On Call Scheduling

You can add a new employee or an employee who had previously been a member to a roster.

The On-Call Scheduling application identifies the assigned and available member of a support group, for example, when assigning an incident.

Some terms have specific meaning in the On-Call Scheduling application.

To send On-call escalation notifications as SMS or voice messages, you must configure Notify.

Several types of components are installed with activation of On-call scheduling, including tables and user roles.

Configure the communications methods that shift managers can choose from to send on-call schedule notifications. For example, add email and phone contact sources.

Specify the On-Call preferences for a user group.

On-Call Scheduling includes a scheduled job that checks if any shift members should be notified about upcoming On-Call commitments. Modify the lead time for the reminder to be sent.

You specify your availability and the methods to use to contact you for On-Call escalations. The instance notifies you if an admin overrides your settings for some reason.

Configure notification messages sent from a communication channel for on-call escalations. You can customize the notification content, the response keywords, table and the domain they apply, for a specific channel available in the base system such as Email and Microsoft Teams or a custom channel that is created.

Edit a roster to specify its reminder and escalation settings and to identify a subset of group members to participate in the On-Call roster.

You can add extra coverage, specify extra times for when a shift is active, and schedule time off.

Plan and configure On-Call Scheduling properties, templates, trigger rules, escalation policies, rosters, and schedules.

Configure escalation trigger rules for the tables that do not extend tasks.

An escalation policy includes the policy type that defines the order in which rosters and roster members receive escalation notifications. You can create a custom escalation policy for a shift by overriding settings in a default escalation type, for example, by configuring custom delays between escalation steps.

Create templates to help your group create on-call schedules. For example, use the 24/7 template, which is available in the on-call demo data, to create on-call schedules for continuous service.

You can predefine sets of shift settings using shift templates. Shift templates are a subset of group templates.

Create a trigger rule to specify both the conditions under which an escalation process should begin and the actions (workflow or script) to perform for the escalation.

Create an On-Call schedule or edit an existing schedule by defining shifts and rosters.

You can define and integrate a custom channel to send on-call escalation notifications.

The Calendar view displays all shifts for a user group for a specified time interval. Use the Calendar view of an On-Call schedule to update or manage shifts.

Use the Timeline view of an On-Call schedule to update or manage shifts based on the geographical location of roster members.

Create shift and group templates, escalation policies and trigger rules. Design escalation process and track progress of an escalation.

As a shift manager, you can delegate your role to a member of shift.

Every notification that On-Call Scheduling dispatches during an escalation has its delivery status captured, providing a reliable audit trail of who was notified and whether the notification reached them.

To design an escalation process for a task, you define a trigger rule and configure one or more escalation policies.

Domain separation is supported in On-Call Scheduling. The On-Call Scheduling application helps you to ensure that dedicated support team members are available to resolve issues as they arise. Domain separation enables you to separate data, processes, and administrative tasks into logical groupings called domains. You can control several aspects of this separation, including which users can see and access data.

Configure an On-Call calendar subscription URL and send it to the members of a shift. The URL is an iCal link that enables users to subscribe to their on-call calendar from their preferred calendar client.

Use the escalation settings to specify how and when escalations occur and when reminder notifications are sent.

An escalation is a mechanism that ensures that important issues are addressed in a timely manner.

Because escalation reports depend on the escalation type, report content can vary greatly.

The On-Call Scheduling application helps you ensure that dedicated support team members are available to resolve issues as they arise. Learn more about On-Call Scheduling and the benefits it can provide for the different user roles in your organization.

You can configure and manage an On-call schedule and shift. Add or remove members to a shift and override their contact preferences.

As a shift manager, you can review and approve time-off requests from shift members. You also specify the roster member who can cover for the time.

You can manage roster members by adding and removing users to or from the roster as needed. You can also modify the order number for a member without affecting the past shift schedule.

View and manage on-call schedules from a mobile device with the On-Call Scheduling mobile applet.

Use the ServiceNow Agent mobile app to access the On-Call Scheduling mobile application. Then log in to an instance and work on your schedules.

Members and managers of a shift can use the On-Call Scheduling applets and navigation menu on the Mobile Agent application to view and manage shifts and schedules.

As a shift manager, view your team's schedule and perform activities like approving time-off requests and providing coverage.

As a member of a shift, view your upcoming shifts, request time off, and accomplish daily tasks related to your schedule.

On-Call Scheduling new trigger engine enables the on-call subflows to get launched via the flow runner queue instead of the event queue. Launching via the flow runner queue improves the on-call performance and helps to alert the on-call members faster than launching via event queue.

The property settings configure On-Call Scheduling operations.

On-Call Scheduling provides role-based capabilities for members, shift managers, and shift administrators to manage on-call schedules, time-off requests, and escalations.On-Call Scheduling can be used by the various user roles.

Subflows in On-Call Scheduling enable you to build and configure on-call escalation and notification.

Introducing the new On-call schedule engine with enhanced capabilities and user experience.

Override all shift members' contact preferences to enforce a communication channel, for example, in case of an emergency.

Validate that On-Call Scheduling still works after you make any configuration change such as apply an upgrade or develop an application. Copy and customize these quick start tests to pass when using your instance-specific data.

Reference section provides additional information about components installed with On-Call Scheduling

You might remove a member from a roster, for example, if they are no longer a member of the organization or of the group.

Review and resolve gaps and conflicts. Find a replacement on-call member for time-off requests to ensure proper support coverage.

Admins can assign On-Call Scheduling roles to user groups and to individual users based on user activities and responsibilities.

The Escalations report displays the escalation sequence and the rules that apply for a selected date. For each group that you are authorized to see, you can choose to show either the active roster members or the on-call person.

An On-Call Rotation Schedule report shows users or groups that are on-call for a specified time period.

You can deactivate a schedule entry or update setting like schedule entry type, date, or time.

You can schedule your own time off and suggest a suitable cover from among fellow roster members.

On-Call Scheduling includes scheduled jobs.

Remind roster members of an upcoming shift by sending an email notification. You specify the number of days before their shift starts for the email.

You can modify the order number for a member without affecting the past shift schedule.

If you do not have all the information that you need to define a shift, you can set the shift to Draft mode. Later, when all the information is available, you can publish the shift so you can add it to a schedule.

Enable users to receive mobile push notifications for on-call escalations.

Enable users to receive Microsoft Teams notifications for an on-call escalation.

You configure Slack to enable users to receive Slack notifications for escalations. To offer Slack as a contact method for shift members, you install the IntegrationHub spoke for Slack.

Subflows are installed with On-Call Scheduling to support building on-call escalation notification configurable flows.

You can activate the On-Call Scheduling (com.snc.on_call_rotation) plugin if you have the admin role.

On-Call Scheduling adds the following tables.

Use the On-Call Escalation Tracking page for full visibility into the time line of an active or closed escalation as it progresses through its on-call escalation path.

Shift managers and members can use the Schedules tabs to view and update the on-call schedules of a group. Shift managers can review, manage, and resolve gaps or conflicts in your On-Call schedule from a single view.

To save time, update shift details directly from an on-call calendar.

View the escalation log record for full details on the time line and actions for an on-call escalation as it progressed through the on-call escalation path. You can also access escalation and escalation notification information from reports.

You can see the on-call schedules for your groups.

You can subscribe to your On-Call calendar using your personal calendar client.

You can view when you are on call and the escalation lineup for a particular date range.

The tiled grouping of on-call shift schedules helps you to review shifts rather than having to search through all shifts in the system.

Run Escalation Overview reports to view count and rate information on escalations currently in progress, acknowledged and unacknowledged escalations, and Mean Time to Acknowledge (MTTA). You can view data for all groups or for one or more selected groups.

Run My Groups Overview reports to view the activities of a selected group: Count information on acknowledged and unacknowledged escalations by shift, acknowledged escalations by user, and the hours for each user over seven days.

The Performance reports enable detailed review of how well escalations are being processed. You have precise control of the data that describes escalation progress using filters like group, priority, level, or escalation category.

Generate escalation and schedule reports. You can also view performance report.

View your schedule, see the members of your group, request time off, and set your preferences for contact methods.

Workflow activities in On-Call Scheduling workflows.

Workflows perform On-Call Scheduling operations.