Key alerts – activation and notifications

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated July 31, 2025
  • 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 Key alerts – activation and notifications

    The Instance Observer Key Alerts Activation feature enables ServiceNow customers to receive proactive alerts based on moving averages for six critical performance metrics. These alerts use historical data spanning up to four weeks to set intelligent thresholds tailored to your instance's behavior. This feature is available exclusively for customers with the Advanced and Total packages of ServiceNow Impact.

    Show full answer Show less

    Key Features

    • Six Critical Metrics Monitored: Alerts cover transaction increases and drops, response time (both instance and database), and semaphore metrics (mean and queue depth), identifying unusual deviations from historical medians.
    • Custom Thresholds Using P-Score: Thresholds are calculated based on a P-Score that assesses transaction stability and volume for each instance, ensuring alerts are relevant and tailored to your environment.
    • Opt-in Banner for Eligible Instances: Instances with sufficient P-Score will display an opt-in banner for activating key alerts, while those with low scores will not see this option until eligibility improves.
    • Automatic Weekly Threshold Refresh: Thresholds update weekly to adapt to changing instance performance and maintain alert accuracy.
    • Configurable Notifications: Teams can define who receives alerts, allowing for targeted and efficient response management.

    Practical Benefits

    This feature helps ServiceNow customers proactively monitor instance health by detecting unusual patterns early, potentially preventing issues before they impact users. While not every alert indicates a problem, the notifications provide valuable signals for timely investigation and action.

    To enable and customize these alerts, customers should follow the configuration guidance outlined in the "Configure Key Alerts" section of the ServiceNow documentation.

    Use the Instance Observer Key Alerts Activation functionality for flexibility to set alerts with historical thresholds from four week increments specific to your business needs and configure who on your team receives notifications.

    Note:
    Instance Observer Alerts support is only available for Advanced and Total packages of ServiceNow Impact.

    Keys alerts activation will provide you with proactive alerts about moving averages, a statistic that captures the average change in a data series over time, for six critical metrics:

    1. Transaction (increase) Instance: Indicates transaction moving average increases by a certain percentage of it's historical median for a certain time period.
    2. Transaction (drop) Instance: Indicates transaction moving average drops by a certain percentage of it's historical median for a certain time period.
    3. Response Time – Instance: Indicates the moving average of response time is greater than the historical median in a certain time period.
    4. Database Response Time: Indicates the moving average of database response time is greater than the historical median in a certain time period.
    5. Default Semaphore Mean: Indicates the default semaphore mean is approaching limits of max concurrency by a certain factor in a certain time period.
    6. Default Semaphore Queue Depth: Indicates the default semaphore queue depth is approaching limits of maximum queue depth by a certain factor in a certain time period.
    Note:
    It is important to note that each notification may not represent an issue, moreover signals about a data point that is unusual or does not conform to the expected patterns for that specific metric. Users can be proactive, where necessary, and act on a notification accordingly that may avoid a future issue.

    Instance Observer utilizes the P-Score to assess instance usage, then calculate the thresholds exclusively for those instances. The P-score is a rating determined by the number of transactions on an instance, providing a higher score when the instance's transactions remain consistently stable.

    • When an instance meets the required P-Score for eligibility, users will see a banner to opt-in for the alerts activation feature. Users will receive intelligent thresholds under the IO recommended condition for all six metrics derived from historical data.
    • If an instance has a low P-Score, the banner to opt-in for alerts activation feature will not be visible. The P-Score is regularly refreshed, and as instances grow in the future, you will see the option to opt-in for the alerts activation feature. Thresholds are refreshed automatically weekly for instances meeting the minimum P-Score criteria.

    To set up alerts, see Configure Key Alerts.