Actions and action groups in Proactive Prompts

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated July 31, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Actions and action groups in Proactive Prompts

    Proactive Prompts in ServiceNow enable users to take immediate actions directly from notifications or prompts. The available actions vary by communication channel and mainly support Employee Portal and Virtual Agent users. These actions streamline user responses by integrating common tasks such as viewing details, sending emails, scheduling meetings, and initiating chats.

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    Key Features

    • View details: Allows users to access more information about a prompt, including URLs configured in the signal. This feature is exclusive to the Employee Portal, while Virtual Agent shows details by default. Links work only when using the Script data source.
    • Send email: Users can compose and send emails directly from the prompt using the organization's default mail client. Emails can be sent to individual or multiple active users with valid email addresses in the User [sysuser] table.
    • Set up meeting: Facilitates scheduling meetings via the default mail client (Outlook by default, configurable to Gmail). Only active users with configured emails can be selected. This action is available only in the Employee Portal and includes a configurable mailClient parameter.
    • Start chat: Enables one-on-one chats through Microsoft Teams, requiring the com.snc.msteams plugin. Only active users with valid emails can be selected. This action is also specific to the Employee Portal.
    • Configurable selection parameter: The Employee Center Action framework includes a parameter (selectindividual) controlling whether actions like Send email, Set up meeting, and Start chat can target all users or a single individual. Default is false (single user only).
    • Action groups: Collections of commonly used actions grouped for quick access, available only in the Employee Portal. Examples include Chat and Email action groups.

    Practical Implications for ServiceNow Customers

    These actions empower users to respond swiftly to prompts without navigating away from their current context, improving efficiency in communication and task management. Understanding the channel-specific availability and configuration options—such as mail client selection and user targeting—allows administrators to tailor the experience to organizational needs. Installing required plugins like com.snc.msteams is essential for full functionality. Utilizing action groups further simplifies user interaction by grouping frequent tasks.

    Actions provide the user the ability to act on the prompt.

    The types of actions available differ based on the channel. Unless otherwise noted, the actions in the following table are available for Employee Portal and Virtual Agent.

    Table 1. Actions in Proactive Prompts
    Action Description
    View details Enables the user to see more details about the prompt, including any URL provided in the signal configuration. Users can also access links directly to the items/tasks/records based on the URL configured in the Script data source. For more information see, Create a signal in Proactive Prompts.
    Note:
    • The display of links to items/tasks/records only works with the Script data source.
    • The details displayed are influenced by the selection in the Collect records field.
    • This action is available only for the Employee Portal. In Virtual Agent, the details are displayed by default.
    Send email The user can send an email directly from the prompt. This action takes the user directly to the compose window depending on the default mail client configured in your organization. Users can choose to send the email to one user or all users at the same time.
    Note:
    Only active users with their email configured in the User [sys_user] table can be selected to send the email.
    Set up meeting The user can schedule a meeting via the default mail client like Outlook or Gmail based on your organization's configuration.
    Note:
    • This action has a configurable action parameter mailClient of type string. By default, the mail client is Outlook. You can change it to Gmail.
    • Only active users with their email configured in the User [sys_user] table can be selected to set up a meeting.
    • This parameter is applicable only for Employee Portal actions.
    Start chat The user can talk to the stake holder one-on-one via Microsoft Teams.
    Note:
    • The Start chat action requires the com.snc.ms_teams plugin to have been installed.
    • Only active users with their email configured in the User [sys_user] table can be selected to start a chat.
    Note:
    The configurable action parameter selectindividual under Actions in the Employee Center Action framework determines whether you can select all employees or one individual employee for the Send email, Set up meeting, and Start chat actions. The default value is false. This parameter is applicable only for actions in Employee Portal.

    Action groups

    Action groups are a collection of frequently used actions in a framework for quick access. Action groups are used only in Employee Portal. For Proactive Prompts, the action groups available are:
    • Chat action group
    • Email action group

    For more information, see Action group.