Questionnaires in Field Service Management

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated June 4, 2026
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Questionnaires in Field Service Management

    In Field Service Management, questionnaires provide a structured way for field service agents to collect critical information during work order and work order task execution. They can be used at any stage—before work starts, during progress, or as a prerequisite for closing tasks—and can be mandated to ensure compliance and completeness. This helps enforce safety checks, compliance checklists, inspections, and task verification directly in the field, minimizing errors and manual follow-ups.

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    Key Features

    • Trigger Condition: Configurable rules determine when a questionnaire appears, such as when a task state changes to “Work in progress.”
    • Mandatory Setting: Ensures agents complete the questionnaire before closing a task.
    • Close Before State: Specifies the task state that must be reached before completing mandatory questionnaires.
    • Questionnaire Types:
      • Survey-based Questionnaire: Created using Survey Designer, linked to work orders or tasks.
      • Smart Assessment Questionnaire: Built with Smart Assessment Engine’s template designer, supports conditional questions, offline use, and enhanced mobile integration. This type replaces survey-based questionnaires once enabled and cannot be disabled.
    • Mobile and Offline Support: Questionnaires are accessible via the web and the ServiceNow Agent mobile app. Agents can complete questionnaires offline, with responses syncing automatically when connectivity is restored.
    • Data Privacy: Agents cannot access completed questionnaire responses from other agents, maintaining data confidentiality.

    Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    Using questionnaires within Field Service Management enables customers to enforce compliance, improve data accuracy, and streamline field operations by capturing task-specific details directly during service execution. The ability to mandate questionnaires at specific task stages ensures critical checks are not overlooked, enhancing safety and operational standards. Mobile and offline capabilities empower field agents to maintain productivity in any environment, while the transition to Smart Assessment questionnaires offers advanced functionality and better integration with the Now Mobile Agent experience.

    Field Service Management supports questionnaires as a structured mechanism for collecting information from field service agents during the execution of work orders and work order tasks. Questionnaires can be used at any stage of a task—before work begins, while work is in progress, or as a condition for closing a task—and can be made mandatory to enforce compliance and completeness.

    Questionnaires serve several operational purposes across the field service lifecycle.
    • Agents can be required to complete a compliance checklist or safety check before starting work on a task, ensuring they have taken proper precautions and met regulatory requirements.
    • Inspection questionnaires can be triggered before a work order is completed, allowing reviewers and agents to verify that all required steps have been executed to the expected standard.
    • Checklist-style questionnaires confirm that all necessary actions have been performed before a task is closed.
    • Structured questions capture task-specific information—such as equipment condition, compliance confirmations, or part usage details—directly in the field, reducing manual follow-up and data entry errors.
    Structured questions capture task-specific information—such as equipment condition, compliance confirmations, or part usage details—directly in the field, reducing manual follow-up and data entry errors.
    • Trigger condition- A condition builder rule that determines when the questionnaire becomes applicable. For example, a trigger set to state changes to Work in progress adds the questionnaire only when the task transitions into that state, rather than on every update.
    • Mandatory setting- When enabled, the agent must complete the questionnaire before the work order task can be closed.
    • Close before state- Defines the task state that must be reached before a mandatory questionnaire can be completed.

    Questionnaire types

    Field Service Management supports the following two types of questionnaires.
    Table 1. Questionnaires
    Type Description Authoring tool
    Survey-based questionnaire Uses the Survey Designer to create a list of questions associated with a work order or task. Survey Designer
    Smart Assessment questionnaire Uses the Smart Assessment Engine template designer, with support for conditional questions, offline execution, and enhanced mobile integration via Now Mobile Agent. Smart Assessment Engine (Template Designer)

    Both types are triggered from the same work order and work order task forms. Smart Assessment allows migration from existing survey-based questionnaires, and once Smart Assessment is enabled, it cannot be disabled.

    Where questionnaires are used

    Questionnaires are available across both the web interface and the ServiceNow Agent mobile application. On mobile, agents can view, answer, and submit questionnaires while offline; responses are stored in the device's local cache and synchronized when connectivity is restored. Agents cannot view each other's completed questionnaire responses.