Here’s a complete and structured guide on Email Notifications in ServiceNow, from basic to advanced levels, with examples and best practices for your educational website:

📧 Email Notifications in ServiceNow

🌐  Introduction

Email notifications in ServiceNow are used to communicate system events to users, groups, or external recipients.

• Triggered when specific conditions are met (record changes, approvals, SLA breaches, etc.).

• Can include dynamic content like record fields, links, and templates.

💡 Key Benefit: Keeps users informed in real-time, ensuring visibility, accountability, and faster response.

📑 Notification Types

1. Event-Driven Notifications

   • Triggered by system events (incident.opened, change.approved).

   • Defined in the Event Registry.

2. Record-Based Notifications

   • Sent when a record is created/updated/deleted under certain conditions.

   • Example: Send an email when Incident Priority = 1.

3. Subscription-Based Notifications

   • Users subscribe to specific updates (e.g., watch list).

4. Digest Notifications

   • Summarized emails sent periodically (daily/weekly reports).

⚙️ How Notifications Work

1. Trigger

   • Record update or custom event.

2. Notification Definition

   • Located in System Notification → Email → Notifications.

   • Defines who gets it, when it is sent, and what it contains.

3. Recipients

   • Users, Groups, Roles, Watchlist, or Scripted Recipients.

4. Templates

   • Use HTML or plain text to format the email.

   • Insert fields dynamically using ${field_name}.

5. Email Engine

   • Outbound emails are sent via SMTP.

   • Inbound emails (via POP/IMAP) can trigger actions like record updates.

📝  Example Notification

Scenario: Send an email when a new Critical Incident is created.

• Trigger Condition: Incident created with Priority = 1.

• Recipients: Assignment Group + Caller.

• Subject: Critical Incident ${number} Created

• Body:

  A critical incident has been created.  
  Number: ${number}  
  Short Description: ${short_description}  
  Assigned to: ${assigned_to}  
  [Click here to view Incident](${URI_REF})
  

⚡  Advanced Features

• Notification Scripts

  • Add logic to dynamically define recipients or message body.

  // Example: Add Manager as recipient
  var mgr = current.caller_id.manager;
  if (mgr) {
      template.print("Manager: " + mgr.getDisplayValue());
  }
  

• Email Templates

  • Reusable templates for consistent branding.

• Email Layouts

  • Define standard headers, footers, and logos.

• Event Queue

  • Monitor pending and processed notifications in sysevent and sys_email tables.

• Inbound Email Actions

  • Handle replies (e.g., reply “CLOSE” to close an Incident).

🛠️ Real-World Examples

1. Incident Management

   • Notify caller when incident is updated/resolved.

2. Change Management

   • Send approval requests to Change Managers.

3. HR Service Delivery

   • Send onboarding checklist email to new hires.

4. Customer Service Management (CSM)

   • Notify customers of case status updates.

5. Security Operations

   • Email SOC team when a high-severity security incident is logged.

💡  Best Practices

• ✅ Use Events for complex triggers instead of directly attaching notifications to conditions.

• ✅ Personalize emails with dynamic fields.

• ✅ Use Digest Notifications to avoid spamming users.

• ✅ Test in sub-production instances before enabling in Prod.

• ✅ Monitor the Email Logs (sys_email table) for troubleshooting.

• ❌ Don’t hardcode recipients—use roles, groups, or scripts.

• ❌ Avoid excessive notifications (users may ignore emails).

🎬 Conclusion

Email Notifications in ServiceNow are a core communication tool, ensuring stakeholders remain informed about critical events and processes.

• With templates, events, scripts, and inbound actions, they provide flexible, automated, and interactive email communication.

• When used with best practices, notifications improve collaboration, transparency, and efficiency across IT, HR, Security, and business workflows.