Workflow Activities for On-Call Scheduling

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated March 12, 2026
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    Summary of Workflow Activities for On-Call Scheduling

    This document outlines the workflow activities for On-Call Scheduling, specifically focusing on escalation processes. These activities help manage escalation incidents effectively by creating, logging, and tracking various escalation-related records and communications. Understanding these activities is vital for optimizing response times and ensuring proper notification procedures are followed during on-call scenarios.

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    Key Features

    • Log Escalation Start: Creates an escalation record with details such as group, task, and workflow information.
    • Log Escalation Level: Records the current level of escalation, allowing for tiered response management.
    • Log Escalation Attempt: Tracks each contact attempt made during the escalation, ensuring accountability.
    • Log Escalation Communication: Records the communication details sent to the escalatee, including the type and status of the communication.
    • Log Escalation End: Completes the escalation process by updating the escalation status.
    • Send Notification: Delivers notifications to current escalatees through various channels (SMS, voice, Slack, etc.).
    • Manage Escalation Response: Handles responses to escalations, allowing for updates and clean-up of escalation records.

    Key Outcomes

    By implementing these workflow activities, ServiceNow customers can expect improved management of on-call situations, ensuring that relevant personnel are notified promptly and efficiently. This structured approach aids in maintaining clear communication and accountability during escalations, ultimately leading to faster incident resolution and enhanced service reliability.

    Workflow activities in On-Call Scheduling workflows.

    Escalation workflow activities

    On-Call: Log Escalation Start

    Creates an escalation record based on group, task, and workflow details.

    Note:

    The escalation that the workflow creates the workflow.scratchpad.escalationSysId sys_id. Use the sys_id in any of the other workflow activities.

    Setting Description
    Group sys_id of the group that the escalation belongs to.
    Table Table name of the task record of the incident.
    Source sys_id of the task record on which the escalation happened.
    WorkflowDefinition sys_id of the workflow definition that is used to escalate.
    WorkflowContext sys_id of the workflow context.
    ParentEscalationLevelId sys_id of the parent escalation in the case that the escalation was triggered from another escalation.
    Category Category of the escalation. One of: [assign_by_acknowledgement, auto_assignment, notify_manual_assignmen,conferencing].
    Channels Comma-separated list of the channels used to communicate during the escalation. Any or all of: [email, sms, voice, slack]. For example, sms,email,voice
    IgnoreDefReminders If true, the workflow sends notification reminders as specified by the workflow, rather than as specified in On-Call Escalation settings. For example, in Conference On-Call escalations, the workflow might to dial the on-call members at one-minute intervals instead of the standard 15-minute intervals.
    On-Call: Log Escalation Level

    Creates an escalation level record given escalation and level details.

    Setting Description
    EscalationId sys_id of the escalation to which the level belongs.
    RotaId sys_id of the shift for which the escalation is happening.
    Level Current escalation level. For example, 2.
    Escalatee Escalatee object at current escalation level. For example, getEscalationPlan()[1].
    CatchAll True if the escalation level belongs to a catch-all.
    On-Call: Log Escalation Attempt

    Creates a Contact attempt record given an escalation, level, and attempt details.

    Setting Description
    EscalationId sys_id of the escalation to which the contact attempt belongs.
    RotaId sys_id of the shift for which the escalation is happening.
    Level Current escalation level. For example, 2.
    ContactAttempt Contact attempt number within the escalation level. For example, 1.
    On-Call: Log Escalation Communication

    Creates a communication record given escalation, level, attempt, and communication details.

    Setting Description
    EscalationId sys_id of the escalation to which the communication belongs.
    RotaId sys_id of the shift for which escalation is happening.
    Level Current escalation level. For example, 2.
    ContactAttempt Contact attempt number within the escalation level. For example, 1.
    EscalateeType Type of escalatee to whom the communication is sent. One of: [user,device]
    EscalateeId sys_id of the user or device, depending on escalatee type.
    CommType Type of communication. One of: [sms, voice, email, slack]
    CommValue Phone number or email address, depending on communication type. For example, abel.tuter@servicenow.com
    Status Status of the communication. One of: [sent, failed].
    Escalatee Escalatee object at current escalation level. For example, getEscalationPlan()[1].
    CatchAll True if the escalation level belongs to a catch-all.
    On-Call: Log Escalation End

    Completes the escalation by setting active flag to false.

    Setting Description
    EscalationId sys_id of the escalation.
    On-Call: Send Notification

    Sends notification to the current escalatee via voice, SMS, Slack, Microsoft Teams, or mobile push.

    Setting Description
    Notification type Type of notification. One of: [sms, voice, slack].
    Message Text of message to send to current escalatee if notification type is sms.
    Notification detail List of parameters that are required for a notification:
    • SMS: notify_number, users, groups, numbers
    • Voice: numberToCallFrom, numberToCall, user
    • Slack: slack user, taskId, catchAllOption, wFContextId
    • Microsoft Teams: user, taskId, catchAllOption, wFContextId
    • Mobile push: userSysId, tablename, recordSysId
    On-Call: Manage Escalation Response

    Manage an escalation response record (insert escalation record, clean escalation records, update response to an escalation). An escalation response record keeps track of a response received for an escalation through the SMS, voice, email, or Slack notification channels. An escalation response record is used to resume the On-Call: Assign by Acknowledgement workflow upon rejection of an escalation.

    Setting Description
    Workflow Context Workflow context ID.
    Escalatee Id UserID of the current escalatee.
    Table Name Table name of the task record. For example, incident.
    Current Record Id sys_id of the task record.
    Action Type Type of action. One of: [add,clean,update]
    Response Response by escalatee to an escalation. One of: [accepted,rejected]
    Example uses:
    • Insert (add) - Workflow Context, Escalatee ID, Table Name, Current Record ID
    • Clean - Workflow Context
    • Update - Escalatee ID, Table Name, Current Record ID, Response