OpenFrame overview

Release version: Yokohama

Updated January 30, 2025

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Summary of OpenFrame overview

OpenFrame is a communication interface designed for customer service agents to place and receive calls within the ServiceNow AI Platform®. It integrates telephony systems with ServiceNow, enabling agents to manage phone interactions directly from the platform. Access to OpenFrame is role-based, available to users in specified groups with roles such assnopenframeuser,sncustomerserviceagent,sncustomerservice.consumeragent, oradmin.

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Key Features

Integration Components: OpenFrame consists of the TopFrame ServiceNow application and the OpenFrame API, which facilitates communication and control of visual features. The API is accessible via a minified JavaScript file hosted on the ServiceNow instance.
Softphone Integration: To embed third-party telephony services (softphones), customers must whitelist telephony service URLs in system properties, ensuring secure cross-origin iframe communication.
Contextual Call Management: Incoming calls automatically maximize the OpenFrame window, displaying caller details such as account, contact, or consumer information. Agents can link calls to ServiceNow records for efficient case handling.
Select-to-Call Capability: Agents can initiate calls by clicking phone number fields within Agent Workspace or the platform interface. If multiple numbers exist for a contact, a selection dialog appears.
Window Controls: The OpenFrame window supports opening, hiding, expanding/collapsing (configurable), and moving. It stays on top of other forms until hidden, ensuring constant accessibility during calls.
CSM Configurable Workspace Integration: OpenFrame can be integrated with the Interaction Management System (IMS) to support the full phone interaction lifecycle. It also supports native voice control capabilities via the Interaction Controls Component (ICC) plugin for contact center voice channel management.
Configurable Settings: Administrators can create or modify OpenFrame configurations to define window dimensions, header icons and titles, and assign user/group access permissions.

Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

Enables seamless telephony integration within ServiceNow, improving agent efficiency by consolidating call handling and case management in one interface.
Supports contextual awareness by automatically linking calls to relevant customer records, enhancing customer service quality and speed.
Provides flexible window management and user access controls to tailor the telephony experience to organizational needs.
Facilitates secure integration of third-party telephony services with proper system property configurations, maintaining platform security.
Enhances customer service management through integration with IMS and voice control capabilities, allowing comprehensive interaction lifecycle management.

OpenFrame provides a communication frame that customer service agents use to place and receive customer calls.

OpenFrame user roles

The OpenFrame window is available to agents who belong to one of the user groups specified in the OpenFrame configuration, and with any of the following roles:

sn_openframe_user
sn_customerservice_agent
sn_customerservice.consumer_agent
admin

About OpenFrame

Use OpenFrame to integrate telephony systems into the ServiceNow AI Platform®. Use the OpenFrame API to communicate between the ServiceNow AI Platform and the domain opened in the OpenFrame window.

OpenFrame includes these components:

TopFrame, a ServiceNow application.
OpenFrame API, which gets sourced from the partner application. This API communicates with TopFrame and controls the OpenFrame visual features.
The location of the API is https://[servicenow instance]/scripts/openframe/1.0.5/openFrameAPI.min.js. This minified version includes other needed libraries and should be used for integration.

For API reference, you can use the unminified version: https://[servicenow instance]/scripts/openframe/1.0.5/openFrameAPI.js. This version can’t be used directly for integration purposes.

Note:

To stay current with reference to the OpenFrame library, use the following resource URI: https://[servicenow instance]/scripts/openframe/latest/openFrameAPI.min.js.
To integrate softphone into the ServiceNow AI Platform using OpenFrame, add the third-party URLs of telephony services in the following property: glide.ui.concourse.onmessage_enforce_same_origin_whitelist. For more information see, Available system properties, and Enable URL allow list for cross-origin iframe communication in Instance Security Hardening Settings.

Using the OpenFrame window

OpenFrame provides support for embedded and contextual phone conversations, including:

Context identification: Incoming calls maximize the OpenFrame window and display details about the caller, including the account, contact or consumer name, and phone number.
Links to forms: Use the openFrameAPI (openServiceNowForm) to create links to forms. When an incoming call is received, an agent can select the account, contact, consumer, or case number in the OpenFrame window to open the corresponding record.
- In Agent Workspace, records open in either a primary tab or a subtab depending on the tab configuration.
- In the platform interface, records open in TopFrame (that is, the current page).
Select-to-call capability: Click phone number fields to make a call.
- In Agent Workspace, agents can select phone number fields on forms and in the Customer 360 ribbon component to make a call.
- In the platform interface, agents can select the phone icon next to the Contact or Consumer fields.
  - If a contact or consumer has one phone number, the call is placed to that number.
  - If a contact or consumer has more than one phone number, a dialog box displays the available numbers. Select a number to place the call.

OpenFrame window actions:

Table 1. OpenFrame window actions
User action	Description
Open the window	In Agent Workspace, select the phone icon: In the navigation bar. Next to the Contact or Consumer fields on the Case form. In the platform interface, select the phone icon: In the banner frame. Next to the Contact or Consumer fields on the Case form. With the admin role, you can configure the phone icon. For more information, see CTI integration with the Case form.
Hide the window	Select the X in the OpenFrame window header. Note: The OpenFrame window remains on top of other forms or pages until hidden.
Expand or collapse the window	Select the + / – buttons in the OpenFrame window header (if Enable collapsed view is set to True in the OpenFrame configuration). Note: When collapsed, agents can still access call control actions.
Move the window	Select and drag the OpenFrame window header.

Using OpenFrame in CSM Configurable Workspace

In the CSM Configurable Workspace, you can:

Integrate OpenFrame with the Interaction Management System (IMS) and interaction records. This enables agents to manage the phone interaction life cycle. For more information, see Integration with Interaction Management System (IMS).
Use the native voice control capability from the Interaction Controls Component (ICC) plugin to integrate to the contact center voicechannel. You would need to be enable this in the CSM Configurable Workspace to manage the voice channel. For more information, see Interaction Controls Component and Interaction Controls Component (ICC) call interaction features.

Creating an OpenFrame configuration

With the admin role, you can create or modify an OpenFrame configuration. This configuration stores information about the OpenFrame window settings, including:

The window height and width.
The icon, title, and subtitle displayed in the window header.
Users and groups that have access to the window.