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on - edited on by
Lisa Latour
NOTE:
- Installing these plugins will enable Employee Center on Microsoft Teams.
- Microsoft integration plugins are not available on Personal Developer Instance (PDI).
- Optional: Watch the integration demo.
Plug-ins that these steps are for:
Install the bundle plugin called ServiceNow for Microsoft Teams. The bundle contains the following plugins.
IT Service Management integration with Microsoft Teams (version 2.6.0 and above)
HR Service Delivery integration with Microsoft Teams (version 3.3.0 and above)
Notify Connector for Microsoft Teams (version 2.5.0 and above)
Meeting Extensions for Microsoft Teams (version 1.3.0 and above)
Entitlement requirement:
- ITSM standard or ITSM Pro for “IT Service Management integration with Microsoft Teams”. ITSM Pro customers will get access to additional features on each plug-in.
- Customers need at least HRSD Pro to use “HR Service Delivery integration with Microsoft Teams” plug-ins. Note: Install Virtual Agent before installing HRSD integration with MS Teams.
- All customers need the IntegrationHub Starter subscription package at the minimum.
Background:
There are two installation processes: Single Tenant and Multi-Tenant. This article is for a multi-tenant setup which we highly recommend. For single tenant setup, please follow these instructions.
| Multi-tenant | Single tenant |
|---|---|
|
|
Installation Process Overview:
Ultimately, your goal for the installation is to connect a given Microsoft tenant with a given ServiceNow instance and enable users to access ServiceNow via a custom app. See the figure below:
Below are the steps you will need to perform to complete the installation. Once the installation steps are complete, you configure the integration to extend it based on your specific use cases and requirements for your organization.
Step 1: Complete the pre-requisites
- First, depending on what plug-ins you are looking to install or features you want to activate, you need the below plug-ins installed in advance:
- Glide Virtual Agent plug-in(required for installing HR Service Delivery integration with Microsoft Teams)
- Agent Chat plug-in (required for enabling live agent via Microsoft Team)
- Agent workspace plug-in (required for agent chat to call and major incident management features)
- Second, you need a ServiceNow instance that is on Rome and above. Once you are on a supported family release, you will have the below apps available on your instance.
- Install the plugins.
- Go to System Application > All Available Applications > All
- Search for ServiceNow for Microsoft Teams and install.
For additional details on the plug-in requirements, refer to Microsoft Teams Cheat Sheets.
- A Microsoft tenant. If you don’t have a Microsoft tenant that you can use to test or demo these integrations, then follow the steps below to get one. For the actual integration, customers would need to use their organization’s Microsoft tenant.
- Sign-up for Microsoft 365 developer program at https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/dev-program. You will be asked to set up an E5 subscription, which will assign you a domain name and an account in the format of <username>@<domainname>.onmicrosoft.com.
- You can choose to add demo users if needed. Else, you can add them manually from the Azure Active Directory accessible via. portal.azure.com. Note that all these users must be on the same domain i.e. @<domainname>.onmicrosoft.com.
- If you are creating a demo/test environment, ensure the email associated with your profile on Servicenow instance is the same as your account on the Microsoft tenant you are trying to link. (tip: look for @<domainname>.onmicrosoft.com. The domain name here should match the domain name of your Microsoft tenant)
For additional help, refer to the article Steps to Test Microsoft Teams Integrations.
Step 2: Get the required permissions and roles
- On the ServiceNow instance, you need external_app_install_admin or admin role. Please verify you have these roles assigned to you. In large organizations, the system administrator may have the external_app_install_admin role assigned to someone else, who manages all external app integrations with the ServiceNow instance.
- On the Microsoft Azure AD account, you need either the Global Administrator or a combination of Teams Administrator and Application administrator roles. Ensure you have identified who in your organization has these roles. If you are using sub-production or a personal Microsoft tenant, you may want to assign yourself the global administrator role to simplify the process. Refer to these guidelines from Microsoft docs to assign or verify roles on Azure AD.
For additional details on the roles, refer to roles required in the setup of the Microsoft Teams integration community blog.
Step 3: Connect ServiceNow instance with Microsoft tenant
- Install the required plug-ins (ensure you install the latest ones as stated in the pre-requisites). Follow the guidelines in the product links below:
- Install IT Service Management integration with Microsoft Teams application on your ServiceNow Instance. Make sure to install the fix-script as well. Note that, you don’t need to enter anything for ‘parent’, ignore the screenshot in the product docs that has 5 entered for the parent field.
- Install HR Service Delivery integration with Microsoft Teams application on your ServiceNow Instance. Make sure to install the fix-script as well. Note that for HR Service Delivery integration, you also need to install the Restricted Caller Access(RCA) update sets from its ServiceNow store page (see below screenshot). To avoid any configuration issues in your environment because of these RCA update sets, you must do the following as per the guidance in product docs:
- Install the “Notify connector for Microsoft teams” plugin from System Application > All Available Applications > All.
- Finally, install the “Meeting extensions for Microsoft teams” plugin. Note that you need to install the notify connector for Microsoft teams before installing the meeting extensions plugin.
- Connect the Microsoft tenant with your ServiceNow instance. For this you need to go to ServiceNow for Microsoft Teams > Install Azure apps. You will be asked to log in to your Microsoft account, ensure you use the account associated with the tenant you want to connect. Also, ensure to consent on behalf of your organization. Follow the screenshots in product docs.
- Once the connection is complete, you will see the below three apps pop-up on the screen, under the instance connected. See screenshot below:
- Your next step is to authorize these Azure apps and grant required permissions. Follow screenshots in the product docs or the document attached. Try refreshing if you are getting an error as it sometimes takes time for the sync across the two platforms.
- After you have authorized all three apps, the Microsoft tenant is linked with the ServiceNow instance. You can click on the “change tenant” button (see screenshot above) to link another tenant with the instance or switch tenants. When you switch to a linked tenant, you will not have to re-authorize the three apps again. Note that, when you change tenants, the previous connection is no longer active, i.e. the users in that tenant will not receive notifications or be able to the integration features again.
Step 4: Create and upload the custom app manifest on Microsoft Teams (along with branding it)
### For ITSM/HRSD Integration with Microsoft teams apps ###
- Go to ServiceNow for Microsoft Teams > Application Manifest > ServiceNow for Teams. Here you will Create a Manifest file that end-users will use to connect their ServiceNow app on Microsoft Teams with your organization’s ServiceNow instance.
- If you want to use your company branding for the custom app that appears for all users, you need to modify the manifest before downloading it. Uncheck “use default images”, change the names for the app, and upload the icon images. (see screenshot below). Note that you can only use .png files and the size must be 192x192 for color and 32x32 for the outline, as per Microsoft teams guidelines for App icons.
- Once ready, download the manifest file in an accessible location. If you need to edit the manifest file, for any reason, you will need to first move it to Configure Virtual Agent, Configure Tab, and Ready to download it. Follow instructions here.
- Login to Microsoft teams using your Microsoft tenant account, if you have either Global Administrator or Teams Administrator role in Microsoft Azure AD. Else, you will have to work with someone who has these roles to do the next step.
- Install the custom app manifest into the Teams app for all users. Ensure when you use the right manifest file to create the custom app — it must be the same as the one you downloaded above. See the screenshot below:
- Once the upload is complete, you will see a new card created for the custom app. Click on the app and then hit Add to add the app for all users.
### For Meeting extensions for Microsoft Teams app ###
- Go to ServiceNow for Microsoft Teams -> Application Manifest -> Meetings Bot.
- Similar to the steps above, make any branding changes you want to make. Move it to ready, and download the manifest.
- Similar to the steps above, log in to Microsoft Teams app, using your Microsoft account (.onmicrosoft.com one). Go to apps, click “upload a custom app” (see screenshot on left), and upload the manifest you downloaded in the last step. You should see the Meetings Bot card appear.
Step 5: Enable VA for Microsoft teams
- Next, you need to connect Microsoft Teams with the ServiceNow Virtual Agent. Go to Conversational Interfaces > Messaging Apps Integration and click install against the Microsoft Teams option. Follow the screenshots on product docs. You will be asked to navigate to the third-party apps to connect with your Microsoft tenant (tip: if this is different from your regular Microsoft account, use an incognito window)
- Once completed, ensure you check the “Enable notifications for all users” and “Automatically link ServiceNow user profiles” boxes (see below), which enabled Teams users to start receiving notifications, without having to manually connect their profiles with the ServiceNow instance.
Step 6: Manage Now Virtual Agent Permissions
Once the custom app is available, you should disable the Now Virtual Agent app so users are not confused about which app to install and don't get double notifications. (This is an important step for driving adoption)
Follow the steps below to do this correctly (product docs link😞
- Login to https://admin.teams.microsoft.com/ using your Microsoft account (if you have the Global/Teams administrator role, else you will have to work with the user who has this role on Microsoft Azure AD)
- Navigate to “Manage apps” under “Teams apps” and find “Now Virtual Agent” using the search bar. Change the status to blocked for the Now Virtual Agent app. (screenshot on right). This will ensure users don’t see the “Now Virtual Agent” app as an available app.
- Next, go to “permission Policies” and click on “Global(Org-wide default)”. Under Third-party apps, select “Allow specific apps and block others”, click +Add apps, find Now Virtual Agent, and add it. Under Custom apps, select “Allow specific apps and block others”, click +Add apps, find your ServiceNow for teams app (search for your branded name) and add it. Hit save after that.
- You may have to define these permissions differently based on your organization’s Teams’ environment. The goal (from ServiceNow's perspective) is to ensure both the Now Virtual Agent app and the custom app have the required permissions to function at the back end.
Step 7: Verify and Troubleshoot
If you did all the above steps correctly, test all features, refer to steps to test Microsoft teams integration article for guidance on what to test.
If you are facing any VA related issues, check our VA on Microsoft teams troubleshooting guide.
If you are getting errors on Employee Center, check if any RCA requests are stuck. follow the below steps:
- Navigate to System Applications -> Application Restricted Caller Access
- Search for Microsoft in text, and for any operation that is in the requested state, change it to the allowed state.
- You may need to refresh (both on teams and ServiceNow) and repeat the above two steps a few times, till all errors clear.
Step 8 (optional): Configure the experience
- Define which tables (incident, request, etc.) you want to extend the UI actions for the agent i.e., “Start Microsoft Teams chat” and “Import messages” UI action. Here are the instructions to extend each UI action:
- Define which business rules (for actionable notifications) you want to extend to another table (similar to what you did for UI actions). Follow these
- Define which widgets you want to enable for Employee Center dashboard in Microsoft Teams.
- Learn more about the instructions and Employee Center widget information here.
- Follow these instructions to define the widget you want to enable. Note that you have to use Service Portal designer for designing the Employee Center experience
- Finally, ensure that you don’t have double notifications set up for your users. Follow these
To learn more about Microsoft Teams Integrations, refer to our get smart quickly on Microsoft Teams Integrations with ServiceNow article.
