Input workflow activity

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  • Updated February 1, 2024
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    Summary of Input Workflow Activity

    The Input activity in ServiceNow creates a phone menu through a Notify call, allowing callers to select options via their phone keypad. This functionality enhances user interaction by providing a structured decision-making process through a series of menu options.

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    Key Features

    • Input Variables: Define initial behavior with variables such as maximum digits, finish key, timeout duration, and whether to use a custom script.
    • Advanced Scripting: Allows customization of the phone menu using a JavaScript object, specifying how menu options are presented, including audio and text-to-speech options.
    • Conditions: Set conditions to dictate the flow after the activity, which are triggered by the caller's input. Each condition has a maximum of 100 characters and can be localized using language codes.
    • Scratchpad Entries: Utilizes the workflow scratchpad to store values like the caller's input digits and the defined menu, which can be accessed by subsequent workflow activities.

    Key Outcomes

    By implementing the Input activity, ServiceNow customers can create interactive phone menus that improve caller experience and streamline processes. The ability to customize options and conditions ensures that the menus are versatile and meet specific business needs. Customers can expect enhanced caller engagement through clear, manageable choices and effective navigation of services.

    The Input activity creates a phone menu by presenting a list of options on a Notify call.

    Input Variables

    Input variables determine the initial behavior of the activity.

    Table 1. Input Variables
    Variable Description
    Number of digits Specify the maximum number of digits the caller can enter. A caller can enter fewer digits than the maximum and press the Finish key to complete the entry.
    Finish key Specify the key a caller can press on their phone when finished selecting a menu option.
    Timeout (in seconds) Specify the amount of time to wait before closing the menu automatically when the caller does not select a menu option.
    Advanced Select this check box to use a script to build the phone menu, instead of using the activity conditions.
    Script Define the script to build the phone menu. The script must specify an answer variable as a JavaScript object with the following format:
     answer = {
  “1": {
      “play”: “https://some_url.com/options/one.mp3“,
      “myCustomData”: “some data here”
  },
  “2”: {
      “play”: “https://some_url.com/options/two.mp3”,
      “myCustomData”: “some other data here”
  },
“3”: {
      “speak”: “type 3 to speak to a representative”,
      “language”: “en-US”,
      “myCustomData”: “some more data here”
  }
};

    The script may specify either a text-to-speech string and language code using the speak attribute or URL of the music to be played using the play attribute. You can also add optional attributes to store related information, such as myCustomData in the example above.

    Note:
    The script object continues to support say attribute for backward compatibility.

    Conditions

    The conditions determine the transition that comes after this activity.

    The input activity does not specify any conditions by default. You must define conditions to build the phone menu. Each condition is one option on the phone menu. Notify reads the text from each condition Name to the caller, up to 100 characters per condition.

    You can specify a language for each condition by prefixing the message with the language code, in the format xx-XX:<Message>. For example, add fr-CA: for Canadian French. Available languages are stored on the Notify Language [notify_language] table.

    The condition that the activity transitions through depends on the digits entered by the caller. Set the condition Condition value to parseInt(workflow.scratchpad.digits) == <expected digits>. For example, to transition through a condition when the caller presses the number 3, set the Condition to parseInt(workflow.scratchpad.digits) == 3.

    You can add an error condition to this activity. The activity transitions through the error condition if the advanced script returns an invalid value, or if the text to say for a condition is empty.

    Scratchpad Entries

    The activity uses the workflow scratchpad to write persistent values.

    Table 2. Values written to scratchpad
    Entry Description
    workflow.scratchpad.digits The digits entered by the caller, as a string.
    workflow.scratchpad.menu<activity name> The entire answer variable, if using the advanced script option. You can access this menu from other activities after this activity successfully executes.
    For example, if the activity name is choices, you can access values from the menu using
    var previousActivity = "choices";
var choicesMenu = workflow.scratchpad.menu[previousActivity];
var menuItem = choicesMenu[workflow.scratchpad.digits];  // Selects the menu item based on the caller's input.
var selectedValue = menuItem.myCustomData; //get the custom data for the selected menu item.