Schedule periods

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated January 30, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Schedule periods

    Schedule periods in ServiceNow Yokohama define how often a user can receive instances of the same survey. The available schedule periods includeOnly Once,No Limit(default),Daily,Weekly,Monthly, andYearly. Selecting a schedule period other than Only Once or No Limit triggers the creation of a scheduled job that manages survey instance distribution.

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    Key Features

    • The scheduled job ensures each user can take only one survey instance per defined schedule period.
    • At the start of each new schedule period, a new survey instance is generated for each user unless they have an incomplete instance (state not Complete).
    • The Expiration date field on a survey instance enforces schedule periods by preventing new instances until the current one expires.
    • Expiration dates are automatically set based on the schedule period (e.g., one week after generation for Weekly).
    • Changing the schedule period updates the scheduled job automatically, but users with existing survey instances cannot receive new ones until expiration or deletion of those instances.

    Practical Implications for Customers

    For example, if a survey’s schedule period is Weekly and a user receives an instance, they cannot receive another until the week passes or the instance is deleted, even if the schedule period changes afterward.

    When using trigger conditions to send surveys, the schedule period should be set to No Limit, as trigger conditions manage survey delivery frequency differently.

    What to Expect

    • Automatic management of survey instance creation and expiration based on your schedule settings.
    • Prevention of survey fatigue by limiting how often users can receive the same survey.
    • Flexibility to change schedule periods with automatic adjustments to scheduled jobs, while maintaining consistency for users with active surveys.

    The available schedule periods are Only Once, No Limit, Daily, Weekly, Monthly, and Yearly.

    The default schedule period is No Limit. When you set the schedule period to anything except Only Once or No Limit, the system creates a corresponding scheduled job. The scheduled job performs the following actions.
    • Ensures that a user can take one survey instance of the same survey per schedule period.
    • Generates a new survey instance for each survey user at the beginning of the new schedule period, as long as the survey user does not have an incomplete instance of that survey. A survey instance is incomplete if the state is not Complete.

    For example, if you set the schedule period to Monthly and someone attempts to send survey invitations twice in the same day, the system generates survey instances for the survey users the first time only. At the beginning of the next schedule period, the system generates another survey instance for each survey user who completed the previous one.

    Schedule periods are enforced by the Expiration date field on the survey instance. As long as the survey instance expiration date has not passed, the assigned user cannot receive a new survey instance. When the system generates a survey instance and the schedule period is anything except No Limit, the Expiration date field is automatically set to the appropriate date. For example, if the schedule period is Weekly, the expiration date is a week after the survey instance is generated.

    If you change the schedule period, the scheduled job updates automatically to the correct schedule. However, users who have survey instances for the survey cannot receive new survey instances until their existing survey instances expire, regardless of the new schedule period.

    Consider the following example: Sal Pindell receives a survey instance when the schedule period is Weekly. The next day, a survey administrator changes the schedule period to No Limit. Sal cannot receive another survey instance until one of the following actions occurs.
    • Seven days pass from the time Sal's survey instance was generated.
    • A survey administrator deletes Sal's survey instance.

    After one of these actions occurs, Sal can receive a new survey instance anytime, as long as he has no incomplete instances of the survey.

    Note:
    If you use a trigger condition for a survey, ensure the schedule period is set to No Limit. Trigger conditions use a different method to regulate how often users can receive survey instances.