How Notify processes incoming calls

concept australia Updated Sep 10, 2026 1 min read c_ProcessingNotifyCalls.md

Notify processes incoming calls using workflow activities.

Any Notify activity that manages incoming phone calls creates a record on the Notify Workflow Activity [notify_wf_activity] table. Each notify_wf_activity record is associated with a single call. These records store JSON data detailing the actions to send to the telephony provider.

Notify processes incoming calls in the following way:

A person calls a Notify phone number.
Notify launches the incoming call workflow associated with that Notify phone number.
The workflow reaches a Notify activity and invokes the activity onExecute() function.
The activity creates a new notify_wf_activity record detailing any actions to take, with a State value of execute.
Notify sends the specified actions to the telephony provider.
The notify_wf_activity record State changes to processed.
The telephony provider sends a response.
Response arguments, such as user input or recording info, are stored as JSON data in the notify_wf_activity response_args field.
The notify_wf_activity State changes to complete.
The JSON data from the notify_wf_activity record is copied to the Last action field in the Notify call record that triggered the workflow.
The workflow invokes the onUpdate() function in executing activities.
The activity confirms that the associated notify_wf_activity record has completed, and changes the activity state to finished.
The workflow transitions to the next activity.

Parent Topic:Notify voice and SMS capabilities

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---
title: How Notify processes incoming calls
description: Notify processes incoming calls using workflow activities.
locale: en-US
canonical_url: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/servicenow-platform/notify/c\_ProcessingNotifyCalls.html
release: australia
product: Notify
classification: notify
topic_type: concept
last_updated: "2026-09-10"
reading_time_minutes: 1
breadcrumb: [Notify voice and SMS capabilities, Exploring Notify, Notify, Manage service capabilities, Extend ServiceNow AI Platform capabilities]
---

# How Notify processes incoming calls

Notify processes incoming calls using workflow activities.

Any Notify activity that manages incoming phone calls creates a record on the Notify Workflow Activity \[notify\_wf\_activity\] table. Each notify\_wf\_activity record is associated with a single call. These records store JSON data detailing the actions to send to the telephony provider.

Notify processes incoming calls in the following way:

1. A person calls a Notify phone number.
2. Notify launches the incoming call workflow associated with that Notify phone number.
3. The workflow reaches a Notify activity and invokes the activity onExecute\(\) function.
4. The activity creates a new notify\_wf\_activity record detailing any actions to take, with a **State** value of execute.
5. Notify sends the specified actions to the telephony provider.
6. The notify\_wf\_activity record **State** changes to processed.
7. The telephony provider sends a response.
8. Response arguments, such as user input or recording info, are stored as JSON data in the notify\_wf\_activity **response\_args** field.
9. The notify\_wf\_activity **State** changes to complete.
10. The JSON data from the notify\_wf\_activity record is copied to the **Last action** field in the Notify call record that triggered the workflow.
11. The workflow invokes the onUpdate\(\) function in executing activities.
12. The activity confirms that the associated notify\_wf\_activity record has completed, and changes the activity state to finished.
13. The workflow transitions to the next activity.

**Parent Topic:**[Notify voice and SMS capabilities](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/servicenow-platform/notify/notify-voice-SMS-capabilities.md)