--- sourceDocument: Australia IT Service Management sourceDocumentLink: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/it-service-management Release : - australia ft:locale : - en-US ft:publication_title : - Australia IT Service Management ft:clusterId : - itsm bundleId : - itsm workflow : - Technology --- # On-Call Scheduling in Service Operations Workspace # On-Call Scheduling in Service Operations Workspace {#ariaid-title1} Release version: Australia Updated August 25, 2026 ![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 2 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 On-Call Scheduling in Service Operations Workspace On-Call Scheduling in Service Operations Workspace (SOW) enables agents, Shift Managers, and On-call Admins to efficiently view and manage on-call shifts and schedules. It supports absence requests, shift coverage proposals, and notification preferences for timely incident response. The feature helps ensure accountability and clear communication within teams during critical alerts or incidents. Show full answer Show less ## Key Features * **Schedules Menu:** Access and manage your and peers' on-call schedules and shifts in customizable calendar or timeline views filtered by groups or time zones. * **Notification Preferences:** Define personal escalation notification rules and delivery channels to receive timely alerts. * **Teams Management:** View and manage team schedules, add or edit team members and contact information, and create shifts to ensure proper incident response coverage. * **Escalation Policies and Trigger Rules:** Assign escalation rules and notification preferences to teams for structured incident escalation and accountability. * **On-Call Team Preferences:** Configure shift preferences, including shift managers, start day of the week, absence request handling, shift overlaps, and escalation rules. * **On-Call Onboarding Wizard:** Available for users with the rotaadmin role to configure schedules for multiple teams efficiently. * **Contextual Side Panel:** Access on-call schedules directly from incident records, contact recommended subject matter experts, and track on-call escalations dynamically. ## Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers * Streamlines scheduling and management of on-call shifts to ensure appropriate incident coverage. * Improves communication and accountability within support teams through clear escalation and notification policies. * Facilitates quick identification and contact of available on-call members to resolve incidents promptly. * Supports organizational flexibility by allowing configuration of shift preferences, escalation rules, and notification channels tailored to team needs. * Integrates with incident management workflows by providing on-call information contextually within Service Operations Workspace. Use On-Call Scheduling in Service Operations Workspace to view and manage your shifts and schedules. ## On-Call Scheduling overview {#on-call-scheduling-in-sow__section_up4_nj2_vzb} 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.{#on-call-scheduling-in-sow__p_ffm_jf2_qbc} 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 {#on-call-scheduling-in-sow__section_tmt_rkj_11c} Use the Schedules menu on the home page to access On-Call Scheduling in Service Operations Workspace. ## On-call Schedules tab {#on-call-scheduling-in-sow__section_v52_2lj_11c} 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-call-scheduling-in-sow__section_ukd_tmj_11c} 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 {#on-call-scheduling-in-sow__section_tfx_b4k_21c} 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. The Teams page provides an on-call onboarding wizard to configure on-call schedules for multiple teams simultaneously. Users with the rota_admin role can access this wizard. For more information, see [Create on-call schedules for multiple groups](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/RBrU9BVHlKxSiZgIkdtGjQ "Use the on-call onboarding utility to create schedules for many groups at once instead of configuring each group individually. The On-Call Onboarding wizard helps you create on-call schedules for multiple teams by mapping shift templates, uploading a roster spreadsheet, and optionally configuring escalation policies."). ## Contextual side panel {#on-call-scheduling-in-sow__section_pwm_tnj_11c} 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. * **[Configuring On-Call Scheduling in Service Operations Workspace](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/HeOk2BwHtfoBnzGoUZ8Mfw)** Configure On-Call Scheduling in Service Operations Workspace (SOW) to schedule and manage work shifts and meet your organizational needs. * **[Scheduling in service operation workspace](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/aZskVHOfSXk240ppub1A0g)** View and manage schedules, shifts and time-off request. * **[On-call support for an incident in Service Operations Workspace](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/V9q~0p1iqMI02FdjY4lRog#on-call-sow)** You can identify available on-call members of a support group and contact them to resolve an issue. **Related concepts** * [Knowledge Management in Service Operations Workspace](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/OjGC_chJF1qqEzAJ8UMkkA "Knowledge articles provide agents with information such as self-help, troubleshooting, and task resolution.") * [Major Incident Management in Service Operations Workspace](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/9f4I6JcGUMI0Txrw8VjrDg "Create and manage major incidents in Service Operations Workspace.") * [Problem Management in Service Operations Workspace](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/Sf~FTcIFiJsZ1CLFCjg2aA "When you have recurring incidents or a major incident, you can create a problem to identify the root cause of the incidents and help prevent them from happening again. Use Service Operations Workspace to manage problems through their life cycle, share workarounds or fixes with related incidents, and create known error articles to help deflect incidents.") * [Recommendation Framework in Service Operations Workspace](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/9w4yBpL3jfpYS7dkcZnoWw "An agent can view dynamic and contextual recommendations and perform a relevant action.") * [Recommended Actions for ITSM in Service Operations Workspace](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/LGd8rCr4QXw7BGGrFEn5eQ "Get guidance-based or field-level recommendations for records in Service Operations Workspace.") * [ServiceNow integrations with Microsoft Teams in Service Operations Workspace](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/puUY2qNsBN2fbUcJ_X7Umg "You can create a connected experience for users in Service Operations Workspace through ServiceNow integrations with Microsoft Teams.") * [Service Level Management in Service Operations Workspace](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/Np4kt4ICCOOHv7faOGTHMg#slm-sow "You can access the service level agreement (SLA) information for an incident on the Service Operations Workspace landing page and incident record page.") * [Walk-up Experience management in Service Operations Workspace](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/6Fvd85oK7qkjX8gOIGZe9w "Manage your Walk-up interactions and queues in Service Operations Workspace.") * [Collaboration in Service Operations Workspace](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/_lczuHrV~~LU5tdTEuP26Q "Communicate and collaborate in real time to resolve incidents by starting a chat or making conference calls with stakeholders.") * [Computer Telephony Integration in Service Operations Workspace](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/Xq1HMfZ2m2cdA4ka6aNCDw "Agents with the required role can receive inbound calls and place outbound calls in Service Operations Workspace using Computer Telephony Integration (CTI).") * [Universal Request in Service Operations Workspace](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/Bn56bee4wzGD_09YJ4go_w "The Universal Request is a task that a requester creates from any of the sources that include: Agent Workspace, Service Operations Workspace, or using a Virtual Agent chat.") * [Universal Task in Service Operations Workspace](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/w_HGu1H0AI0W06aboUL7XQ "Agents can use the Universal Task application to create tasks for employees and to manage the request resolution.") * [Resetting password using Service-desk assisted Password Reset in Service Operations Workspace](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/L5N_bJgEA3WK5ubGXHR2Nw "The Password Reset for Service Operations Workspace application enforces strong and secure passwords by enabling end users to reset or change their passwords by requesting the service desk agent.")