Combined Field Service Management release notes for upgrades from Zurich to Australia
Summarize
Summary of Combined Field Service Management Release Notes for Upgrades from Zurich to Australia
This consolidated release note provides essential information for ServiceNow customers upgrading Field Service Management (FSM) from the Zurich to the Australia release. It highlights pre-upgrade considerations, new features, changes, deprecations, and operational guidance to help customers optimize their FSM environments effectively during the upgrade process.
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Important Upgrade Information
- Google Maps APIs: As of March 1, 2025, legacy Google Places, Directions, and Distance Matrix APIs are deprecated. FSM in Zurich and later uses the new Places API and Routes API. Customers must enable these new APIs in Google Cloud Platform to avoid disruptions.
- Several FSM applications and plugins have been migrated to the ServiceNow Store starting with Australia release. Upgrading to Australia or later automatically installs these store applications, which will receive future enhancements.
- Field Service Management remains an active, default feature on the ServiceNow AI Platform with no additional activation required.
New Features and Enhancements
Dispatcher Workspace
- Support for multiple time zones displayed simultaneously with segmented indicators on the map.
- Enhanced task management including quick access to tasks from the task panel, flagging multiple tasks, live traffic overlays on maps, and an overtime indicator on calendars.
- Customizable popover fields on calendar, map, and task panels improve dispatcher visibility and decision-making.
- Improved task editing and note/comment addition directly from the workspace.
Field Service Manager Mobile
- Enables managers to perform FSM tasks remotely such as managing technicians, creating work order tasks, personal events, and viewing analytics.
Schedule Optimization
- Immediate schedule adjustments for in-day events (e.g., priority tasks, cancellations, PTO, delays).
- Detailed optimization run summaries showing objectives, constraints, unassigned tasks, and applied rules for transparency.
- Ability to enable or disable third-party map provider integrations.
- Enhanced task scheduling accuracy through configurable buffers, matching rules for prioritized events, and task group splitting for high-volume processing.
Appointment Booking
- Advanced task dependency types for precise sequencing and scheduling visualizations supporting dispatchers and technicians.
- Configurable appointment radius at the territory level with extension points for custom logic based on geographic diversity.
- Support for overbooking in emergencies or priority cases, holiday-aware slot configurations, and guaranteed slot availability during booking.
- Appointment availability can be determined via territory and demand channel mappings even without contact or location details.
Capacity and Reservations Management
- Technician associations with demand channels can be modeled on a recurring, time-bound basis to reflect complex scheduling patterns such as union rules and part-time shifts.
- Filtering of agents by demand channel during scheduling and appointment booking calculations based on agent recurrence.
Smart Assessment and AI Enhancements
- Smart Assessment templates support versioning for question modifications without affecting completed or cancelled assessments.
- Mobile camera integration for automatic form filling using AI-powered image recognition reduces manual data entry.
- Work summary reports now include smart assessment responses and scoring at the work order task level.
Other Notable Features
- ServiceNow AI Platform introduces three AI licensing tiers—Foundation, Advanced, and Prime—offering scalable AI capabilities in FSM.
- ServiceNow Otto integration enables shift management through conversational interfaces.
- New query range Access Control Lists (ACLs) prevent data inference, enhancing security by default on key FSM-related tables.
Changes and Deprecations
- Non-collapsed mode in Dispatcher Workspace is deprecated; dispatchers must use collapsed mode.
- The capacity constraint for Schedule Optimization is deprecated and no longer applied.
- Google Maps legacy APIs cannot generate new keys; new API keys require compatible ServiceNow release versions.
- Several FSM plugins have transitioned to store applications, requiring customers to manage updates via the ServiceNow Store.
Practical Implications for ServiceNow Customers
- Prepare for upgrade by enabling new Google APIs and reviewing plugin migrations to the ServiceNow Store to maintain continuity and access the latest features.
- Leverage the enhanced Dispatcher Workspace and mobile capabilities to increase operational efficiency and field technician management.
- Utilize the improved Schedule Optimization and Appointment Booking features to boost scheduling accuracy, responsiveness to real-time changes, and appointment flexibility.
- Adopt AI-powered Smart Assessments and mobile form auto-fill to reduce technician workload and improve data accuracy.
- Monitor and secure FSM data with new ACLs and adjust scheduling constraints according to deprecated features.
Consolidated page of all release notes for Field Service Management from Zurich to Australia.
How to use this page
To help you prepare for your upgrade, we have combined the cross-family Field Service Management release notes onto one page. Read this summary of the new features, changes, and updated information for your product from Zurich to Australia.
Important information for upgrading Field Service Management to Australia
Before you upgrade to Australia, review these pre- and post-upgrade tasks and complete the tasks as needed.
| Release | Release notes |
|---|---|
Zurich |
Effective March 1, 2025, the Google Places API, Directions API, and Distance Matrix API have been designated as legacy services. The newer versions of these services are Places API (New) and Routes API. Google Maps APIs for Field Service capabilities uses the latest version of the APIs in the Zurich release and Dispatcher Workspace version 8.0. To help avoid issues with the Google Maps APIs, enable Places API (New) and Routes API from Google Cloud Platform Console. |
Australia |
No updates for this release. |
New features
Between your current release family and Australia, new features were introduced for Field Service Management.
| Release | Release notes |
|---|---|
Zurich |
|
Australia |
|
Changes
Between your current release family and Australia, some changes were made to existing Field Service Management features.
| Release | Release notes |
|---|---|
Zurich |
|
Australia |
|
Removed
Between your current release family and Australia, some Field Service Management features or functionality were removed.
| Release | Release notes |
|---|---|
Zurich |
No updates for this release. |
Australia |
No updates for this release. |
Deprecations
Between your current release family and Australia, some Field Service Management features or functionality were deprecated.
| Release | Release notes |
|---|---|
Zurich |
|
Australia |
No updates for this release. |
Activation information
Review information on how to activate Field Service Management.
| Release | Release notes |
|---|---|
Zurich |
Field Service Management is a ServiceNow AI Platform feature that is active by default. |
Australia |
Field Service Management is a ServiceNow AI Platform feature that is active by default. |
Additional requirements
If any additional requirements were introduced or changed for Field Service Management we have noted them here.
| Release | Release notes |
|---|---|
Zurich |
No updates for this release. |
Australia |
No updates for this release. |
Browser requirements
If any specific browser requirements were introduced or changed for Field Service Management we have noted them here.
| Release | Release notes |
|---|---|
Zurich |
No updates for this release. |
Australia |
No updates for this release. |
Accessibility information
Review details on accessibility information for Field Service Management, such as specific requirements or compliance levels.
| Release | Release notes |
|---|---|
Zurich |
No updates for this release. |
Australia |
No updates for this release. |
Localization information
If there are specific localization considerations for Field Service Management we have noted them here.
| Release | Release notes |
|---|---|
Zurich |
No updates for this release. |
Australia |
No updates for this release. |
Highlight information
If there are specific highlight considerations for Field Service Management we have noted them here.
| Release | Release notes |
|---|---|
Zurich |
See Field Service Management for more information. |
Australia |
See Field Service Management for more information. |