Schedule periods

  • Release version: Xanadu
  • Updated August 1, 2024
  • 2 minutes to read
    • Summarize
    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 Schedule periods

    Schedule periods in ServiceNow define how often users can receive new survey instances. The available schedule periods areOnly Once,No Limit(default),Daily,Weekly,Monthly, andYearly. Setting a schedule period (other than Only Once or No Limit) triggers the creation of a scheduled job that manages survey instance generation and enforcement.

    Show full answer Show less

    Key Features

    • Scheduled jobs: Automatically created for schedule periods other than Only Once and No Limit; these jobs generate new survey instances at the start of each schedule period.
    • One survey instance per user per schedule period: The system prevents users from receiving multiple survey instances within the same period.
    • Survey instance expiration: The Expiration date field on each survey instance enforces schedule periods by preventing new instances until the current one expires.
    • Automatic expiration dates: When a survey instance is generated, the expiration date is set according to the schedule period (e.g., one week after generation for Weekly).
    • Schedule period changes: Changing the schedule period updates the scheduled job accordingly, but existing survey instances must expire before new ones are sent to users.
    • Trigger conditions: If survey trigger conditions are used, the schedule period must be set to No Limit, as triggers regulate survey delivery differently.

    Key Outcomes

    By configuring schedule periods, ServiceNow customers can control the frequency at which users receive surveys, ensuring no duplicate survey instances within defined intervals. This helps maintain survey relevance, avoids over-surveying users, and automates survey distribution without manual intervention. Additionally, understanding the interaction between schedule periods and trigger conditions prevents configuration conflicts and ensures proper survey delivery.

    The available schedule periods are Only Once, No Limit, Daily, Weekly, Monthly, and Yearly.

    The default schedule period is No Limit. When you set the schedule period to anything except Only Once or No Limit, the system creates a corresponding scheduled job. The scheduled job performs the following actions.
    • Ensures that a user can take one survey instance of the same survey per schedule period.
    • Generates a new survey instance for each survey user at the beginning of the new schedule period, as long as the survey user does not have an incomplete instance of that survey. A survey instance is incomplete if the state is not Complete.

    For example, if you set the schedule period to Monthly and someone attempts to send survey invitations twice in the same day, the system generates survey instances for the survey users the first time only. At the beginning of the next schedule period, the system generates another survey instance for each survey user who completed the previous one.

    Schedule periods are enforced by the Expiration date field on the survey instance. As long as the survey instance expiration date has not passed, the assigned user cannot receive a new survey instance. When the system generates a survey instance and the schedule period is anything except No Limit, the Expiration date field is automatically set to the appropriate date. For example, if the schedule period is Weekly, the expiration date is a week after the survey instance is generated.

    If you change the schedule period, the scheduled job updates automatically to the correct schedule. However, users who have survey instances for the survey cannot receive new survey instances until their existing survey instances expire, regardless of the new schedule period.

    Consider the following example: Sal Pindell receives a survey instance when the schedule period is Weekly. The next day, a survey administrator changes the schedule period to No Limit. Sal cannot receive another survey instance until one of the following actions occurs.
    • Seven days pass from the time Sal's survey instance was generated.
    • A survey administrator deletes Sal's survey instance.

    After one of these actions occurs, Sal can receive a new survey instance anytime, as long as he has no incomplete instances of the survey.

    Note:
    If you use a trigger condition for a survey, ensure the schedule period is set to No Limit. Trigger conditions use a different method to regulate how often users can receive survey instances.