On-Call Scheduling in Service Operations Workspace

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated March 12, 2026
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of On-Call Scheduling in Service Operations Workspace

    The On-Call Scheduling feature in Service Operations Workspace allows agents, Shift Managers, and On-call Admins to efficiently manage schedules and shifts. Agents can view their schedules, request absences, propose coverage, and set notification preferences. Shift Managers and On-call Admins can manage shifts and resolve scheduling conflicts while overseeing notification settings and escalation policies for their teams.

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    Key Features

    • Schedules Management: Access schedules through the Schedules menu, displaying shifts in a customizable calendar or timeline view.
    • Notification Preferences: Define preferred methods and rules for receiving escalation alerts.
    • Teams Management: View and manage team schedules, define escalation policies, and ensure accountability for on-call responsibilities.
    • Contextual Side Panel: Access on-call scheduling directly from incident records, allowing for quick identification and contact of available support members.
    • Configuration Options: Tailor on-call scheduling to meet organizational needs, including shift preferences and escalation rules.

    Key Outcomes

    By utilizing the On-Call Scheduling feature, ServiceNow customers can ensure effective incident response through better shift management and clear communication during on-call periods. Teams can maintain accountability and responsiveness, thereby enhancing overall service delivery and incident resolution efficiency.

    Use On-Call Scheduling in Service Operations Workspace to view and manage your shifts and schedules.

    On-Call Scheduling overview

    As an agent, view your schedule and your peer's schedules, request an absence, propose coverage, and set your notification preferences.

    As a Shift Manager, view, and manage shifts, approve or reject absence requests, and resolve gaps and conflicts. You can also manage notification preferences, delivery channels, escalation trigger rules, and policies for your group.

    As an On-call Admin, view, and manage shifts, approve or reject absence requests, and resolve gaps and conflicts. You can also manage notification preferences, delivery channels, escalation trigger rules, and policies for any group.

    Schedules in Service Operations Workspace

    Use the Schedules menu on the home page to access On-Call Scheduling in Service Operations Workspace.

    On-call schedules

    On-call Schedules tab

    This tab displays all the user's schedules and shifts in a calendar or time-line view. You can customize the view as a day, week, or month view, and filter the calendar based on your groups or time zones.

    You can manage your work, shifts, and time-off requests on this tab.

    On-call notification preferences

    On this tab, you can define your preferred notification methods to receive alerts when a ticket is escalated to you.

    You can define the escalation notification rules and the delivery channels that are used to receive these notifications.

    Teams in Service Operations Workspace

    Use the Teams menu (Teams icon) in Service Operations Workspace to view all teams. Select a team card to view and manage a team's schedule, define escalation policies, and team preferences for the selected shift. This feature verifies that your team knows who is on call, is accountable, and is confident that critical alerts or incidents are acknowledged.

    Use the Schedule tab to create and manage shifts for your team. This feature verifies that the right person is available to respond to incidents and critical alerts. You can also add or edit team members, description, and the contact information of your team.

    Use the Escalation triggers and policies tab to set an escalation policy and the trigger rules to be followed if there's an incident. You assign these policies and trigger rules, along with notification preferences, to a team.

    Use the On-call Team preferences tab to edit shift preferences for a group. You can add a Shift Manager and the start day of the week, set preferences for absence requests and shift overlap, and escalation rules for shift overlap.

    Contextual side panel

    Use On-Call Scheduling from the Contextual side panel, when you open an incident. You can also configure experts on call and escalation tracking for any other record, if necessary.

    Select the Experts On-call icon (Experts on-call icon.) from the Contextual side panel to view and contact the recommended subject matter experts for help.

    To view the escalation details and dynamic tracking of an on-call escalation, select the on-call escalations icon (On-call escalations icon.) from the Contextual side panel.