory UI from the Event Planner
- Interface enhancements
- Lead time for ordering services
- Workplace Space Management:
- Time based space allocation
- Workplace Connectors:
- Support for environmental sensors
- Workplace Core:
- Location Directory Enhancements
- Workplace Agent for Mobile:
- Calendar view for the agent
- Create cases on behalf of employees
- Case and task separation in list view
- Enhanced search capability
- Workplace Case Management:
- Ability to link selected services to an existing reservation
- Workplace Service Delivery for MS Places
- Workplace Calendar Synchronization:
- Guided setup
Workplace Services Kiosk – Self-service visitor experience
Persona: Visitor as end-user, Facility Team for kiosk configuration
Role: sn_wsd_kiosk.admin, sn_wsd_kiosk.operator, sn_wsd_kiosk.viewer
Plugins: Workplace Core, Workplace Services Kiosk, Workplace Visitor Management
With this release, we are providing Facility Teams with a visitor management experience on kiosk, offering a self-service experience for visitors to check-in/check-out and self-register instead of standing in line at the reception.
On arrival, the visitor will walk up to the kiosk to check-in, which will lead to either of the 2 following scenarios:
A- The visitor has been pre-registered and invited to the workplace by a host:
B- The visitor has not been registered or invited and will walk up to the kiosk to self-register:
At the end of the visit, the visitor will walk back up to the kiosk and processed to check-out, this will ensure their visit record is updated. The process for check-out will be the same for a pre-registered guest and a self-registered guest.
As part of this feature, 3 new roles have been added to facilitate the configuration of the experience:
- Admin (sn_wsd_kiosk.admin): allows admins to configure the kiosk features and experience.
- Operator (sn_wsd_kiosk.operator): is required to bind a kiosk configuration to a physical kiosk.
- Kiosk viewer (sn_wsd_kiosk.viewer): allows end-users to consume the kiosk experience
Getting started with setting up a kiosk:
Search for Kiosk Management in the left-filter navigator and select Kiosk configurations.
For each new kiosk, the Kiosk Admin will need to create a new configuration.
For each of the kiosk configurations the following information will be required:
- Name: this will be specific to each configuration and will enable the Kiosk Admin to easily search if they have multiple kiosks
- Homepage Configuration: this will define the look and feel of the main page by defining the title and subtitle which will be shown but also the background and logo. The Kiosk Admin can either define a different homepage for each kiosk or reuse the same to ensure a unified experience across all kiosks.
- Managed by: user group that can manage the kiosk device
- Location: this will define where this kiosk will be located
- Default language: this will define which language the homepage will be shown in, however, multiple languages can be made available for Visitors to select from.
To finalize the kiosk configuration, the Kiosk Admin will define which modules will be available on the kiosk. The modules represent the different options a Visitor will be shown when walking up to the kiosk in the example above both the check-in module and check-out module have been included in the experience.
The module flow, which defines the process through which the Visitor will be guided is defined within the Workplace Visitor Management module.
The authentication options that can be selected are:
- Email address
- Phone Number
- Name
- Passcode (this is shared to visitors that are registered and incite to the workplace)
For more information on the kiosk configuration options, please refer to the ServiceNow docs page here.
The Kiosk Operator will then need to sign in on the kiosk device to bind the completed kiosk configuration to the physical kiosk.
Once logged in, the Kiosk Operator will be shown the list of available kiosk configurations that can be searched for and selected.
The physical kiosk will then be linked to the kiosk configuration.
The Kiosk Operator can change the selected kiosk configuration at any time and have this instantly updated for the viewers.
Once the binding is completed, the Kiosk Viewer can log in to make the experience available to all Visitors.
Workplace Space Management – Multi- building Scenario Planning
Persona: Space Planner
Role: sn_wsd_spcmgmt.space_planner, sn_wsd_spcmgmt.scenario_reader,
Plugins: Workplace Space Management, Workplace Core, Workplace Case Management, Workplace Move Management, Workplace Stack Plan, Workplace Indoor Mapping for the floor map view (optional)
Scenario Planning is a capability that was first released back in 2022 to enable Space Planners to easily create what-if scenarios within one building to edit allocations (Department/Cost Center/Neighborhood and Workplace Entity) and assignments before having them deploymed to update the production data.
With this release, we are providing the ability for Space Planners to create scenarios that span across multiple buildings. The buildings do not have to be part of the same campus, site or region. This will enable them to plan, visualize, and manage spatial arrangements and moves across multiple buildings.
When creating a new multi-building scenario, the Space Planner will be prompted to define which Campus/Building/Floor... should be included in the scenario through the condition builder.
Once the scenario has loaded, the Space Planner will be able to view key information.
- Details: this can be accessed at anytime and shows the information that has been input to create the scenario
- Stack plan: the Space Planner will have the list of buildings selected to build in the scenario along with the option to view key KPIs in the righthand side panel.
- If no specific building is selected, the information shown in the right panel will give an overview of the KPIs at the scenario level.
- When selecting a specific building, the right panel will update to reflect the KPIs specific to the selected building. The KPIs will also be updated to reflect the space count and assignments when a specific floor or block is selected.
- Floor map: just like in the previous releases, the Space Planner will be able to visualize the allocations and assignments directly on the map. Note only one floor will be shown at any given point of time. However, user can drag and pivot to another building. Once the focus changed, the other building will be shown
If interactive maps have not been configured for all buildings of a scenario, this will not affect the scenario as only the buildings with maps will be shown in the drop-down filter to choose from.
Moving Departments or Teams from one building to another building can also originate from scenario planning once the deployment plans are available and the scenario is deployed, adding additional value to the Space Planner and enhancing their experience.
Workplace Reservation Management:
Persona: Reservation Admin, Event Planner
Role: sn_wsd_rsv.reservation_planner, sn_wsd_rsv.reservation_viewer
Plugins: Workplace Core, Workplace Reservation Management, Workplace Case Management, Workplace Central
- Open the Location Directory UI from the Event Planner
Enable Reservation Admins to visualize the current reservation and occupancy data directly from the Event Planner. With this release, the Event Planner can open the Location Directory UI directly from the Event Planner homepage to get the real-time data shown:
Note: For the Location Directory to be shown, the Indoor Mapping application needs to be installed and configured to create the interactive maps.
- Retain services when using the drag’n’drop capability in the Event Planner
When drag’n’dropping a reservation from one time to another or from one location to another, the Event Planner will be notified to retain services.
The requested services will be retained if the new location offers the same services and is outside of the cut-off time set by the Workplace Admin. When agreeing to retain the services, the Event Planner also has the option to edit the requested quantities.
In case, the requested services cannot be retained as they are not available in the new location or are within the cut-off time for service requests, the Event Planner will also be notified.
- Edit reservation details from the side panel
Provide an enhanced experience to the Event Planner enabling them to edit reservation details more easily without having to leave the schedule view to go to the reservation portal.
The Event Planner can select a reservation from the schedule view and click the small calendar icon to open the righthand side panel which details the reservation information.
Within this panel, the Event Planner can edit:
- The start and end date/time of the reservation
- The location (Building, Floor, Space)
- The requested for field
- Interface enhancements
In addition to the Event Planner enhancements detailed above, there are also a couple of interface enhancements that will provide value to the Event Planner by making it easier to visualize the information on the schedule view and make edits.
- Provide a clear schedule view to the Event Planner by enabling them to configure the default time when opening the calendar view.
- Enable the Event Planner drag’n’drop a reservation to change the time and/or location of the reservation and have the time change to a specific time: 5mins, 15mins, 30mins... depending on the configuration.
- Lead time for requesting services:
Enable delivery teams to define how far in advance a service needs to be requested, edited or cancelled to be delivered on time. Therefore, if an Employee wishes to request a service past its lead time, the option will no longer be shown to them to include in their request.
A new role has been created sn_wsd_case.bypass_services_limitation enabling the Employee with this role to ignore the limitations set.
The Workplace Admin can define for each Workplace Service Item, the lead time required for ordering this service.
Note: This feature is compatible with the Event Planner but not with the Outlook Add-in.
Workplace Space Management:
- Time based space allocation
Persona: Space Planner
Roles: sn_wsd_core.admin, sn_wsd_spcmgmt.manager
Plugins: Workplace Core, Workplace Space Management, Workplace Central, Workplace Indoor Mapping, Indoor Mapping
The new feature allows users to allocate and manage spaces for a specific period rather than permanently, offering greater flexibility and control. With this functionality, Space Planners can set effective dates for space allocations.
When adding a new space allocation, the Space Planner will define the type of allocation and include the start and end date for when the defined allocation will be considered.
As the allocation period approaches its end, the system will send an automated notification, reminding the Space Managers and Department/Team owners of the upcoming expiration. Once the allocation period expires, the system will automatically deactivate the space allocations and restrict any further use, preventing unauthorized consumption and opening up the space for others’ consumption.
If a new time-based space allocation is defined, spaces will be made available in the reservation experience based on the allocation timeframe.
Workplace Connectors:
- Support for environmental sensors
Persona: Facility Manager
Roles: sn_wsd_wc.admin, sn_wsd_wc.manager
Plugins: Workplace Core, Workplace Connectors, Workplace Central
During this release, we are continuing to innovate and enhance our Workplace Connector application by delivering framework enhancements to support temperature and air quality sensors.
Facility Teams need an easy way to monitor indoor pollutants, humidity, CO2 and temperature to help reduce costs of maintenance, optimize the workplace and ensure they deliver a comfortable experience to employees.
A new unit of measures table has been added to ensure the unit information coming from the sensors is aligned with the unit of measure defined in the instance by the Workplace Connector Admin.
Detailed step-by-step guidance on setting up the configuration can be found here.
Location Directory Enhancements:
Persona: Employee, Event Planner
Plugins: Workplace Core, Workplace Indoor mapping, Workplace Reservation Management (for the reservation data), Workplace Connectors (for the occupancy data)
With this release, the location directory experience is being enhanced to provide additional color coding and filtering capabilities to provide Employees with a clear view which combines both reservation data and occupancy data.
To ensure the reservation data and occupancy data is shown in the map the following property sn_wsd_space_map.show_rsv_occ_data_loc_dir] needs to be set to true.
With this update, the Employee will be able to select from the filter which information they would like to see on the map. The color coding of the information will then help guide the Employee to find the best space to reserve.
The Employee has the option to select the Legend button at the bottom of the map to get a clear breakdown of how the state matches the color.
To ensure the data shown is continuously refreshed at a set interval, the Workplace Admin can define the frequency at which the data will be refreshed in the Map Properties of the Space Mapping application. By default, the time to refresh is set to 2 minutes. Employees and Event Planner can also manually refresh the data by selecting the refresh button.
Workplace Agent for Mobile:
Persona: Workplace Agent, Technician, Case Fulfiller
Roles: sn_wsd_case.workplace_agent
Plugins: Workplace Core, Workplace Case Management, Workplace Agent for mobile, optional: Workplace Indoor Mapping
Workplace Agent for Mobile was released in May’24 as a new application, delivered to enable mobility and improve productivity by providing a mobile experience for workplace agents. With this release we are enhancing the experience to enable agents to effortlessly create, view, and search cases and tasks, boosting their efficiency.
- Calendar view for the agent: Agents can view and interact with workplace cases in a calendar view, easily identifying the schedule of the cases that need to be worked on in the next days.
- Create cases on behalf of employees: Agents can create workplace cases like general requests, maintenance requests, desk change requests on behalf of the employees.
- Easily separate workplace cases from tasks in the list views.
- Enhanced search capability: Enable Agents to search for workplace cases, tasks or articles in the landing page
Workplace Case Management:
Persona: Employee
Plugins: Workplace Core, Workplace Case Management, Workplace Reservation Management
Enable Employees to request catering, equipment and support services independent of the reservations and have them linked to a pre-existing reservation or simply delivered to a defined location.
Employees can request any of the following services from the out of the box list: equipment, furniture, catering, badge, heating & cooling, technical support or cleaning.
Each of these services will open a specific request form.
The Employee will then define:
- Who the service is requested for
- The date and time of when the service is requested by
- Urgency whether today, this week or next week
- Impact whether it is just me, my team or many teams
- The location of where this service will be delivered. The location can either be selected from the map if configured or by selecting the building > floor > space manually. Once the location is selected, the available items that can be requested will be shown, if not items are available at the selected location, the Employee will be shown a warning message.
- When relevant the Employee can select to either have the service delivered or decide to pick it up.
To associate the request with a reservation, the Employee will use the reservation details drop-down list to select the reservation to which the services will be added. By selecting a reservation, the location will be prefilled, and the available services will be shown as options to the Employee.
Workplace Calendar Synchronization:
Persona: Workplace Calendar Synchronization admin
Role: sn_wsd_rsvsync.admin
Plugins: Workplace Core, Workplace Reservation Management, Workplace Calendar Sync
In order to facilitate the adoption and configuration of the Calendar Sync experience, we are including as part of this release a guided setup that will take the Workplace Admin setting up the experience through all the required steps to ensure no configuration is missing.
To explore further and access detailed technical documentation, we recommend using: https://docs.servicenow.com/.
