7 tips to put ServiceNow to use for COVID-19
COVID-19 has an impact in all areas of society. Governments across the globe have enforced stringent measures, and businesses are trying to implement all necessary precautions to ensure their employees are safe and healthy. Since these times are challenging and we would like to help our customers and other ServiceNow users in any way we can, we have listed 7 tips on how you can put ServiceNow to use to handle the COVID-19 situation.
1. Four free apps available in the ServiceNow Store*
ServiceNow released four community applications free of charge to help organizations and governments navigate through the COVID-19 pandemic. We offer the associated implementation services, of which any profits will be donated to a COVID-19 related charity. Please contact us in case you would like to learn more (conditions apply).
These 4 applications are:
- Emergency Response Operations
Initially created by the Washington State Department of Health, this is a ServiceNow workflow that supports emergency response and preparedness at the state and local government level, as well as enterprises. It helps optimize resources and staff in critical locations.
- Emergency Outreach, Emergency Self Report & Emergency Exposure Management
These three applications are designed to help companies and employees stay connected, up to date, and effective during this time of crisis management.
*These applications are available now and will remain free through September 30, 2020 after which users will need to purchase a license.
2. Use the Service Portal for public announcements
Share the latest news on company policies and health measures via the Service Portal. Use the Announcement feature that is available to all ServiceNow customers. Read here how to configure this.
Tip: Create a separate page (Knowledge Article) that includes all information concerning COVID-19 and how your company responds to it, providing your employees with a single location where they can find all necessary information.
3. Use Knowledge Mngt to support remote working
If your IT department is overwhelmed with questions about video conferencing and other remote workplace services, publish (and sometimes push) relevant Knowledge Articles. In addition, add a FAQ section to your Knowledge Base describing the most important HR policies – providing answers to questions like “What should I do in case my planned holiday abroad is cancelled on short notice?”.
4. Enable Virtual Agent to handle FAQs/requests
Activate the Virtual Agent to assist your employees to find answers to their questions. The Virtual Agent collects questions from your employees, whilst ServiceNow NLU interprets the question and provides the answer by redirecting them to Knowledge Articles, Service Catalogs or external tools. If no answer is found, you can forward the question to your service desk or live agent chat. See this documentation on how to configure Virtual Agent.
5. Use the catalog to capture inbound messages
Make sure your Public Health Response or crisis team receives all inbound employee messages via a dedicated catalog item. Communication will take place via the ticket, including emails, allowing you to streamline and dispatch work to maximize team efficiency.
Other suggestions for catalog items are:
- Remote working notifications
For some people, it is abnormal to work from home. To keep a detailed overview where everyone is at, you can use a record producer and table.
- Unable to work notifications
With all schools closed, people need to take care of their kids. In some situations, they are unable to work. Create a record producer to keep track of employees in this situation by automatically adding them to a dedicated time tracking code. Information like this can be very valuable if your government decides to compensate these hours.
- Quarantine notifications
In this strange situation, infected people are quarantined. Use a catalog item to keep track of which employees are quarantined.
Connected workflows like these make sure the right people in your organization are informed – from HR, Resource Management all the way to Project Managers. Employees automatically receive an email that includes information on how to act in their situation.
6. Enable mobile communication with Now Mobile
If you activate ServiceNow Now Mobile, you can communicate directly to your employees. Enable them to use the Virtual Agent, Service Catalog and Knowledge Articles from their mobile device. Not only will it enhance their experience, in case they’re ill, firing up a laptop is usually not the first thing they want to do. Their phone, on the other hand, is something they always have at hand.
In case of emergencies, you can use ServiceNow push notifications to communicate important messages to all your employees. Read here how to set this up.
7. A tip for ServiceNow users of the HRSD module
Utilize the Targeted Content feature to proactively communicate with employees through email or portal notifications via targeted campaigns related to the service experience.
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Elmer de Valk