What’s new in ServiceNow’s Vancouver Release?
Welcome to our overview of the ServiceNow Vancouver release. We'll be highlighting features that resonate with the needs of government departments, offices, and agencies who serve citizens in the public sector. Let’s dive into the highlights and new features covered in this suite of nine ServiceNow products!
Customer Service Management
Vancouver CSM continues to build on its already superior integration of service organizations, products, and customer service. Thanks to the easy set-up of service definition records and service product associations, staff can handle customer queries about products and services at different locations. They can even initiate cases on behalf of customers for swift issue resolution.
Highlights:
Customized Support: Define tailored services for government products, displaying relevant options based on citizen context.
Empowered Agents: Agents create case types catering precisely to diverse citizen needs.
Citizen Empowerment: Let citizens find and request services tailored to their government-related needs through dedicated portals.
Integrated Services: Link government case types with services for a seamless citizen support experience.
Associating Locations to Consumer Profiles: Associate multiple addresses to consumer profiles, giving citizens a more personalized experience for service interactions and billing.
What’s New:
Customer Service Case Types Plugin: With the introduction of this plugin, case types become essential for addressing unique citizen requests, from permits to public service issues.
Service Definitions Extend: Service definitions now extend to case task types. This streamlines the coordination between parent-case type and case task type definitions, helping agents handle tasks and requests more efficiently.
Multiple Addresses for a Consumer Profile: Aside from providing citizens with a more personalized experience, this features also helps agents better manage patient data and public service needs.
Field Service Management
The Vancouver release continues to raise the bar for state and local government field service operations.
Highlights:
Efficient Onsite Check-in: Work order tasks’ new onsite arrival feature uses geofencing to allow agents to confirm their location upon arrival. This reduces the time it takes them to enter the job site, especially during offline situations. Managers also gain insight by monitoring tasks where check-ins were skipped.
Territory Planning Advancements:
Map Overlays: Insightful territory visualization with geographic boundaries. Heatmap overlays pinpoint hotspots and data density.
Markers: Access information about agents, crews, and assets using the marker layer overlay. Apply filters for clearer perspectives.
Contextual Side Panel: Make informed decisions on workload balancing and resource allocation by viewing territory details.
Territory Performance Analytics Dashboard: Monitor territory performance through key performance indicators (KPIs) from the Performance Analytics tool. Use real-time insights to optimize operations.
What’s New:
Enhanced Dynamic Scheduling: Automatically reassign tasks to the nearest agents, ensuring prompt responses to urgent tasks in proximity.
Real-time Map View Updates: Click on map markers for agents to instantly access task statuses and details, granting real-time visibility.
Streamlined Metrics: Dispatcher Workspace's contextual side panel now displays more icons and detailed metrics, offering quick customizable overviews.
Smarter Task Bundling: Optimize agent routes, automatically bundle tasks using policies, and apply dynamic scheduling for smoother workflows.
Enhanced Schedule Optimization: Effortlessly accommodate changes like late agents, canceled tasks, or high-priority additions with re-run schedule optimization. Intra-day optimization keeps schedules aligned throughout the day.
Seamless Parts Usage: Efficiently manage parts with improved workflows. Easily replace parts, set asset statuses, and relocate parts as needed.
Improved Parts Sourcing & Install Base Flows: Streamline parts sourcing for tasks, create transfer orders, and empower field agents with install base insights.
Public Sector Digital Services
ServiceNow’s Vancouver release signifies progress in digital governance. With stronger agency connections, simplified task handling, and a comprehensive service ecosystem, this release equips government entities to deliver enhanced services to citizens.
Highlights:
Agency-Centric Services: Connect services to agency locations, empowering agents and constituents to initiate and resolve cases tied to specific agencies.
Simplified Task Management: Introducing Custom Activity UI standardization for better management of case documents, attachments, and tasks.
What’s New:
Modal Enhancements: Streamlined document management within the 'Manage Documents' and 'Documents from Similar Requests' Activities in the Information Request playbook.
Empowered Portal: Leverage the Agency Location Service portal for tailored service requests and case submissions, making interactions tied to agency locations more straightforward.
Enhanced Associations: Link agency locations to public services for improved visibility into offerings and efficient case handling.
Improved Task Creation: Benefit from CSM Service Definition Enhancements for effortless case task creation, empowering agents with precise tools
UI Builder
ServiceNow’s Vancouver release marks a leap forward in user interface construction, offering a more intuitive and robust platform. Here's what's in the spotlight.
Highlights:
Effortless Layouts: Enhance UI pages with ease using the updated toolbox to quickly add column layouts. Organize components seamlessly for a polished look.
Simplified Styling: Modify layout and component styles with simplicity. A user-friendly interface exposes only vital options by default, streamlining the design process.
Enhanced Editing: Navigate improved stage controls for hassle-free page editing. Add, edit, or manage containers and components effortlessly.
What’s New:
Popovers: Elevate UI Builder pages with popovers to provide contextual information or functionality. Enhance user experiences with quick access to relevant details.
Efficient Organization: Embrace new column layouts to organize components efficiently, ensuring a clean and coherent interface.
Stay Updated: Stay informed about the latest UI Builder features through the "What's New" modal. Keep your UI skills sharp with insights into new enhancements.
App Engine Studio
In the latest AES update, government agencies will benefit from a user-friendly platform with improved service delivery and streamlined processes. New features for resource management, data analysis, and OAuth integration will allow agents to create digital solutions that enhance public engagement and improve service delivery.
Highlights:
Efficient Resource Management: AES now allows government agencies to schedule app deployments in the App Engine Management Center (AEMC), optimizing resource allocation and minimizing disruptions.
Enhanced Testing Capabilities: Government applications demand robust testing. AES enhances testing with instance scan and Automated Test Framework (ATF) suites, ensuring reliability and security.
Streamlined Analysis with Analytics Center: Analytics Center in Workspace Builder offers faster data analysis, empowering data-driven decision-making for government policies and service delivery.
OAuth Credential Integration: Enhance security and compliance with AES's support for OAuth credentials, simplifying authentication integration.
What’s New:
Enhanced Testing in AEMC: Government agencies can now run customized test suites during application deployment in AEMC, ensuring reliability and compliance.
Scheduled App Deployments: Agencies can deploy applications immediately or schedule for non-peak hours, reducing service disruption.
Unique URLs for Dashboards: Bookmark and share Workspace Builder dashboards with unique URLs for seamless collaboration and data access.
User-Friendly UI: AES's improved user interface simplifies data visualization, email notifications, and guidance for government agencies.
Organization and Customization: Government agencies can efficiently manage AES items and customize workspaces to match their identity.
Intelligent Experiences/AI
In the latest Vancouver release, ServiceNow takes a significant step forward infusing artificial intelligence (AI) into various aspects of government operations. These enhancements empower government agencies with advanced AI tools to streamline processes, make informed decisions, and save time and resources.
Highlights:
Document Intelligence: This AI-powered solution has been improved for better documentation management, categorization, and information extraction from documents.
User Experience Analytics: Understanding user experiences across web and mobile platforms is now easier with enhancements to the user experience analysis.
Natural Language Understanding: New enhancements fine-tune ServiceNow’s NLU, improving the ability to understand human-expressed intent and learn and respond effectively.
Predictive Intelligence: In the Vancouver release, this application receives updates that enhance its predictive capabilities. By predicting and automating common workflows, users can save time and resources.
Process Mining: Enhancements that elevate process analysis come in the new Vancouver release. ServiceNow’s Process Mining application empowers analysts and process owners to analyze and improve business processes, visualize workflows, gain insights, and make informed decisions.
Task Intelligence Admin Console: New enhancements to this application make it a powerful tool for operational efficiency in creating, training, and deploying machine learning models to automate tasks.
Flow Designer
ServiceNow’s Vancouver release ushers in a new era of workflow automation, catering to the unique demands of state and local government operations.
Highlights:
AI-Powered Flow Creation: Enhancements include leveraging AI-driven suggestions to streamline flow creation. Users can then select components from a set of Generative AI recommendations.
Dynamic Inputs and Subflows: Creating arbitrary action inputs is now more flexible with the introduction of the new Dynamic Inputs data type. Users can also enhance their workflow by adding and configuring subflows directly from the diagram view.
Streamlined Experience: A revamped Flow Designer landing page enhances the user interaction with flows and ensures a more intuitive working environment.
Enhanced Logic: Users can better optimize their processes and workflows by leveraging the “Do the following until” flow logic in the diagramming view.
What’s New:
Now Assist Recommendations: Select the next component in your flow effortlessly from a list of AI recommendations. These suggestions are generated based on the flow's current position and the component names listed before.
Dynamic Input Support: Leverage the power of the new Dynamic Inputs data type to create versatile action inputs. Define dynamic input types and generate input data through data gathering actions.
Subflow and Logic Enhancement: Elevate workflow management with the ability to add and configure subflows directly within the diagramming view. Employ the "Do the following until" logic to enhance the efficiency of your processes.
Workspace
Vancouver Workspace release promises an optimized and intuitive workspace experience, tailored to the specific needs of state and local government tasks.
Highlights:
Enhanced Personalization: Boost agent productivity by allowing them to personalize elements like filtering, email communication, and field views. This empowerment enhances the efficiency of customer interactions.
Guided Tours: Create guided tours within your organization's configurable workspaces, facilitating smoother navigation and onboarding processes.
What’s New:
AI/ML Field Recommendations: Empower agents with quick and accurate selections by incorporating AI and machine learning recommendations for form fields.
Streamlined User Experience: Enhance fields by enabling them to display full text without requiring manual scrolling or resizing.
Persistent User Preferences: Improve navigation by allowing user preference selections to persist across records of the same type. This holds true for Agent assist, Activity stream, rich text editor, stacking preferences, and form sections.
Efficient Filtering: Create and save filter sets within the activity stream, ensuring quick access to frequently used filter settings.
Customized Access Control: Agents can now customize and store filter sets based on roles, streamlining future use and ensuring personalized access control.
Streamlined Forms: Configure forms to eliminate unnecessary elements, such as hiding the first section title when empty or changing heading levels, enhancing user experience.
Targeted Declarative Actions: Prevent users from selecting irrelevant actions by configuring declarative actions based on record conditions in the list.
Custom Actions for Attachments: Agents can customize actions within attachments through declarative actions tailored for the Attachments section of the Configurable Workspace.
Core Platform
The Core Now Platform enhancements promise a streamlined and efficient experience, ensuring that the backbone of your state and local governance tasks operates seamlessly.
Highlights:
Events and Jobs Dashboard: Stay in the loop with the Events and Jobs dashboard, a tool that keeps you updated on the status of events and queues in the event processing system. Dive deep into completed job details through node and instance level job history views.
Location Tracking: Empower your system to store longitude and latitude coordinates, allowing for precise location tracking and distance calculation.
Session Security: Elevate security measures by enforcing a maximum session time for active sessions, adding an extra layer of protection to your instance.
What’s New:
Geo Point Field: Enhance data accuracy by storing longitude and latitude coordinates through a geo point field added to a table.
Distance Calculation: Unlock the power of location data with distance calculation using the distance_sphere() function field to measure the gap between two points.
Orphan Record Prevention: Ensure data integrity by preventing records from being orphaned in key tables such as Sys Audit, Attachment, and Journal Entry through advanced table cleaner options.
Enhanced Security: Bolster instance security by enforcing a maximum session time, providing an additional layer of safeguarding.
About the Author
Wes Farmer is a Sr. Technical Consultant at Servos. He is detail oriented, excellent with clients and enjoys helping clients improve their processes and become more efficient through the NOW platform. He has a proven track record of working with clients to help them realize their goals through successful implementation and configuration of the NOW platform.