If transformation of your employee or customer services operations is your goal, the integration of your contact center solution with ServiceNow is paramount. While the promise of conversational AI interactions, intelligent IVRs, automation, and seamless voice solutions is appealing, achieving a truly optimized setup requires thoughtful planning and adherence to best practices. Done wrong and the opportunity cost can be significant. Done right and the positive impact can be equally meaningful.
Many organizations, even at the enterprise level, face challenges as often times their existing ServiceNow configuration(s) are not inherently optimized for voice interactions and solutions. To ensure a successful Voice AI and Contact Center integration with ServiceNow, be it IT Service Management (ITSM), HR Service Delivery (HRSD) or Customer Service Management (CSM), and avoid common pitfalls, here’s a quick guide to key considerations:
The Foundation of Success: Accurate and standardized data
One of the most critical, yet often overlooked, aspects of integrating a voice solution with ServiceNow is the state of your data.
- The Challenge: Many clients discover during implementation that their ServiceNow environment lacks accurate data, for example current phone details. Even when data is present, it might not be sanitized or in a standard format (e.g.: E164) due to inconsistent data entry.
- Why it Matters: Data accuracy is critical for inbound caller lookups and validation, especially to allow for personalized experiences and voice workflows. If the data is missing or incorrect, the integration and marriage between CRM and CCaaS/Voice AI simply won't work as intended. For example, a crucial security step like sending a One-Time Passcode (OTP) via SMS to a mobile number on file for validation cannot be performed if the number is inaccurate or unavailable in ServiceNow to begin with.
- Best Practice: Prioritize data hygiene and standardization from the outset. Before even scoping an integration, ensure that your contact information, phone details, etc. in ServiceNow are current, accurate, and consistently formatted. This foundational step underpins the success of many advanced features.
Security First: Proactive planning for smart IVR and automation
Clients are often eager to leverage intelligent IVR systems and Voice AI for automation and repetitive tasks such as ticket status follow-ups, service disruption announcements, etc.. However, the security and validation processes are frequently an afterthought.
- The Challenge: Often, clients only begin to think about the necessary validation processes or highlight required security steps after implementation has begun. Key questions, such as how to authenticate a caller using ServiceNow data or how to prevent malicious actors from exploiting the voice workflow for password resets, are not identified early enough.
- Why it Matters: Without a well-defined security strategy, automated processes can become vulnerabilities. Imagine an Voice AI or IVR flow for password resets that only requires an employee ID; this leaves the system open to abuse.
- Best Practice: Identify and outline your company’s security policies and scope out automation use cases with validation and security built-in from day one. For instance, for a password reset voice workflow, a standard validation step should include sending an OTP via SMS to the mobile number on file in ServiceNow after an employee ID is entered. The caller would then enter this OTP into the IVR, adding a vital layer of security. This once again highlights the importance of accurate data (point 1).
Beyond the Demo: Aligning solution capabilities with your business reality
It's important to mature beyond "the art of the possible" product demonstrations–such as Major Incident checks or existing ticket status playbacks–and clearly define what contact center use cases and capabilities need to align with your organization's current business processes and the hurdles you seek to solve for.
- The Challenge: Decision-makers during the initial sales cycle might not have the required insights into daily operations to fully understand how the business actually manages existing tickets or if features such as ServiceNow Major Incidents are even utilized. This can lead to scoping features and use cases that do not genuinely fit a client's operational needs.
- Why it Matters: Implementing capabilities that misalign to your current CX/EX workflows or use of ServiceNow can lead to wasted effort, unnecessary complexity, and underutilized functionality across both platforms (CRM and Contact Center)–failing to deliver the expected value.
- Best Practice: It is imperative to include core members such as Service Desk leads and/or the ServiceNow Admin(s) at the table early (e.g.: during demos and scoping sessions). Their direct operational insight is crucial to properly identify where contact center data and workflows truly fit and align to your broader ServiceNow instance and initiatives to drive the maximum value from the merging of the two.
The Goldilocks Zone: Finding the right balance between AI and overall CX
While an advanced Voice AI or intelligent IVR experience might promise automation, self-service, validation, deflection, and escalation, there's a point where "too much IVR" can actually detract from the end-user experience.
- The Challenge: Many organizations risk over-engineering customer or employee journeys in the name of “self-service” at the risk of impacting the very audience they claim to serve. Consider a simple scenario: a caller needs to reach an agent because their Macbook isn't turning only to be required to traverse a caller validation process, followed by two Major Incident announcements, a reminder that SMS self-service is available, then a few open ticket notifications, and then finally an option for Macbook device support–its too much.
- Why it Matters: Lengthy and convoluted IVR experience and Voice AI flows can lead to caller frustration, increasing abandonment rates and negating the benefits of automation–it demands careful design to achieve the right balance between AI and CX.
- Best Practice: Carefully evaluate the caller journey and balance the desire for automation with the need for a streamlined, efficient experience that may need that human touch. Guide your clients toward solutions that work best for them, avoiding excessive layers that delay connecting the caller with the appropriate assistance. An effective IVR is one that efficiently directs callers without causing undue friction.
Key Takeaways
By proactively addressing data accuracy, planning security from the start, involving the right stakeholders, and optimizing the IVR experience, enterprises can lay a strong foundation for a successful and truly integrated contact center solution with ServiceNow.
