Configuring the ServiceNow Agent

ServiceNow helps you build digital workflows on a single, unified platform. Kore.ai XO Platform’s ServiceNow Agent integration allows you to seamlessly hand off the virtual assistant conversations to your live agents on ServiceNow. 

This post provides the configuration steps to enable the ServiceNow Agent integration. Use the configurations provided below as general guidelines, as there could be some differences based on the version of the ServiceNow that you are using.

Overview

Kore.ai’s Virtual Assistant (VA) serves as the central point of interaction for the users. In addition to its regular capabilities, the VA acts as a proxy or intermediary between the users and the ServiceNow agents to hand over conversations seamlessly. The VA also allows you to integrate with the ServiceNow platform. The VA facilitates communication and interaction between the user and the ServiceNow agent using the chat module. 

Configuration

To configure the ServiceNow agent, follow the instructions in the sections below.

Step 1: Define the Host URL in the REST Message in ServiceNow

1. Log in to your ServiceNow account. The ServiceNow account will have a unique URL for each developer instance in their Service Management or App Engine Studio. For example, the instance url is: https://devXXX67.service-now.com/
2. Go to System Web Services > Outbound > REST Messages from the left menu.
3. In the REST Messages page, click the New button to create a new REST Message.
4. Copy the WebHook URL from Kore.ai’s virtual assistant configuration page and paste it in the Endpoint URL field.
   
5. Click Save to save the new REST message.Note: You can also see a list of all the REST Messages that have been configured.

Step 2: Define Outbound REST Message Requests in ServiceNow

1. To define REST Outbound Message, navigate to System Web Services > Outbound > REST Messages in the left menu.
2. Select the REST Messages for which you want to define the Outbound message from the list of REST Messages. For example, search and select the Platform – Agent Integrations message.
   
3. In the REST Message form, you can enter the API details, such as the name, endpoint URL as Callback URL from the Configurations page, and HTTP method.
   Note: This will be the endpoint through which ServiceNow will send Agent’s messages to the user.
4. To define the HTTP header, click the HTTP Request tab and select the Add New Row button.
5. In the new row, add the HTTP Header as shown below:
6. • HTTP Header: Name: Content-Type, Value: application/json
   • Method: Add the POST method and paste the Webhook URL that you copied from the Configurations tab in the Endpoint field.
7. Once you have entered the required details, click the Update button to save the REST Message.

Step 3: Define Outbound REST Business Rules in ServiceNow

1. To define an Outbound rule, search and select the Business Rules under System Definition from the left menu.
2. Click the New button to configure the Business Rule.
3. Enter the following business rule details:
   • Name and select the live_message table from the Table drop-down.
   • Select the Active and Advanced check boxes.
   • Click the When to run tab, and select after from the When drop-down and select the Insert checkbox.
   • Add Filter conditions to execute this Business rule if created by is not a chatbot_interface.
4. Click the Advanced tab, add the code below and click Submit:
   var request;
request = new sn_ws.RESTMessageV2('Platform - Agent Integrations', 'Platform - Agent Integrations');
request.setRequestBody("{\"group\":\""+current.group+"\", \"formatted_message\":\""+GlideStringUtil.escapeForHomePage(current.formatted_message)+"\", \"sys_created_by\":\""+current.sys_created_by+"\",\"last_message\":\""+current.last_message+"\", \"sys_id\":\""+current.sys_id+"\"}");
request.setRequestHeader("Content-Type", "application/json");
var response = request.execute();
   Note: The code is optional. It is recommended to use the code when you face any issues during execution. This rule executes the API configured in REST Message.

Step 4: Create a New Queue

1. Log in to your ServiceNow account.
2. From the main menu on the left, search and select Queues under Connect > Support Administration and click on the New button.
   
3. In the Queue dialog, enter the following queue details:
   • Name of the queue.
   • Select Consumer Service Support in the Assignment group field.
     
4. Click the New button in the Chat Queue Entries section and assign the chat queue entry to a user as shown below:
   
5. Click Submit to save the chat queue entry details.
6. Click Submit again to save the queue details.
7. Copy the ID from the Queue ID field.
   

Step 5: Enable the ServiceNow Agent

1. Log in to the Kore.ai XO Platform: https://bots.kore.ai/botbuilder
2. Select a Virtual Assistant for which you want to configure the ServiceNow agent. 
3. Navigate to Build > Integrations > Agent Transfer and click the ServiceNow button.
   
4. Click the Configurations tab and enter the following credentials for the ServiceNow Agent:
   • Host: The company’s URL hosted on ServiceNow.
   • User Name: The username of your ServiceNow account.
   • Password: The password of your ServiceNow account.
   • Queue ID: The unique queue identification number.
   • Webhook URL: The web URL for custom application function callbacks.

   

5. If you want to make ServiceNow as the default agent, enable the Default Agent System for all bot channels option.
   Note: This option is enabled only when you have multiple agents configured for your VA.  
6. You can customize the channel mapping by clicking the Manage link as shown below:
   
7. Once you click Manage, you can map the channels for which you want to use ServiceNow agent to  hand over the conversations. 
   
   For example, if you have configured a Genesys chat integration, Intercom and ServiceNow agents. You can make one of them as default and map channels to agent systems. In this case, the Web Client and WebHook are mapped to Genesys and Intercom. Slack is mapped to the default ServiceNow agent. To learn more about channel enablement, see Adding channels to your bot.
8. After mapping channels, click Done.
9. Click Save to enable the ServiceNow agent.
10. Publish the VA. For more information, see Publishing Bot.

Execution

This section helps you verify how the conversations from the Kore.ai XO Platform are handed over to the ServiceNow agent after enabling it. 

To verify the data exchange between Kore.ai’s VA and ServiceNow agent, follow these steps:

1. Open a virtual assistant for which you have enabled the ServiceNow agent.
2. Create a new Agent Transfer Node task. For example, create a Platform Agenttask with the UserAgent node and configure it to use the ServiceNow agent. For more information, see Agent Transfer Node.
   
3. Click the Talk to Bot icon to launch the VA and enter Help.
4. In the ServiceNow Engine, select the Impersonate User from the Profile option as shown:
   
5. Enter the Username that you created in the Chat Queue Entries section. For example, select the Harry Anthony username.
   
6. When a user initiates the chat from the VA, it transfers the conversation to the ServiceNow agent and sends a message to the user.
7. Agent receives a notification about this on ServiceNow.
8. Now, the connection between the ServiceNow agent and the user has been established, and the conversation continues.