Configuring the Customer History component

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated July 31, 2025
  • 5 minutes to read
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    Summary of Configuring the Customer History component

    The Customer History component in ServiceNow's Zurich release offers admins various configurable properties to optimize customer activity tracking and display across multiple record pages such as the Front-line case page and the CSM default record page. These configurations enhance user experience by automating refreshes, customizing titles and icons, improving layout design, and controlling data grouping and search functionality.

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    Key Features

    • Refresh Requested Property: Automatically refreshes the Customer History component and logs the last refresh timestamp. Admins can set custom event handlers to tailor refresh behavior on Front-line case and CSM default record pages via the UI Builder or Customer Central interface.
    • Customizable Header Title: Allows renaming the Customer History title directly from the component’s visibility settings on any page where it is used.
    • Show Bordered Icons: Enables toggling icon borders on or off, providing visual customization based on admin preference.
    • Page Design: Introduces a drag-and-drop interface in UI Builder for easy addition, positioning, and resizing of the Customer History component within page layouts without tab navigation.
    • Presets: Provides two new display presets for the Customer History component on the Front-line case page to manage how customer activity data is loaded and presented, helping ensure data fields are never left empty.
    • Empty State Handling: Displays clear messages such as "No activities found" or "No customer identified yet" when no relevant data is available, prompting agents to select or add necessary customer context to proceed.
    • Show with Activity Creation Date: Controls whether timestamps show the original creation date or the most recent update date of customer activities, configurable via UI Builder.
    • Activity Time Period: Enables grouping customer activities by day, month, quarter, or year to organize data presentation according to agent needs. Configurable on both Front-line case and CSM default record pages.
    • Display Search Field: Determines if the search bar in the Customer History component is visible by default on page load. It is enabled by default on key pages like Front-line case, CSM default record, and Default Interaction pages, but can be customized per page.

    Practical Application for ServiceNow Customers

    ServiceNow customers can leverage these configuration options to tailor the Customer History component to their operational workflows and agent preferences. Automating refresh cycles and customizing the visual interface increases agent efficiency and clarity when reviewing customer interactions. Grouping activities by configurable periods and controlling timestamp displays help maintain accurate and relevant timelines. The drag-and-drop page design and preset options simplify component management, reducing setup complexity. Additionally, managing empty states and search bar visibility ensures that agents are guided appropriately during case handling, improving overall customer service experience.

    Users with the admin role can configure several properties for the Customer History component.

    Refresh requested

    The Customer History component refreshes automatically, eliminating the need for manual page refreshes.

    The Refresh requested UI Builder property captures the last refresh timestamp and triggers events such as Context Refresh Requested whenever the value changes. Admins can configure custom event handlers to adjust the refresh behavior as needed.

    This property can be set for the following record pages:

    • Front-line case page
    • CSM default record page
    To configure this property on the Front-line case page:
    1. Navigate to All > Now Experience Framework > UI Builder.
    2. Select the CSM/FSM Configurable Workspace experience.
    3. Open the Front-line case page.
    4. Select the Customer History component.
    5. Navigate to the Properties panel.
    6. Capture the last refresh timestamp by enabling the Refresh Requested property.
    7. Customize the refresh behavior by adding or modifying event handlers under the Events tab.
    To configure this property on the CSM default record page:
    1. Select Customer Central.
    2. Open the Customer history section.
    3. Navigate to the Properties panel.
    4. Capture the last refresh timestamp by enabling the Refresh Requested property.
    5. Customize the refresh behavior by adding or modifying event handlers under the Events tab.

    Header title

    The Customizable Customer Activity Title feature enables admins to rename the Customer History title directly from the interface.

    To change the title: 
    1. In the right navigation pane, navigate to the Component visibility settings.
    2. Change the title according to user preferences by editing the Header title property.

    This customization option is available on all pages where the Customer History component is used.

    Show bordered icons

    The Show bordered icons check box enables admins to customize icon borders in the interface.
    • Set to true: Enables bordered icons
    • Set to false: Disables bordered icons
    Figure 1. Show bordered icons check box
    Show bordered option

    Admins can adjust this setting based on their preferences.

    Page design

    The Page Design feature introduces a drag-and-drop interface for easier customization of page layouts. Admins can add, position, and resize components directly on the page without using tabs.

    To use this feature:
    1. On the left navigation pane, select +Add Content.
    2. In the toolbox window that appears, enter Customer history component and then select and drag it.

    The Customer History component is now available in the toolbox.

    Presets

    Admins can choose from two new presets for the Customer History component on the Front-line case page to better manage how customer data is displayed.
    • Customer history for record page with lazy load
    • Customer history for record page
    To apply a preset:
    1. Navigate to All > Now Experience Framework > UI Builder.
    2. Select the CSM/FSM Configurable Workspace experience.
    3. Open the Front-line case page.
    4. Select the Customer History component.
    5. Select the existing preset in the configuration panel.
    6. In the Select a preset window, choose All under Controller to view available presets.
    7. Select one of the new presets to update how customer activity is displayed.

    Default values are set for all fields to help prevent errors by ensuring that fields are never left null or empty.

    New empty state for context fields

    Figure 2. New empty state for context fields
    New empty state for context fields

    On the agent side, when viewing a case, customer history or activity data loads automatically if available. If there’s no activity, the system shows No activities found. If no account, contact, or consumer is selected, it displays No customer identified yet. This behavior is part of the empty state feature, guiding users to select or add context (account, contact, or consumer) to proceed.

    Admins can now configure cases to handle scenarios where customer contact or name fields are empty. Instead of leaving the fields empty, the system prompts users to add the relevant account or contact information.

    Show with activity creation date

    The Show with activity creation date property, available in UI Builder, enables admins to control how timestamps are displayed in the Customer History tab.
    • When enabled: Both the timeline and side timestamp display the activity creation date. For example, if a record (such as a case or interaction) was created 10 days ago but updated today, both will show today’s date.
    • When not enabled (default behavior): Both the timeline and side timestamp display the original record creation date. So, in the same example, the record would continue to show as being created 10 days ago, even if it was updated today.

    Activity time period

    The Activity time period field in the Customer History component enables admins to define how customer activities are grouped for agents in the CSM Workspace. By default, activities appear by day, but you can change this to group them by quarter or by year.

    To configure the filter in the Front-line case page:
    1. Navigate to All > Now Experience Framework > UI Builder.
    2. Select the CSM/FSM Configurable Workspace experience.
    3. Open the Front-line case page.
    4. Select the Customer History component.
    5. Navigate to the Properties panel.
    6. From the Activity time period drop-down, select one of the following options:
      • Day: Enables an additional field where you can enter a date in DD:MM:YYYY format.
      • Monthly: Groups activities by month.
      • Quarter: Groups activities by calendar quarter.
      • Year: Groups activities by calendar year.
    To configure this property on the CSM default record page:
    1. Select Customer Central.
    2. Open the Customer History section.
    3. Navigate to the Properties panel.
    4. From the Activity time period drop-down, select one of the following options:
      • Day: Enables an additional field where you can enter a date in DD:MM:YYYY format.
      • Monthly: Groups activities by month.
      • Quarter: Groups activities by calendar quarter.
      • Year: Groups activities by calendar year.

    Display search field

    The Display search field property controls whether the search bar in the Customer History component appears when the page loads.
    • The property is enabled by default on the Front-line case page, CSM default record page, and Default Interaction page, so agents see the search bar open automatically.
    • It is disabled by default for all other pages, where only the search icon appears.

    Agents can always toggle the search icon to view the search bar, regardless of the setting.

    You can modify the default behavior by enabling or disabling the property for specific pages, depending on how you want the agents to access the search bar.