Universal Request data model
Summarize
Summary of Universal Request data model
The Universal Request (UR) data model in ServiceNow Zurich release enables cross-departmental collaboration and offers a unified employee experience by serving as a parent record for various departmental tickets like IT incidents and HR cases. This model supports measuring cross-departmental SLAs and OLAs, allowing organizations to track and manage requests that span multiple departments efficiently.
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Request Creation Sources
- Requester-created: Employees submit requests via Service Portal, Employee Center, mobile app, or virtual agent chat.
- Agent-created: Service desk agents can create URs during calls or live chats and assign them to appropriate Tier 1 groups.
- System-generated: Record Producers can be configured to automatically create a UR, facilitating consistent ticket views and cross-departmental transfers.
Key Features of the Data Model
- The model extends the base Task [task] table to include a Universal Request field linking child tasks to the UR parent record, enabling any task table extension to act as a child of a UR.
- An Effective Number field stores either the UR number or the department-specific request number if no UR is associated.
- A Transfer Reason field tracks the rationale for ticket transfers, distinguishing between transfers with or without resolution.
- The Universal Request table itself contains fields for state reasons (both requester- and agent-facing), primary ticket details, and a Restricted field to control access to sensitive tickets.
- Access controls and user roles are included to manage permissions for both internal and external users.
- Each UR is uniquely identified by a number prefixed with UR.
Universal Request Table and States
The Universal Request table includes key fields such as:
- Primary Ticket: References the currently active departmental ticket, such as an IT incident (e.g., INC1022201), which determines the UR state and user ticket view.
- Opened for: Identifies the requester associated with the UR.
- State: Indicates the current status of the UR, which can be New, In Progress, Awaiting Response, or Closed.
- State Reason: Provides detailed agent-facing reasons for certain states, such as Triaging, Primary Ticket Work In Progress, Confirm Response, Accept Resolution, and Action Required, helping agents manage ticket workflows effectively.
- Restricted: Flags sensitive tickets to limit visibility and resolution rights to authorized agents only.
Primary Ticket Management
The primary ticket is a departmental child ticket associated with the UR and controls the content shown in the standard ticket page view. Key points include:
- A UR can have only one primary ticket at a time.
- When a UR is first created, no primary ticket exists until a child ticket (e.g., IT incident or HR case) is created.
- If a primary ticket is transferred back to the UR or another department, the primary ticket field clears until a new primary ticket is assigned.
- This dynamic allows seamless transfer and tracking of tickets across departments while maintaining a unified request record.
Practical Implications for ServiceNow Customers
Implementing the Universal Request data model enables your organization to:
- Streamline handling of requests involving multiple departments through a single parent UR record.
- Maintain visibility and control over cross-departmental SLAs and OLAs.
- Provide employees with a consistent and unified ticket experience regardless of the request origin.
- Manage sensitive requests securely using restricted access controls.
- Leverage existing ServiceNow tables and extend task records efficiently to support complex workflows.
Universal Request is a task type that supports cross-departmental collaboration and unified employee experience. Universal Request becomes the parent record for departmental primary tickets, such as IT incidents and HR cases, and enables your organization to measure cross-departmental SLAs and OLAs.
- Requester-created: An employee uses any of following options to submit a request.
- Clicks Request Help on the Service Portal or Employee Center.
- Taps Needs Help on a mobile device.
- Uses the virtual agent chat on the portals.
- Agent created: An IT service desk agent receives a phone call or live chat from an employee, starts a new call record or an Interaction Record, and in some cases, can create a Universal Request instead of a department ticket. The agent can then assign that UR to an appropriate Tier 1 assignment group.
- System generated: Based on configuration, a universal request is created when an employee submits a Record Producer. The Record Producer is configured to automatically create a Universal Request to enable cross-departmental request transfer and a consistent ticket view for the requester.
The following diagram shows a high-level overview of the Universal Request data model.
- ServiceNow AI Platform tables
- Tables included with Universal Request
- A Universal Request (UR) field points to the parent UR record. This model allows any table extending the Task table to be a child of the UR.
- Effective Number field (identifying number) stores the UR number, if the request has a UR associated with it. If it is not associated with a UR, then the Effective Number stores the current department-specific request number.
- Transfer Reason field stores the reason for the transfer of the request. The possible
options are:
- With resolution
- Indicates that the request is completed and is transferred back to Universal Request, the specific department or service.
- Without resolution
- Indicates that the request is not completed and is transferred back to Universal Request, the specific department or service.
- State reasons for the customer-facing states
- Primary ticket details of the department-specific requests
- Restricted field to indicate if the request created is sensitive or not
Universal Request also includes user roles and ACLs that customers can use to provide access to different tables. This includes both internal and external user roles.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Primary ticket | References the request that is currently active under the Universal Request. For example, INC1022201. |
| Opened for | The requester for whom the Universal Request is created. |
| State | Current state of the Universal Request. A UR can be in any of the following states:
For more information on the UR states, see Universal Request states and reasons. |
| State reason |
The agent-facing reason for some requester-facing states. The state reason values are as follows:
|
| Restricted | Option for restricting access to a ticket that has sensitive data. If a ticket is marked as Restricted, then only the agents with the sensitive request access can view and resolve the ticket. |
Primary Ticket field of the Universal Request table
For a Universal Request that is created for the first time, no primary tickets exist. If a child department ticket, such as an IT incident or an HR case is created from the UR, then the child ticket becomes the primary ticket. If the primary ticket is transferred back to UR or to another department, then the primary ticket field becomes empty. This sequence continues as new primary tickets are added and transferred back to UR or to another department.
When a record producer is configured to automatically create a Universal Request, then the UR becomes the parent record. And, when a department ticket is created, then that record becomes the primary ticket and remains until it is transferred back to the UR, to another department, or service.