Self-service and omnichannel engagement for CSM release notes

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated January 30, 2025
  • 4 minutes to read
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    Summary of Self-service and Omnichannel Engagement for CSM Yokohama Release Notes

    The Yokohama release enhances ServiceNow® Customer Service Management (CSM) with advanced omnichannel and self-service capabilities. Customers can now engage using chat on self-service portals, consumer messaging apps, email, or phone, fostering seamless communication across multiple channels. These updates improve integration with third-party contact centers, streamline agent workflows, and enrich customer support experiences through new tools like the Business Portal and Email as an Interaction feature.

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    Key Features

    • Business Portal: Offers customers self-service options such as knowledge articles, service catalogs, case management, and Virtual Agent support, all configurable using low-code widgets to reduce maintenance efforts.
    • Email as an Interaction: Converts emails into tracked interactions linked to cases, preventing duplicate case creation and ensuring agents are promptly notified of customer responses.
    • Contact Center Integration Core: Enables administrators to import and synchronize data (queues, skills, wrap-up codes) from third-party Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) tools, ensuring accurate routing and consistent data across platforms.
    • Interaction Controls Component (ICC): Provides agents with native call control features (mute, hold, transfer) directly within Agent Workspace, enhancing workflow efficiency and consistency across channels. ICC supports consult and blind transfer options and integrates with CCaaS plugins.
    • OpenFrame Integration: Supports embedding the ICC interface with security and phone log capabilities within Agent Workspace.
    • Conversational SMS Integration: Connects ServiceNow SMS with AWS end-user messaging, enabling conversations with Now Virtual Agent and live agents for real-time customer support.
    • Email Interaction Page Enhancements: Adds a Contact card for quick customer info access and a Customer History tab to view previous interactions, facilitating context-rich email communication.
    • Now Assist in Virtual Agent: Delivers intelligent, multi-turn conversational experiences with synthesized search results from knowledge bases and catalog items, maintaining context throughout interactions.

    Activation and Compatibility

    Engagement Messenger, Playbooks for Portals, and Omnichannel applications must be installed via the ServiceNow Store. Internet Explorer is not supported, and customers should ensure use of compatible browsers.

    Related Applications

    • Field Service Management: Supports managing work orders, dispatching agents, and handling field operations linked to customer service cases.
    • Knowledge Management: Enables customers and agents to access shared knowledge content to facilitate case resolution.
    • IT Service Management Integrations: Allows creation of incident, problem, change, and request records from customer service cases, enhancing cross-application workflows.

    With ServiceNow® Omnichannel support, your customers can use chat on self-service portals or consumer messaging apps to connect with your organization, or connect using email or phone. ServiceNow® Omnichannel and self-service applications were enhanced and updated in the Yokohama release.

    Omnichannel and self-service highlights for the Yokohama release

    • Integrate with contact centers using Contact Center Integration Core to import data from a third party contact center as a service (CCaaS) application.
    • Better integrate with contact centers by adding call controls to Agent Workspace with Interaction Controls Component (ICC).
    • Enhance B2B customer support through ServiceNow® self-service capabilities with the new Business Portal.
    • Provide a consistent experience for agents handling omnichannel interactions through email interactions, which preserve the context for agents by associating the email conversation between the agent and the customer.
    • Improve contact center efficiency by helping avoid the creation of duplicate cases through the use of the Email as an Interaction feature.

    See Omnichannels for communicating with customers, Self-service for Customer Service Management, and Playbooks for Portals for more information.

    Important:
    Engagement Messenger, Playbooks for Portals, and Omnichannel applications are available in the ServiceNow Store. For details, see the "Activation information" section of these release notes.

    New in the Yokohama release

    Business Portal
    Support your customers through the Business Portal self-service capabilities, such as knowledge articles, service catalogs, case management, Virtual Agent, and others. Help reduce maintenance effort through low-code configurations on pages with configurable widgets.
    Email as an Interaction
    Enhance case management with the Email as an Interaction feature.
    • Transform emails into interactions, enabling customer communication to be tracked in a central location and help avoid unnecessary case creation.
    • Manage straightforward customer inquiries via email, create cases for more complex issues, or link emails to existing cases.
    • Notify agents on email responses received from customers.
    Contact Center Integration Core
    As an admin, import data automatically from a third-party contact center as a service (CCaaS) application to facilitate external routing and third-party telephony integration in their ServiceNow® instance.
    Note:
    The Contact Center Integration Core is a framework that includes voice call features, which doesn't work unless CCaaS implements it.
    • Import records such as queues, skills, and wrap-up codes from a third party into your ServiceNow instance.
    • Maintain data consistency between your ServiceNow instance and third-party systems. Verify that chats and cases are routed to the correct agent and that the correct wrap-up codes are available when dispositioning an interaction.
    Interaction Controls Component (ICC)
    As an agent, manage calls, such as muting, holding, and transferring, directly within the Configurable Workspace. As a part of the new Voice interaction page experience, the ICC framework helps improve workflow efficiency and promotes a consistent agent experience across all channels.
    Note:
    ICC must be integrated with your specific Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) plugin to establish the telephony connection.
    Connect customers with field agents or third-party support teams in the embedded call interface. Choose between the following transfer options:
    • Consult transfer: Share the call context with the external contact before transferring the customer.
    • Blind transfer: Immediately transfer the call to the external contact.
    OpenFrame Integration to Interaction Controls Component (ICC)
    ICC is a new component for a native call controls interface embedded in Agent Workspace. With the ICC component, you can do the following:
    • Create the state context in OpenFrame to read the state of idle and active call state, and the state of the transfer.
    • Provide iframe sandbox parameters to allow iframe access to security features and to enable additional iframe restrictions.
    • Create an extension point implementation to create and get phone log segments.
    Integrating Conversational SMS with AWS End User Messaging
    Integrate the ServiceNow SMS channel with AWS end-user messaging to engage in conversations with Now Virtual Agent and live agents to address and resolve any customer queries or issues.

    UI changes

    Using the email interaction page
    The following UI elements have been added to the Email Interaction page:
    • A Contact card to simplify the process of adding and viewing customer information.
    • A Customer History tab that displays the details of previous conversations between the customer and the agent.

    Changed in this release

    Using the email interaction page
    Manage and view customer-related information and past conversations while interacting with customers via email.
    Now Assist conversational experience in self-service portals
    Receive comprehensive and detailed answers with intelligent search and conversational experiences using Now Assist in Virtual Agent. The search results are synthesized from Knowledge Base articles, Virtual Agent articles, and catalog items with links to the sources. The agent retains conversation context across multi-turn questions, promoting continuity and relevance in responses.

    Activation information

    Install the Engagement Messenger, Playbook for Portals, and Omnichannel applications by requesting them from the ServiceNow Store. Visit the ServiceNow Store website to view all the available apps and for information about submitting requests to the store. For cumulative release notes information for all released apps, see the ServiceNow Store version history release notes.

    Browser requirements

    Internet Explorer isn't supported.

    Related ServiceNow applications and features

    Field Service Management
    The Field Service Management application helps you manage work orders and related tasks, resources, skills, assets, and locations. Assign work order tasks and dispatch agents to a customer location to perform field work.
    Knowledge Management
    From the Customer Service Portal and Consumer Service Portal, enable your customers to search for shared information using the ServiceNow® Knowledge Management application. Customer service agents can use knowledge content to help resolve cases.
    IT Service Management applications
    Customer Service Management includes integrations with the following ServiceNow® Service Management applications: Incident Management, Problem Management, Change Management, and Request Management. With these integrations, you can create incident, problem, change, and request records from customer service cases. Customers can also submit requests from the Customer Service Portal.