Consolidated page of all release notes for Employee Center from Yokohama to Australia.
How to use this page
To help you prepare for your upgrade, we have combined the cross-family Employee Center 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 Employee Center to Australia
Before you upgrade to Australia, review these pre- and post-upgrade tasks and complete the tasks as needed.
| Release |
Release notes |
Yokohama |
No updates for this release. |
Zurich |
No updates for this release. |
Australia |
The Australia release introduces enhanced protections for read‑only fields across the ServiceNow AI Platform®. These changes include a new “read_only_option” field with granular control levels, including “strict_read_only” and “client_script_modifiable". The changes occur in the back end and maintain
backward‑compatible behavior. This update helps strengthen your instance security while preserving the flexibility you need. Refer to KB2718122 for additional technical details on how to identify affected fields and adjust their settings. For more information about granular read-only security options, see Configuring read-only security options.
|
New features
Between your current release family and Australia, new features were introduced for Employee Center.
| Release |
Release notes |
Yokohama |
- Favoriting topic pages
- Enable one-click access for employees to their most frequently accessed topics through topic pages added to the Favorites widget.
- Single-click taxonomy sync
- Sync taxonomy updates across Advanced Portal Navigation hierarchy levels with one click.
- Guided Self-Service enhancements
-
- Admins can provide more detailed answers or guidance to a Guided Self-Service response by adding rich media, including images and videos and formatted text.
- Employees can review and edit their previous responses.
- Employees can search for and discover Guided Self-Service processes using AI-powered search.
- Enhanced apps discovery and visibility preferences (Employee Center Pro)
- Employees can search for authorized work applications using the AI-powered global search bar.
- Appointment booking with HR representative (Employee Center Pro)
- Employees can schedule in-person or virtual appointments to get help through a quick link in the Mega Menu or Quick links widget.
- Rich Content Editor updates (Employee Center Pro)
- Build more visually engaging content in microsites and news through additional formatting elements including bulleted and numbered lists, table
or grid layouts, and accordion lists.
- Portal shortcuts for content authoring (Employee Center Pro)
- Content authors can now easily edit or create news articles and banners using shortcuts in the Content Experiences or News widgets. The system auto-generates publishing plans, streamlining content delivery to the selected
widget and reducing the effort needed for configuration.
- Integrated experience and service feedback (Employee Center Pro)
-
- Set a rating threshold that automatically generates a feedback task.
- Receive feedback tasks from negative feedback submitted through Now Mobile®.
- Receive automated email notifications when feedback tasks are completed.
- Track your feedback responses through the Feedback Analytics dashboard for portal, email, Virtual Agent, kiosks, and Now Mobile®.
- Live company events hosting and communications framework (Employee Center Pro)
- Live company events can now be hosted directly in the Employee Center Pro portal, with prebuilt configurations to streamline the pre-event communications and handle traffic surges. Content authors can easily create and share
event content using the drag-and-drop Rich Content Editor, combined with mass-publishing capabilities similar to news articles.
- Improved topic search ranking
- The Topic content search widget now ranks topics based on user clicks, improving the relevance of search results and making it easier for employees to find their frequently used topics.
- Quick start tests for Employee Center
-
After upgrades and deployments of new applications or integrations, run quick start tests to verify that Employee Center works as expected. If you customized Employee Center, copy the quick start tests and configure them for your customizations.
|
Zurich |
Zurich Early Availability
-
Now Assist for Employee Experience plugin
- Enable employees to resolve and approve tasks easily through chat conversation using the Now Assist for Employee Experience plugin with Now Assist in Virtual Agent.
- Browser Extension for Employee Center
- View and manage content and other company resources through the Browser Extension for Employee Center. Access the extension as a pop-up window, or select the Browser Extension for Employee Center icon on the portal to open it in a new page.
- Enhanced Requests Experience
- Enhance the My Requests experience with features like easy segmentation, filtering, and keyword search. These features create a dynamic and scalable experience on the Employee Center portal for your admins, service, process, and experience owners.
- Portal performance optimization
- Control how your portal pages load, such as all at once or as needed, by using the new deferred and lazy load preferences. Lazy loading is enabled by default and displays content dynamically, reducing page load time.
- High-traffic experience
- Communicate the information about heavy usage and slower network conditions during high usage scenarios, such as live events and major announcements.
- Taxonomy and connected content
- Streamline the cleanup and syncing of outdated or invalid content, helping admins maintain a high-quality, well-performing portal with less manual effort.
-
Mega menu load
- Load the Mega Menu in the background to speed up home page interactivity and enable your users to engage with visible content faster during first-time visits.
- Notifications for Employee Center enhancements
- Get Notifications for Employee Center in Content engagement that is available with Employee Center Pro. For more information, see Employee Center Pro release notes.
- Quick start tests for Employee Center
-
After upgrades and deployments of new applications or integrations, run quick start tests to verify that Employee Center works as expected. If you customized Employee Center, copy the quick start tests and configure them for your customizations.
|
Australia |
- Simplified Navigation
- Simplify how employees move through Employee Center by providing a modern, left‑aligned, one‑level navigation that reduces cognitive load and adapts seamlessly across desktop and mobile.
- Approve your requests with AI Agent
- Accelerate request approvals by automatically aggregating relevant details, validating requests against policies, and recommending approval decisions to managers.
- Configure widget heading levels for accessibility
- Improve accessibility by allowing admins to configure widget heading levels (H1–H6) to meet organizational standards and support
technologies.
- Enhanced Requests Experience
- Improve the Enhanced Requests Experience functionality by enabling specific tabs created for specific filters. Help employees find relevant requests faster while giving admins, experience owners, and service owners greater control over
curating page design for specific purposes.
- Moveworks for Employee Center
-
Empower employees with Moveworks for Employee Center and its AI-powered conversational support. Using the Moveworks embedded AI assistant plugin, your employees can ask questions, get instant answers, and complete tasks
end-to-end from Employee Center and Employee Center Pro.
- Quick start tests for Employee Center
-
After upgrades and deployments of new applications or integrations, run quick start tests to verify that Employee Center works as expected. If you customized Employee Center, copy the quick start tests and configure them for your customizations.
|
Changes
Between your current release family and Australia, some changes were made to existing Employee Center features.
| Release |
Release notes |
Yokohama |
No updates for this release. |
Zurich |
No updates for this release. |
Australia |
No updates for this release. |
Removed
Between your current release family and Australia, some Employee Center features or functionality were removed.
| 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 Employee Center features or functionality were deprecated.
| Release |
Release notes |
Yokohama |
No updates for this release. |
Zurich |
No updates for this release. |
Australia |
No updates for this release. |
Activation information
Review information on how to activate Employee Center.
| Release |
Release notes |
Yokohama |
Install the Employee Center plugin by requesting it from the ServiceNow Store. Visit the ServiceNow Store website to view all the available apps and for information about submitting requests to the store. For cumulative release notes information for all released apps, see the ServiceNow Store version history release notes.
|
Zurich |
Install Employee Center by requesting it from the ServiceNow Store.
|
Australia |
Install Employee Center by requesting it from the ServiceNow Store. Visit the ServiceNow Store to view all the available apps, and for information about submitting requests to the store. For cumulative release notes information for all released apps, see the ServiceNow Store version history release notes.
|
Additional requirements
If any additional requirements were introduced or changed for Employee Center we have noted them here.
| 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 Employee Center we have noted them here.
| Release |
Release notes |
Yokohama |
No updates for this release. |
Zurich |
The Browser Extension for Employee Center is only available with Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge browsers.
|
Australia |
No updates for this release. |
Accessibility information
Review details on accessibility information for Employee Center, such as specific requirements or compliance levels.
| Release |
Release notes |
Yokohama |
No updates for this release. |
Zurich |
No updates for this release. |
Australia |
Improve accessibility by allowing admins to configure widget heading levels (H1–H6) to meet organizational standards and support technologies. Clear heading hierarchies improve navigation for
screen reader and keyboard users.
|
Localization information
If there are specific localization considerations for Employee Center we have noted them here.
| Release |
Release notes |
Yokohama |
No updates for this release. |
Zurich |
No updates for this release. |
Australia |
No updates for this release. |
Highlight information
If there are specific highlight considerations for Employee Center we have noted them here.
| Release |
Release notes |
Yokohama |
- Resolve tasks created from submitted negative feedback with the Integrated experience and service feedback functionality.
- Enable employees to seek assistance through virtual or in-person appointments, or by joining walk-up queues for immediate support.
- Host live company events seamlessly in the employee portal with streamlined pre-event communications and a drag-and-drop editor for easy content creation.
See Employee Center for more information.
|
Zurich |
Zurich Patch 1
- Enable employees to check their latest company news and upcoming events using Now Assist in Virtual Agent with the Company News & Events AI Agent in the Now Assist for Employee Experience. The AI Agent displays a list of all the latest news and planned events in the company. For more information, see Check latest company news and events.
- Employees can check all their to-do tasks and pending approvals using Now Assist in Virtual Agent for Microsoft Teams.
- Enable a summary of the request, requested item, or case for approval task using Now Assist for Employee Experience. The skill provides a summary of the selected item from the available list that you want to work on. For more information, see Now Assist for Employee Experience Summarization skill.
Zurich Early Availability
- Use the Now Assist for Employee Experience application so that your employees can have a seamless conversational interaction with Now Assist in Virtual Agent.
- View and manage content and other company resources through the Browser Extension for Employee Center.
- Improve the My Requests experience with adoptive and scalable enhancements.
See Employee Center for more information.
|
Australia |
- Add editable, tab-specific filters to the Enhanced Requests Experience functionality on the Employee Center portal to make searching and managing requests more streamlined.
- Enable employees to check their latest company news and upcoming events using Now Assist in Virtual Agent with the Company News & Events AI Agent in the Now Assist for Employee Experience. The AI Agent displays a list of all the latest news and planned events in the company.
- Employees can check all their to-do tasks and pending approvals using Now Assist in Virtual Agent for Microsoft Teams.
- Add granular admin roles to create an Employee profile.
- Simplify how employees move through by providing a modern, left‑aligned, one‑level navigation that reduces cognitive load and adapts seamlessly across desktop and mobile.
- Improve accessibility by allowing admins to configure widget heading levels (H1–H6) to meet organizational standards and support technologies.
See Employee Center for more information.
|