Join conference call workflow activity

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated July 31, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Join Conference Call Workflow Activity

    The Join Conference Call workflow activity in ServiceNow connects incoming or outgoing calls to a Notify conference call. It supports use cases involving inbound and outbound calls as well as inbound SMS messages, demonstrated through Notify workflows like (Re)join Conference Call and Join Conference Call Via SMS.

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    Input Variables

    This activity uses input variables to control its initial behavior:

    • Record: Option to record the conference call.
    • Advanced: Displays advanced configuration options.
    • Script: Allows setting advanced options in JavaScript, for example, muting a participant upon joining, using workflow scratchpad values.

    Conditions and Scratchpad Usage

    The activity does not define default conditions but allows adding error conditions. An error transition occurs if the conferencecall scratchpad variable is not set.

    The workflow.scratchpad.conferencecall variable must contain a GlideRecord of the conference call to which the participant is added. This is automatically set for outgoing calls started via the Notify API. For incoming calls or other initiation methods, it must be set explicitly to avoid errors.

    Enabling and Using Advanced Attributes

    Administrators can enable several attributes to customize participant behavior in the conference call. These attributes include:

    • hangupOnStar: Allows participants to hang up by pressing the key, returning control to the workflow for further actions.
    • muted: Joins the participant in muted mode.
    • beepOnEnter: Plays a beep when a participant joins.
    • beepOnExit: Plays a beep when a participant leaves.
    • enableImmediateInput: Allows capturing a single digit input immediately after the call for the participant, stored in workflow.scratchpad.confDigits. This requires hangupOnStar to be enabled.

    To enable these attributes:

    1. Navigate to Workflow > Administration > Workflow Versions.
    2. Open the Notify: (Re)join Conference Call workflow.
    3. Click "Show Workflow" and check out the workflow to edit.
    4. Open the Join Conference Call activity and enable the Advanced checkbox.
    5. In the Script field, set the desired attribute flags (e.g., hangupOnStar = true).
    6. Click Update, then publish the workflow to save changes.

    Practical Impact for ServiceNow Customers

    This activity enables ServiceNow customers to integrate voice and SMS communication seamlessly into their workflows by connecting calls to conference calls with flexible participant controls. By configuring input options and attributes, customers can tailor call participation features such as muting, call recording, and interactive hang-up behavior, enhancing user experience and workflow automation.

    The Join Conference Call activity connects an incoming or outgoing call to a Notify conference call.

    Notify includes the workflows Notify: (Re)join Conference Call and Notify: Join Conference Call Via SMS to demonstrate how to use the join conference call activity to connect inbound and outbound calls, and inbound SMS messages to a conference call.

    Input variables

    Input variables determine the initial behavior of the activity.

    Table 1. Input variables
    Variable Description
    Record Select this check box to record the conference call.
    Advanced Select this check box to display advanced configuration options.
    Script Specify advanced configuration options using JavaScript, such as if the new participant should be muted upon joining the conference call. You can access values from the workflow scratchpad.

    Conditions

    The conditions determine which transition comes after this activity. The join conference call activity does not specify any conditions by default.

    You can add an error condition to this activity. The activity transitions through the error condition if the confernece_call scratchpad variable is not set.

    Scratchpad entries

    The activity uses the workflow scratchpad to read persistent values.

    Table 2. Values read from scratchpad
    Scratchpad variable Description
    workflow.scratchpad.conference_call A GlideRecord for a single conference call record. A call processed by this activity is added to this conference call. If this value is not specified, the join conference call activity will log an error.

    When initiating an outgoing call workflow using the Notify API call(String notifyPhoneNumber, String toPhoneNumber, GlideRecord conferenceCall) method, this scratchpad value is set automatically to the conference call GlideRecord. For incoming call workflows, or workflows initiated using a different mechanism, you must explicitly set this scratchpad value.

    Enable different attributes available with Join Conference Call activity

    System administrators can enable any or all of the below attributes and use them in the Join Conference Call workflow activity.

    Attribute Description
    hangupOnStar When hangupOnStar is enabled (set to true), participants in a conference call can press the * button to disconnect from the call. Control is returned to the workflow, which can be used to trigger customer-defined actions.
    muted When muted is enabled (set to true), the participant will join the conference in a muted state.
    beepOnEnter When beepOnEnter is enabled (set to true), a notification beep is played when a user joins the conference.
    beepOnExit When beepOnExit is enabled (set to true), a notification beep is played when a user leaves the conference.
    enableImmediateInput When enableImmediateInput is enabled (set to true), it allows input of a single digit immediately after the conference ends for this user and sets that in workflow.scratchpad.confDigits. This option will be ignored if hangupOnStar is false.
    To enable any of the above attributes, perform the following steps:
    1. Navigate to Workflow > Administration > Workflow Versions.
    2. Open the Notify: (Re)join Conference Call workflow.
    3. Click the Show Workflow related link.
    4. To modify the workflow, click the WorkFlow Actions icon and click Checkout.
    5. Open the Join Conference Call workflow activity.
    6. Enable the Advanced check box to display the Script field.
    7. Set the hangupOnStar attribute to true in the config variable in the script. The default setting is false.
    8. Click Update.
    9. Click the WorkFlow Actions icon and click Publish to save the changes.

    Similarly, you can enable the other attributes.