Introduction
The integration between Freshservice and ServiceNow offers service management teams enhanced visibility and efficiency when collaborating with multiple stakeholders. Admins can seamlessly create, update, and sync tickets between both systems using predefined recipes.
With the Freshservice and ServiceNow integration, agents can:
Create and update tickets between Freshservice and ServiceNow
Map custom fields across both systems
Select tickets for sync based on specific conditions
Define the workspace for tickets to be added or mapped from
Sync conversation notes
Prerequisites
You need to have an active ServiceNow account. You will need your login credentials and ServiceNow base URL to enable this integration.
Every account administrator within Freshservice can initiate this integration.
Installation and configuration
Go to your Settings. Search for Apps using the search bar.
Click on Connector Apps. From the list of apps, click on ServiceNow Connector.
Install the app by clicking on the ‘Install’ button and you will be directed to the configuration page.
Enter the Domain URL and the API Key to connect your Freshservice account. Click Next.
Enter your Username, Password, and Base URL to connect your ServiceNow account. Click Connect and once the connection is established successfully, click Install.
How to check the list of all available recipes
After installation, go to Settings > Connector Apps. You will see your installed ServiceNow Connector app listed here. You have two options here
a. Configure App: Use this to edit the default recipes, view Overview dashboard metrics, and configure your Widget settings. These are explained in the upcoming section.
b. Settings: If you wish to go back to your configuration page and disconnect or re-authenticate ServiceNow or Freshservice use this option.
Click on the Configure App option. It will take you to a tab with Overview and Recipes.
Click on the Recipes tab. It will show you a list of all the available recipes
List of all the default recipes available
Here is the list of all default recipes available for the Freshservice integration with ServiceNow
How to preview, edit, activate, and stop the recipe
You will be able to preview, edit, activate, and stop the available recipes.
Preview recipe:
Click on the Preview button next to the recipe that you want to view. The recipe window will open and you will be able to view the steps involved in the recipe with pre-configured triggers, actions, and conditions.
On the left hand panel, you will be able to view the Recipe status, jobs executed, dependencies, and activity timeline.
Start recipe:
You can activate the recipe in two ways:
From the main recipe page, click on the Start button corresponding to the recipe you want to activate.
Click on the Preview button. Within the recipe window, you will see an option to Start the recipe.
Edit recipe:
Follow the below steps to edit the recipe:
Click on the preview button next to the recipe to open the recipe window. If the recipe is inactive, you will find the edit button available.
If the recipe is active, stop the recipe by clicking on the Stop recipe button. Now click on Edit recipe button.
Stop recipe:
You can activate the recipe in two ways:
From the main recipe page, click on the Stop button corresponding to the recipe you want to stop
Click on the Preview button. Within the recipe window you will see an option to Stop the recipe.
How to customize a recipe
Each recipe has the following components: Trigger, Actions, and Conditions. You can customize any part of the recipe depending on your specific use case by just clicking them.
Let’s take one of the default recipes as an example and see how you can customize it further.
Recipe - ServiceNow to Freshservice Change ticket creation & update
Trigger
The trigger acts as the starting point for any recipe. For this recipe, the trigger is a new change ticket created in service now. You can customize the trigger in the below mentioned ways.
You can either add optional fields or add a trigger condition. For example - you can choose the workspace which the trigger will listen to.
You can view the list of optional fields available for the particular trigger by clicking on the ‘optional field available’ button.
The trigger condition can be added by clicking on the ‘+’ option below the trigger conditions section. You can select if you want to set up an AND or OR condition.
You can set the trigger data by choosing from a list of available attributes. For example - you can set the priority of the ticket as one of the conditions.
Condition
The condition acts as a checkpoint within the recipe flow and executes a specific set of actions based on the condition matched. This recipe checks for two conditions. First, the recipe checks which Freshservice workspace the ticket should be added to based on the ServiceNow group source. Post that it checks if the change ticket already exists within that workspace. You will be able to check and edit the following conditions.
The data field and the value to be checked for any particular condition. You can pick the data field from a list of available attributes and set the value that needs to be met. For example - you can set the condition as ‘execute only if the impact value of the ticket is less than 2’.
Action
The recipe performs a specific set of actions based on the conditions specified. Based on the conditions mentioned above, the recipe either adds or updates the change ticket within a specific workspace. You can customize the following parts of the action:
You can choose to perform any action from the existing set of actions available under the ‘All Actions’ tab.
You can map values from the ServiceNow ticket records to the corresponding fields in Freshservice.
You can add more fields from the available set of optional fields
After making all the necessary changes, you can save the recipe directly or test the recipe first to check if it is working correctly.
How to check failed jobs
To view and troubleshoot the reason for a failed job under a recipe please follow the steps mentioned below:
Click on the Preview button of the specific recipe from the main recipe page.
In the recipe window, navigate to the Jobs tab
You will see the list of all the jobs executed under a particular recipe here
You can filter to check just the failed jobs by using the Status filter on the top panel
You can click any particular job to view further details about how the job was executed
If you click on a job that has failed, you will be able to view the error details that will help you identify the cause of failure
You can resubmit the job once you review and fix the issue.
Overview dashboard
The Overview tab also helps you understand the total number of tasks that you've consumed (based on which your billing for the app will happen). It also helps you have a consolidated view of the number of successful job vs. failed jobs for a given recipe.
Note: For information on frequently asked questions (FAQs) related to the Connector Apps in Freshservice, see Connector Apps: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).