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sourceDocumentLink: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/delta-yokohama-australia

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ft:publication_title :

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---

# Combined Virtual Agent release notes for upgrades from Yokohama to Australia

# Combined Virtual Agent release notes for upgrades from Yokohama to Australia {#ariaid-title1}

Release version: Australia  
Updated October 8, 2026  
![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 23 minutes to read
Summarize  
![AI sparkle icon](https://servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ai-sparkle-icon) Summarized using AI  
This content was generated using new OpenAI-powered functionality. Results are provided on an as is basis and are not guaranteed to be accurate or complete.  

## Summary of Combined Virtual Agent release notes for upgrades from Yokohama to Australia

This consolidated release notes document assists ServiceNow customers in understanding the evolution of Virtual Agent from the Yokohama release through to Australia.
It highlights new features, changes, deprecations, and important upgrade information to prepare customers for a smooth transition and effective use of Virtual Agent capabilities within their ServiceNow environments.
Show full answer Show less  

## Key Features

* **Assistant Designer:** Introduced as a centralized administrator experience to create and manage LLM-based chat and voice assistants. It includes Assistants, Asset Library (formerly Virtual Agent Designer), and Analytics, simplifying assistant management and promoting AI agent workflows.
* **Conversational Settings \& Asset Management:** Manage asset settings directly from the Asset Library and create Virtual Agent topics with support for all LLM conversational assets.
* **AI Agents and Agentic Workflows:** Integration with AI Connector utility to select AI agents for task handling; view and manage AI agents and agentic workflows in Virtual Agent Designer.
* **Enhanced Chat Experiences:** Introduction of Premium Chat with contextual adaptation across the platform, including voice dictation (ServiceNow Otto assistants), multi-view interactive chat (knowledge base, catalog forms, org charts), and chat surveys supporting LLM inputs.
* **Integration Capabilities:** Support for Slack and Microsoft Teams conversations with synthesized responses, Google Workspace chat integration, and embedding of chat widgets on third-party websites.
* **Custom Skills and Prompt Library:** Ability to view and manage custom skills created via AI Skill Kit, and the introduction of a prompt library to help users ask better questions and improve accuracy in premium chat.
* **Testing and Quality Measurement:** Automated evaluation tools in Assistant Designer allow measuring conversational assistant quality using metrics like conversation success, fluency, and skill accuracy, with the ability to test assistants end-to-end before production deployment.
* **ServiceNow Otto Brand and AI Platform Licensing:** ServiceNow Otto represents the AI conversational platform integrated into workflows, offering agentic capabilities and autonomous orchestration. AI features are available in three licensing tiers: Foundation, Advanced, and Prime, determining feature access.
* **Model and Server Management:** Ability for admins to assign Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers to assistants with role-based access controls, ensuring secure and governed AI model usage.
* **Personalization and Branding:** Enhanced options to customize assistant tone, persona, and response length, with personalization enabled by default in Australia release.
* **File Upload and Interactive Document View:** Premium chat supports uploading multiple files (up to 10 files or 50 MB) of various types (PDF, Word, Excel, images) and viewing them interactively within conversations.
* **Live Agent Enhancements:** Features such as canceling live agent requests, displaying live agent status updates, and enabling estimated wait times improve user experience in premium chat sessions.

## Key Changes

* **User Interface Updates:** Improved Virtual Agent Designer list view with tabs replacing pills, updated tooltips explaining asset discoverability, and modernized input text bar and chat icons enhance usability.
* **Message Handling:** Table bot response control allows toggling links for each record in conversations, and dynamic translation calls optimize language support by limiting calls to unsupported languages.
* **Skill Discovery Prioritization:** New option to prioritize AI agents over other assets during skill discovery, enabling steering users toward AI agent-driven responses instead of static articles.
* **System Property Adjustments:** Removal of the system property for enabling/disabling chat personalization, with personalization now enabled by default.
* **Process and Workflow Improvements:** The Agentic support page was deprecated as agentic mode operates by default; role-based MCP server management moved outside Assistant Designer.

## Deprecations and Removals

* **Removed Features:** No Virtual Agent features or functionalities were removed between Yokohama and Australia releases.
* **Deprecated Features:** Support for Now Assist in Conversational IVR was removed in Yokohama. Sensitive Data Handler and Masking capabilities were prepared for deprecation starting in Zurich, with replacement via the Data Privacy application. Microsoft LUIS support was also discontinued. The Agentic support page was deprecated in Australia with no loss of functionality.

## Activation and Requirements

* **Activation:** Virtual Agent is a ServiceNow AI Platform feature active by default starting from Zurich and Australia releases. Yokohama requires activation of the Glide Virtual Agent plugin with a separate subscription.
* **Browser Support:** Virtual Agent supports major browsers including Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge.
* **Accessibility:** Introduction of the Coral theme with an optional dark mode for web and mobile to improve readability and reduce eye strain.
* **Localization:** The ServiceNow Localization Framework is integrated into Virtual Agent to support multi-language environments.

## Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

* Centralized assistant  
Consolidated page of all release notes for Virtual Agent from Yokohama to Australia.

## How to use this page

To help you prepare for your upgrade, we have combined the cross-family Virtual Agent release notes onto one page. Read this summary of the new features, changes, and updated information for your product from Yokohama to Australia.  
Tip:  
If there were no updates for a release notes section in a certain family release, we included a short note for your reference. For example, if a product did not have any updates in Tokyo, the row says "No updates for this release."

## Important information for upgrading Virtual Agent to Australia

Before you upgrade to Australia, review these pre- and post-upgrade tasks and complete the tasks as needed.  
{#dfrn3-virtualagent-summary__entry__2}

| Release | Release notes |
|-|-|
| Yokohama | No updates for this release. |
| Zurich | No updates for this release. |
| Australia | No updates for this release. |
[ ]

## New features

Between your current release family and Australia, new features were introduced for Virtual Agent.  
{#dfrn3-virtualagent-summary__entry__10}

| Release | Release notes |
|-|-|
| Yokohama | [Assistant Designer](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=assistant-designer&family=yokohama&ft:locale=en-US) :   Create and manage LLM-based chat and voice assistants within Assistant Designer, a centralized assistant administrator experience. Assistant Designer is comprised of three main areas: Assistants, Asset library (previously Virtual Agent Designer), and Analytics. [Conversational settings](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=asset-lib-conv-settings&family=yokohama&ft:locale=en-US)Conversational settings :   Manage the settings for an asset directly from the Asset library page. [Create a Virtual Agent topic](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=create-virtual-agent-topic&family=yokohama&ft:locale=en-US) :   Start the create flow for all supported conversational LLM assets directly from Virtual Agent Designer. [Assistants in Virtual Agent Designer](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=conversation-designer-virtual-agent&family=yokohama&ft:locale=en-US) :   The Now Assist Panel - Platform (default) assistant is now available in Virtual Agent Designer. [AI Connector utility](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=vad-ai-connector-utility&family=yokohama&ft:locale=en-US) :   Select AI agents to handle tasks in the AI Connector utility. For more information on AI agents in Virtual Agent Designer, see [Managing AI agents](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=managing-use-cases-ai-agents&family=yokohama&ft:locale=en-US) and [Using AI agents in Virtual Agent topics](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=ai-agent-custom-skill&family=yokohama&ft:locale=en-US). Virtual Agent Designer [Table bot response control](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=table-bot-response&family=yokohama&ft:locale=en-US) :   Slide the new Show links for each record toggle switch to activate links for each record in the output in your Virtual Agent conversation. Virtual Agent server : * In chatHandshake, set dynamic_step_loader_enabled to <kbd class="ph userinput">true</kbd> to send stacked Agentic AI messages to server. Set dynamic_step_loader_enabled to <kbd class="ph userinput">false</kbd> to avoid sending messages. * Pre-chat and post-chat surveys are now available for Anthropic Claude on AWS and Google Gemini LLMs. For more information on surveys, see [Chat surveys](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=ci-conversational-chat-surveys&family=yokohama&ft:locale=en-US). [AI Connector Utility](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=vad-ai-connector-utility&family=yokohama&ft:locale=en-US) :   Link custom skills to generative AI to add their functionality to LLM conversations. [AI agents and agentic workflows in Virtual Agent Designer](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=managing-use-cases-ai-agents&family=yokohama&ft:locale=en-US) :   View AI agents and agentic workflows created in AI Agent Studio in Virtual Agent Designer. [Shorten responses option for bot text response](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=va-text-response&family=yokohama&ft:locale=en-US) :   For bot text responses, use the Shorten responses toggle in Virtual Agent Designer to turn on the Show more option in the chat on the user side. [Application scope for topics](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=vad-topic-creation-form&family=yokohama&ft:locale=en-US) :   Select the application scope for topics in Virtual Agent Designer. [Synthesized response in Slack conversations](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=slack-synthesized-response&family=yokohama&ft:locale=en-US) :   Generate synthesized responses in Slack conversations with Now Assist. [Virtual Agent feature support in Microsoft Teams conversations](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=va-teams-other-features&family=yokohama&ft:locale=en-US) :   Generate synthesized responses in Microsoft Teams conversations with Now Assist. [Custom skills in Virtual Agent Designer](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=managing-custom-skills&family=yokohama&ft:locale=en-US) :   View skills created in AI Skill Kit in Virtual Agent Designer. [Chat surveys](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=ci-conversational-chat-surveys&family=yokohama&ft:locale=en-US) :   Create chat surveys compatible with LLM-enabled user inputs, aside from the Carousel user input. |
| Zurich | [Testing assistant conversations](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=evaluations-ad&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US) :   Measure the quality of your conversational assistant at scale with automated evaluations in Assistant Designer. Choose the metrics that define success for you, such as conversation success, conversation fluency, faithfulness, skill selection accuracy, and turn count. You can run them against your own test data set and ground truth. [Assistant Designer](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=assistant-designer&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US) :   Create and manage LLM-based chat and voice assistants within Assistant Designer, a centralized assistant administrator experience. Assistant Designer is comprised of three main areas: Assistants, Asset library (previously Virtual Agent Designer), and Analytics. [Conversational settings](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=asset-lib-conv-settings&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US)Conversational settings :   Manage the settings for an asset directly from the Asset library page. [Integrating with Google Workspace](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=integrate-with-gsuite&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US) :   Integrate Google Workspace chat with the ServiceNow® conversational interface features, including Virtual Agent, Natural Language Understanding (NLU), Notifications, and live agents. [AI Connector utility](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=vad-ai-connector-utility&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US) :   Select AI agents to handle tasks in the AI Connector utility. For more information on AI agents in Virtual Agent Designer, see [Managing AI agents](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=managing-use-cases-ai-agents&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US) and [AI agents in Virtual Agent topics](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=ai-agent-custom-skill&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US). [Virtual Agent](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=virtual-agent-landing-page&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US) server : * In chatHandshake, set dynamic_step_loader_enabled to <kbd class="ph userinput">true</kbd> to send stacked agentic AI messages to the server. Set dynamic_step_loader_enabled to <kbd class="ph userinput">false</kbd> to avoid sending messages. * Pre-chat and post-chat surveys are now available for Anthropic Claude on AWS and Google Gemini large language models (LLMs). For more information on surveys, see [Chat surveys](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=ci-conversational-chat-surveys&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US). [Create a Virtual Agent asset](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=create-virtual-agent-topic&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US) :   Start the create flow for all supported conversational LLM assets directly from Virtual Agent Designer. [Assistants in Virtual Agent Designer](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=conversation-designer-virtual-agent&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US) :   The Now Assist Panel - Platform (default) assistant is now available in Virtual Agent Designer. [Integrating ServiceNow Otto for Virtual Agent with Microsoft Copilot](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=ms-copilot-na-va&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US) :   Custom Engine Agent (CEA) is replacing the legacy Microsoft bot framework, allowing Microsoft Copilot to discover Virtual Agent, Now Assist, and use multi-turn conversations. |
| Australia | [Cancel live agent request](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=nava-integrated-chat&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) :   In premium chat, select the Cancel button on the banner while a live agent request is in process to cancel the request. After the request is canceled or the live agent connects to the chat, the banner disappears from chat. [Configure voice settings for a chat assistant](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=manage-chat-voice-exp&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) :   Turn voice dictation on or off for an assistant on the Voice experience page. For ServiceNow Otto for Virtual Agent assistants, voice dictation is only available for premium chat. For ServiceNow Otto panel -- Platform assistant, voice dictation is available for all chat experiences. Note: Voice dictation was previously known as voice input, which was enabled from within [Enable additional chat features](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=additional-chat-features&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US). [Display assistant on Platform or ServiceNow Studio](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=display-nap-assistant&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) :   For eligible new customers, premium chat is the default and the only available chat experience. If the assistant uses the Now LLM provider, the premium chat option isn't available. [Non-English language recognition for voice input](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=nava-integrated-chat&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) :   When you speak in the default language selected in your profile, even if this language is non-English, your speech is transcribed into text in that same language. [Testing assistant conversations](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=evaluations-ad&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) :   Measure the quality of your conversational assistant at scale with automated evaluations in Assistant Designer. Choose the metrics that define success for you, such as conversation success, conversation fluency, faithfulness, skill selection accuracy, and turn count. You can run them against your own test data set and ground truth. [Add the portable chat widget to a 3rd-party website](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=add-portable-va-client-website&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) :   Embed the chat widget for enhanced chat on third-party websites. [View all topics on the premium chat greeting screen](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=nava-integrated-chat&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) :   Select View all topics on the chat's greeting screen to show all promoted topics in premium chat. [Display assistant on Platform or ServiceNow Studio](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=display-nap-assistant&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) :   For eligible new customers, premium chat is the default and the only available chat experience. If the assistant uses the Now LLM provider, the premium chat option isn't available. [View Live Agent status updates](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=nava-integrated-chat&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) :   Routing messages and section headers indicate when the live agent has entered and left the chat in premium chat conversations. [Assign search sources](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=add-info-sources-assistant&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) :   Premium chat prefills messages with legacy messages that were previously configured in your standard or enhanced chat experiences.By default, portals and mobile apps that have enhanced chat with a dynamic, movable, and resizable window use the assistant search profile for both portal/mobile search and the assistant search. Admins can now turn off this behavior and continue to use the portal/mobile search profile independently.The Include AI Responses column shows whether the search source is included in the synthesized response. Within Assistant Designer, the setting is read-only. However, it can be modified in AI Search Admin console. [Select a display experience](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=display-assistant-portal-channel&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) :   Mobile custom apps support configuration of enhanced chat and premium chat display options, with availability dependent on the widget's current configuration. [Manage chat experience](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=manage-assistant-chat-experience&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) :   If you configured legacy messages and legacy fallbacks, your premium messages and premium fallbacks are prefilled with what you had in your legacy messages and legacy fallbacks. In this release, closing topics, closing messages, and survey topic are now prefilled.Closing topic, closing message, and survey topic are available for standard, enhanced, and premium chat for Now Assist in Virtual Agent. [Edit a chat assistant](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=edit-assistant&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) :   When editing an assistant with premium chat, create, edit, or delete prompts from the prompt library. Prompts help users ask better questions and get more accurate answers. Use the prompt library to manage prompts that users see in premium chat. Create your own prompts or use the default prompts. [Prompt library](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=now-assist-prompt-library&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) :   Browse and select from promoted prompt templates or save your own custom prompts, eliminating the need to retype frequently-used prompts within your chats. Access your reusable templates instantly from the omnibar for faster, more consistent conversations. [View uploaded documents in interactive view](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=nava-integrated-chat&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) :   When in premium chat conversations, you can upload a document and view it in the interactive view. [Assign search sources](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=add-info-sources-assistant&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) :   For premium chat, catalog items have improved fluidity; however, some of them are no longer conversational. They'll open in a catalog form instead. This applies to Now Assist in Virtual Agent assistants and Now Assist panel -- Platform assistant. [Select a display experience](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=display-assistant-portal-channel&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) : * If your instance is eligible, you can opt into the premium chat experience. ServiceNow performs a set of readiness checks to see if your instance is eligible for premium chat. Premium chat is a contextual chat experience that appears throughout the platform, adapting its behavior and interface based on where users are and what they're doing. * An alert is shown when the instance is eligible for premium chat or when there is a possible delay for premium chat to appear as an option on your instance. * When editing the display experience of an existing portal or mobile widget, chat experience options depend on the existing configuration. * For channels, select channels from the Add channels drop-down list that integrate with the assistant. * For Microsoft Teams, edit the channel to toggle between standard and premium chat. [Display assistant on Platform or ServiceNow Studio](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=display-nap-assistant&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) :   An alert is shown when the instance is eligible for premium chat or when there is a possible delay for premium chat to appear as an option on your instance. [Brand and personalize an assistant](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=brand-assistant&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) :   Customize an assistant's tone, response length, and persona in the Personalization section when branding your assistant. By default, personalization is hidden.To enable personalization, set the appropriate values in the sn_nowassist_va.assistant_personalization system property. For more information, see [ServiceNow Otto for Virtual Agent system properties](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=nava-sys-props&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US). [Enable additional chat features](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=additional-chat-features&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) :   For Now Assist in Virtual Agent assistants, voice input is available for premium chat.For Now Assist panel -- Platform assistant, voice input is available for standard, enhanced, and premium chat. [Manage chat experience](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=manage-assistant-chat-experience&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) :   For premium chat, you can select a topic for fallback options.For premium messages, select the default greeting message, static greeting message, or select a custom topic. The static greeting message allows you to customize message.For premium chat, your premium messages and premium fallbacks are pre-filled with your legacy messages and legacy fallbacks. [Edit a chat assistant](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=edit-assistant&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) :   View All assets to see the assets that are assigned to an assistant.There is no limit to the number of assets that can be promoted.If an active asset is promoted, and later is set to inactive, the asset is not shown in the Discoverable, Visible, and Promoted lists. [ServiceNow Otto for Virtual Agent system properties](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=nava-sys-props&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) :   Use the sn_nowassist_va.assistant_personalization system property to show or hide chat personalization when branding an assistant. Personalization determines the tone of the assistant, response length, and persona. [Post-chat surveys](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=nava-integrated-chat&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) :   Collect user feedback in premium chats through post-chat surveys that trigger on agent task completion instead of waiting for a chat-end event. When an agent completes a task in an agentic flow, the survey can surface based on a configured probability, enabling you to gather insights that were previously unavailable. [View assistants](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=view-assistants&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) :   If you have the com.snc.ex_ai_portal (Employee Slate) app installed, the default Employee Slate assistant is shown, and Employee Slate is mapped to it by default. The default Employee Slate assistant can be activated, deactivated, edited, and tested. It can't be deleted. [Select a display experience](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=display-assistant-portal-channel&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) :   The default Employee Slate assistant comes with premium chat. Premium chat is a contextual chat experience that appears throughout the platform, adapting its behavior and interface based on where users are and what they're doing. [Brand and personalize an assistant](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=brand-assistant&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) :   For the default Employee Slate assistant, configure premium chat branding. Select and configure the chat header, chat logo, and chat menu items such as a phone number, email, and link.A Channels section is shown for Now Assist in Virtual Agent assistants and the default Employee Slate assistant if a channel is configured in the display experience. [Manage chat experience](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=manage-assistant-chat-experience&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) :   Depending on your configuration, different greeting, closing, and fallback options may appear. Legacy messages (chat messages) and legacy fallbacks (chat fallbacks) are shown when at least one display experience has standard chat or enhanced chat. Premium messages and premium fallbacks are shown when at least one display experience has premium chat. [Test a chat assistant](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=test-assistant&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) :   Test your chat assistant (standard, enhanced, or premium chat) to simulate an end-to-end conversation before moving your experience into a production environment. [Assistant Designer Asset library](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=vad-topics-page&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) :   Use the Test Assistant button to test your LLM assistant in Standard, Enhanced, and Premium Chat, after adding chat experiences in Assistant Designer's Assistants tab. [Now Assist in Virtual Agent on mobile](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=now-assist-mobile-va&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) :   Use the modified version of Now Assist in Virtual Agent on your mobile device. This redesigned version adapts to smaller screens without losing functionality or clarity. [ServiceNow product tiers](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=ai-native-sku-overview&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) :   The ServiceNow AI Platform now brings you a new AI experience with three licensing tiers available: * Foundation: AI basics to deliver insights * Advanced: AI to boost productivity across relevant use cases * Prime: Act autonomously with all AI assets, and create your own Depending on your license, you will have access to certain application features, generative AI skills, agentic workflows, and AI agents. [Premium chat experience for Now Assist Panel - Platform (default) assistant](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=nava-integrated-chat&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) :   The Now Assist Panel - Platform (default) assistant now has the premium chat experience configured by default. [Switch between interactive views](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=nava-integrated-chat&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) :   In premium chat conversations, switch between multiple interactive views through the drop-down selector including Knowledge Base articles, catalog forms, org charts, and AI agent widgets. [Assign Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers to an assistant](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=assign-mcp-servers&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) :   Admins can assign configured Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers to assistants. Role-based access can be configured for each assigned MCP server to control which users can access MCP-provided capabilities through the assistant. [Brand and personalize an assistant](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=brand-assistant&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) :   Enable estimated wait time for the next live agent. When enabled, users see the estimated wait time for the live agent in the chat menu item. [Enable additional chat features](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=additional-chat-features&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) :   Premium chat now supports uploading documents directly into a conversation. [Review settings](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=review-assistant-settings&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) :   The MCP servers section shows which users can access Model Context Protocol (MCP)-provided capabilities through the assistant. [ServiceNow Otto for Virtual Agent system properties](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=nava-sys-props&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) :   Personalization is now shown by default. |
[ ]

## Changes

Between your current release family and Australia, some changes were made to existing Virtual Agent features.  
{#dfrn3-virtualagent-summary__entry__18}

| Release | Release notes |
|-|-|
| Yokohama | Changes to Virtual Agent Designer list view : * Tabs have replaced pills in the Virtual Agent Designer list view. * Hover over the tooltip icon () to see information about the assistant you have selected from the drop-down menu. * Use the new AI agents and Agentic workflows tabs to select from the types of topics on the home page, along with Topics, Subflows, Actions, and Custom skills. * When a promoted asset has a conditional property that determines the context in which appears for an assistant, it's marked as Condition applied under Show more. [Test assistant options](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=test-llm-topics&family=yokohama&ft:locale=en-US) :   The Test button in the Virtual Agent Designer canvas directly opens up the chat widget. [UI chat updates](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=using-now-assist-in-va&family=yokohama&ft:locale=en-US) : * The New messages below button in Virtual Agent was replaced with a simplified down-arrow indicator. * The New messages above button was deprecated because Virtual Agent now auto-scrolls to the top of the oldest new message. * Input text bar was updated to a more modern look and feel. * The start a new conversation icon was updated. [Dynamic Translation calls](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=translation-for-now-assist&family=yokohama&ft:locale=en-US) :   For Now Assist, if native translation is enabled, a Dynamic Translation call is only made if an unsupported language for native translation is used. [Table bot response control](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=table-bot-response&family=yokohama&ft:locale=en-US) :   Use the new Show links for each record toggle switch to activate links for each record in the output in your Virtual Agent conversation. [Topic Properties tab](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=vad-topic-properties-tab&family=yokohama&ft:locale=en-US) : * [Create a topic form](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=vad-topic-creation-form&family=yokohama&ft:locale=en-US): Read improved topic description field helper text and tooltip. * [Change the application scope for Virtual Agent Designer topics](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=change-application-scope-vad&family=yokohama&ft:locale=en-US): View the current scope setting on the Virtual Agent Designer topic properties tab. [Topic Flow tab](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=vad-topic-flow-tab&family=yokohama&ft:locale=en-US) : * View an updated Unpublished changes message on the header bar. * Hover over the Unpublished changes message to get info on which changes are not yet published. * Recover unsaved changes using the Recover changes button that appears on the header bar if you close a topic without saving. * Both message and button appear on the header bar if you add a node to the canvas before closing without saving. [Testing LLM topics](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=test-llm-topics&family=yokohama&ft:locale=en-US) :   View a Matching badge next to the skill activated during testing. [Custom skills in Virtual Agent Designer](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=managing-custom-skills&family=yokohama&ft:locale=en-US) :   Use an updated Virtual Agent Designer list-based home page that includes custom skills. |
| Zurich | [Now Assist \> ServiceNow Otto® announcement](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=sn-ai-implementation-landing&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US) :   ServiceNow Otto introduced AI on the platform. As that experience has evolved, there's a new name for the experience. ServiceNow Otto® is the conversational AI platform integrated into ServiceNow workflows. It provides agentic capabilities, supports multimodal interactions across web, mobile, and messaging channels, and enables autonomous orchestration for cross-system workflows. [Preferences](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=set-up-preferences-next-experience&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US) :   Coral is now the default theme for new portal, web, and mobile experiences with Next Experience or Core UI enabled. This theme provides a fresh look and feel, featuring brand-neutral illustrations to enhance your user experience. A dark theme option is available for web and mobile experiences. [Assistant Designer Asset library](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=vad-topics-page&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US) : * Tabs have replaced pills in the Virtual Agent Designer list view. * Hover over the tooltip icon () to see information about the assistant you have selected from the drop-down menu. * Use the new AI agents and Agentic workflows tabs to select from the types of topics on the home page, along with Topics, Subflows, Actions, and Custom skills. Virtual Agent Designer [Table bot response control](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=table-bot-response&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US) :   Slide the new Show links for each record toggle switch to activate links for each record in the output in your Virtual Agent conversation. [Test assistant options](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=test-llm-topics&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US) :   The Test button in the Virtual Agent Designer canvas directly opens up the chat widget. [Table bot response control](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=table-bot-response&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US) :   Use the new Show links for each record toggle switch to activate links for each record in the output in your Virtual Agent conversation. |
| Australia | [Enable additional chat features](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=additional-chat-features&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) :   The Prioritize AI agents during skills discovery option is available when configuring additional chat features. Because all assistants now use agentic orchestration by default, AI agent skills are available during skills discovery. Turning on this option gives AI agents priority over other assets (such as knowledge bases and Q\&A modules) when the assistant discovers skills. If your assistant has overlapping skills, for example, a knowledge base article and an AI agent that both answer the same question, this setting lets you decide which one is prioritized, so you can steer users toward the AI agent experience instead of a static article. [ServiceNow Otto for Virtual Agent system properties](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=nava-sys-props&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) :   The sn_nowassist_va.assistant_personalization system property is removed from the admin experience. This property previously let admins show or hide chat personalization options (agent persona, tone, and response length) when [branding an assistant](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=brand-assistant&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US). By default, all settings are shown. [Updated Otto processing animation](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=nava-integrated-chat&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) :   View an updated Otto processing animation. [Assign Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers to an assistant](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=assign-mcp-servers&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) :   Role-based configuration is no longer stored or managed within Assistant Designer. [Upload files improvements](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=upload-documents-na-va&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) :   Upload up to 10 files or 50 MB for the following file types: PDF native, PDF OCR, Word, PPTX, Excel, CSV, TXT, JPEG, PNG for premium chat in ServiceNow Otto for Virtual Agent and Otto panel. [Refresh to the organization chart user interface](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=nava-integrated-chat&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) :   The org chart's user interface was updated for premium chat in ServiceNow Otto for Virtual Agent and ServiceNow Otto panel. [Brand and personalize an assistant](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=brand-assistant&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) :   In Assistant DesignerAssistantsBranding, the standard chat and enhanced chat sections are condensed into one section. [Now Assist \> ServiceNow Otto® announcement](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=sn-ai-implementation-landing&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) :   ServiceNow Otto introduced AI on the platform. As that experience has evolved, there's a new name for the experience. ServiceNow Otto® is the conversational AI platform integrated into ServiceNow workflows. It provides agentic capabilities, supports multimodal interactions across web, mobile, and messaging channels, and enables autonomous orchestration for cross-system workflows. [Assistant Designer Asset library](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=vad-topics-page&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US): actions for this row icon :   The tooltip for the Discoverable and Visible options now explains that Setup topics can't be discoverable or visible, as they aren't editable by users. The Live Agent topic is excepted. |
[ ]

## Removed

Between your current release family and Australia, some Virtual Agent features or functionality were removed.  
{#dfrn3-virtualagent-summary__entry__26}

| Release | Release notes |
|-|-|
| Yokohama | No updates for this release. |
| Zurich | No updates for this release. |
| Australia | No updates for this release. |
[ ]

## Deprecations

Between your current release family and Australia, some Virtual Agent features or functionality were deprecated.  
{#dfrn3-virtualagent-summary__entry__34}

| Release | Release notes |
|-|-|
| Yokohama | Support for Now Assist in Conversational IVR was removed. |
| Zurich | * Starting with the Zurich release, [Sensitive Data Handler](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=ac-sensitive-data-overview&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US) and Sensitive Data Masking capability are being prepared for future deprecation. They will be hidden and no longer available for installation but will continue to be supported. For details, see the [Deprecation Process \[KB0867184\]](https://hi.service-now.com/kb_view.do?sysparm_article=KB0867184) article in the Now Support knowledge base. Install the Data Privacy application as a replacement. For more information, see [Data Privacy](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=data-privacy-landing&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US). * Starting with the Zurich release, Microsoft LUIS is no longer deployed, enhanced, or supported. For details, see the [Deprecation Process \[KB0867184\]](https://hi.service-now.com/kb_view.do?sysparm_article=KB0867184) article in the Now Support knowledge base. |
| Australia | Agentic support page :   The Agentic support page has been deprecated for ServiceNow Otto for Virtual Agent and ServiceNow Otto panel - Platform. There is no loss of functionality previously provided by the Agentic support page. By default, all existing assistants operate in agentic mode. The Prioritize AI agents during skills discovery option is available when configuring [additional chat features](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=additional-chat-features&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US). * Starting with the September 2026 release, Gemma 4 joins our growing portfolio of open-weight models available through Now LLM Service. We're committed to bringing you the latest industry advancements while maintaining sovereignty-focused options, all hosted and governed by ServiceNow with the infrastructure and data protections you rely on today. Older models will remain available for existing published AI skills, agents, and agentic workflows, but will no longer be available for new development or configuration. For details, see the [KB3066214: ServiceNow Otto Model Upgrades](https://support.servicenow.com/kb?id=kb_article_view&sysparm_article=KB3066214) article in the Now Support Knowledge Base. <!-- --> * * |
[ ]

## Activation information

Review information on how to activate Virtual Agent.  
{#dfrn3-virtualagent-summary__entry__42}

| Release | Release notes |
|-|-|
| Yokohama | Activation information :   Virtual Agent is a ServiceNow AI Platform feature that is available with activation of the Glide Virtual Agent plugin (com.glide.cs.chatbot), which requires a separate subscription. For details, see [Activate Virtual Agent](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=activate-virtual-agent&family=yokohama&ft:locale=en-US). Note: The Glide Virtual Agent plugin initially installs the Topic Recommendations and Conversational Analytics applications. Subsequent updates to these apps must be installed from the ServiceNow Store. ServiceNow® Virtual Agent Lite is a subset of the Virtual Agent platform that is available to ServiceNow® IT Service Management (ITSM) customers. It doesn't require activation and works with ITSM Virtual Agent Lite conversations, which are also available to ITSM customers. |
| Zurich | Activation information :   Virtual Agent is a ServiceNow AI Platform feature that is active by default. |
| Australia | Activation information :   Virtual Agent is a ServiceNow AI Platform feature that is active by default. |
[ ]

## Additional requirements

If any additional requirements were introduced or changed for Virtual Agent we have noted them here.  
{#dfrn3-virtualagent-summary__entry__50}

| Release | Release notes |
|-|-|
| Yokohama | No updates for this release. |
| Zurich | No updates for this release. |
| Australia | No updates for this release. |
[ ]

## Browser requirements

If any specific browser requirements were introduced or changed for Virtual Agent we have noted them here.  
{#dfrn3-virtualagent-summary__entry__58}

| Release | Release notes |
|-|-|
| Yokohama | Browser requirements :   Virtual Agent supports various browsers, including Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge. For more information, see [Browser support](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=browser-support&family=yokohama&ft:locale=en-US). |
| Zurich | No updates for this release. |
| Australia | No updates for this release. |
[ ]

## Accessibility information

Review details on accessibility information for Virtual Agent, such as specific requirements or compliance levels.  
{#dfrn3-virtualagent-summary__entry__66}

| Release | Release notes |
|-|-|
| Yokohama | No updates for this release. |
| Zurich | Accessibility information : Dark theme :   The new Coral theme includes a dark theme option for web and mobile experiences. This option is commonly used to alleviate eye strain and improve readability. |
| Australia | No updates for this release. |
[ ]

## Localization information

If there are specific localization considerations for Virtual Agent we have noted them here.  
{#dfrn3-virtualagent-summary__entry__74}

| Release | Release notes |
|-|-|
| Yokohama | Localization information :   The ServiceNow® Localization Framework is integrated in Virtual Agent. |
| Zurich | No updates for this release. |
| Australia | No updates for this release. |
[ ]

## Highlight information

If there are specific highlight considerations for Virtual Agent we have noted them here.  
{#dfrn3-virtualagent-summary__entry__82}

| Release | Release notes |
|-|-|
| Yokohama | [Yokohama Patch 7](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=yokohama-patch-11&family=yokohama&ft:locale=en-US) * Create and manage LLM-based chat and voice assistants within Assistant Designer, a centralized assistant administrator experience. [Yokohama Patch 6](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=yokohama-patch-6&family=yokohama&ft:locale=en-US) * Start the create flow for all supported conversational assets directly from Virtual Agent Designer. * Enhance the user experience with Slack response message streaming capability. [Yokohama Patch 3](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=yokohama-patch-3&family=yokohama&ft:locale=en-US) * View people information in the synthesized response along with people citation when you search a person in Microsoft Teams chat. * AI agent support for Virtual Agent. * View AI agents and agentic workflows in Virtual Agent Designer. * Select AI agents to handle tasks in the AI Connector utility. See [AI Connector utility](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=vad-ai-connector-utility&family=yokohama&ft:locale=en-US), [Managing AI agents](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=managing-use-cases-ai-agents&family=yokohama&ft:locale=en-US), and [Using AI agents in Virtual Agent topics](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=ai-agent-custom-skill&family=yokohama&ft:locale=en-US) for more information. [Yokohama Patch 1](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=yokohama-patch-1&family=yokohama&ft:locale=en-US) * Enhance the user experience with Microsoft Teams response message streaming capability. [Yokohama Early Availability](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=yokohama-security-notables&family=yokohama&ft:locale=en-US) * Enhance the overall voice-based chat experience in Conversational IVR with Now Assist. * Generate synthesized responses in Slack conversations with Now Assist. * Generate synthesized responses in Microsoft Teams conversations with Now Assist. * View custom skills in Virtual Agent Designer. See [Virtual Agent](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=virtual-agent-landing-page&family=yokohama&ft:locale=en-US) for more information. |
| Zurich | [Zurich Patch 13](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=zurich-patch-13&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US) * Use automated evaluations to test your conversational assistant. [Zurich Patch 12](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=zurich-patch-12&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US) * ServiceNow Otto is the new AI experience brand. This change is reflected in the name of ServiceNow products, including ServiceNow Otto for Virtual Agent and ServiceNow Otto panel. Your product entitlements remain unchanged. Check your entitlements to determine your access to specific features. [Zurich Patch 4](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=zurich-patch-4&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US) * Create and manage LLM-based chat and voice assistants within Assistant Designer, a centralized assistant administrator experience. * [Assistant Designer Asset library](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=vad-topics-page&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US): * View an updated UI for Virtual Agent Designer topics in the new Assistant Designer Asset library page. * Navigate between Assistants, Asset library, and Analytics tabs in the Assistant Designer UI. * Disconnect an LLM Assistant from a given asset with the Actions on Row icon in the Asset library. * See descriptions of each LLM asset type when selecting Create asset in the Asset library. * Read a tooltip that appears when you edit an LLM assistant under the Assistans tab and try to promote more than 6 topics associated with an LLM assistant. [Zurich Patch 1](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=zurich-patch-1&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US) * Google Workspace chat now works with the ServiceNow® conversational interface features, including Virtual Agent, Natural Language Understanding (NLU), Notifications, and live agents. * Start the create flow for all supported conversational assets directly from Virtual Agent Designer. See [Virtual Agent](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=virtual-agent-landing-page&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US) for more information. |
| Australia | [Australia Patch 7](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=australia-patch-7&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) * Use automated evaluations to test your conversational assistant. [Australia Patch 6](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=australia-patch-6&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) * Embed the enhanced chat widget on third-party websites. [Australia Patch 5](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=australia-patch-5&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) * ServiceNow Otto is the new AI experience brand. This change is reflected in the name of ServiceNow products, including ServiceNow Otto for Virtual Agent and ServiceNow Otto panel. Your product entitlements remain unchanged. Check your entitlements to determine your access to specific features. [Australia Patch 4](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=australia-patch-4&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) * Prompts help users ask better questions and get more accurate answers. Admins can turn prompt library on or off and further configure the default recommended prompts for users. See [Virtual Agent](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=virtual-agent-landing-page&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) for more information. |
[ ]

*[\>]: and then