Ticket-based IT Experience 2.0.0 Update Guide

Deep-dive guide for Service Administrators on how to update to version 2.0.0 of the Ticket-based IT Experience application.

  1. Check Release notes
  2. Update your application version
  3. Fix script
  4. Review the application update log
    1. Handling update conflicts
  5. Updating from application version 1.4 or older
  6. CustomConfig changes
  7. Table changes
  8. New Application menu
  9. Mapping Happysignals instance
  10. Inbound Integration
    1. Transform processing for response imports
  11. New survey channels
    1. Teams
    2. Portal
  12. Tracking sent surveys from ServiceNow
  13. General updates
    1. Data preserver
    2. Mapping language code differences
    3. Worknote message mapping
    4. Script changes
    5. Other changes
  14. Post update checks
  15. HappySignals Support

Check Release Notes

First, check out the Release Notes for an overview of what's new in this version.

Update your application version

During the application update "Fix Script" is run to populate "Status" for all existing records in the "HappySignals Feedback" table. If your feedback table contains large numbers of records, the fix script run may cause some slowness in the instance. 

Always update your sub-production instances first and only then proceed to update your production instance.

In your ServiceNow instance navigate to System Applications > All Available Applications > Installed.

Find the application you want to update and click the "Update" button.

Let the update run through, this usually takes a minute or two. 

Review the application update log

Once the update has been completed, click on the "View update log" button to see what records have been updated and what have been left untouched by the update process.

ServiceNow protects any customisations you might have done in the application and will not apply updates to any records that have been altered by the client.

Handling update conflicts

HappyConstants (Script Include)

This version introduces a number of new configuration constants which need to be merged into the script if modifications have been made to the default version. Compare and review your version against our latest version and merge changes as needed.

HappyLinkCreator (Script Include)

This version changes the structure and methods of the HappyLinkCreator class heavily. If your version differs from our latest version, we suggest to revert the script to the base system. If needed contact our support to migrate your customisation to new version.

happysignals_vote (Mail Script)

This version introduces a number of changes that affects the logic of the Mail Script. Compare and review your version against our latest version and merge you customisation to our latest version as needed.

HappySignals Feedback Inserted (Business Rule)

This version changes the name and script content of this business. Revert this business rule to it's base system version and move your changes to the HappyConstants script include where appropriate.

File Deletions:

ServiceNow does not automatically apply record deletions published by the developer and these need to be applied manually after the update. To apply deletions, list the skipped changes and filter them by file name where the name is one of:

sys_script_email_e1544e93dbd657409b18735a8c9619bc
sys_properties_category_m2m_e1ee77931b0b5110d688c80f034bcbd8
sys_script_email_6ecd8662db74d700dfd83c9b7c96197d
sys_script_email_455eca62db74d700dfd83c9b7c961900
sys_script_email_1526a512dbbc9700dfd83c9b7c961920
sys_security_acl_role_215de3c94764e2107b4db01b516d4351

Then use "Revert to Base System" on each record to apply the deletion.

For more information about the deletions, see the list below:

Display Name File Name Reason for deletion
email_test sys_script_email_e1544e93dbd657409b18735a8c9619bc Removes unsused notification email script from the application.
x_pgo_happysignals.excludeResponseRateProcess.HappySignals Measurement Activity sys_properties_category_m2m_e1ee77931b0b5110d688c80f034bcbd8 Removes deprecated system property from its associated property category.
happysignals_incident_vote_vml_DEPRECATED sys_script_email_6ecd8662db74d700dfd83c9b7c96197d Removes functionally deprecated notification email script from the application.
happysignals_ritm_vote_vml_DEPRECATED sys_script_email_455eca62db74d700dfd83c9b7c961900 Removes functionally deprecated notification email script from the application.
happysignals_ritm_vote_DEPREDATED sys_script_email_1526a512dbbc9700dfd83c9b7c961920 Removes functionally deprecated notification email script from the application.
x_pgo_happysignals_happysignals_feedback.response_id.snc_internal sys_security_acl_role_215de3c94764e2107b4db01b516d4351 Removes role association from an ALC.

 

Updating from application version 1.4 or older

When updating from application version 1.4 you need to first do record deletions within the application in your ServiceNow instance. Needed deletions are described in the link below

Ticket-based IT Experience 1.5.0 Update Guide

When updating from version 1.5.0 this is not needed.

Fix script

Make sure that the fix scripts are run as part of the update as the survey table has a new status field and fix script updates status values to previously created responses.

If your QA/test environment has recently cloned data then checking how long the update takes is a good reference on how long the production update might take as there might be tens of thousands of surveys in the table that need to be updated with the new status information.

CustomConfig changes

Due to changes made by ServiceNow, HappyCustomConfig script include needs to be changed to Scripted Extension Points. If you are using a HappyCustomConfig you just need to link to the new Scripted Extension as an Extension instance, this can be done in sys_extension_instance table by creating a new instance and linking it to the x_pgo_happysignals.HappyCustomConfig  that came with the update.

Steps for doing this.

First change the scope to where you have your CustomPortal script

Open sys_extension_instance.list -> add New

Create a new instance by selecting the existing CustomConfig as a Class attribute and as Point the x_pgo_happysignals.HappyCustomConfig 

After this you need to go the Scripted Extension and check that there is only the new instance added as all instances are run and they are run in the order set by order numbers. 

You can have multiple instances but note that all active ones are run in the order specified. 

Table changes

Table x_pgo_happysignals_happysignals_feedback label has been changed to HappySignals Surveys and new fields have been added to the table.

Field name Field Label Type

Description

survey_context Survey Context Key-value Pairs Stores immutable collected context for the survey. Survey context is used to recreate same link again after the record has been created.
status Status Choice Tracks the status for the survey record.
Statuses:
None (not in use)
Created
Scheduled (not in use)
Send Ready (not in use)
Sent
Answered
send_date Send Date Datetime Tracks the actual send time for the survey from the source system.

New Application menu

Application menu structure has been changed to reflect changes to table and include new survey channels.

Mapping Happysignals instance

Map your ServiceNow instances to their expected HappySignals platform counterpoints. This is done in the script include HappyConstants, as shown below.

The mapping is required for the response rate calculation to work and  If this mapping is not done pre-responses are not created for response rate calculation.

Inbound Integration

Inbound integration has few changes, imports timezone is now GMT by default. New information added to the import fields from HappySignals API

  • Send Date
  • Company

Transform processing for response imports

  • New Transform Map for processing imported responses. Old Transform Map deactivated
  • New primary method for matching responses to survey records in the source system
  • Processing scripts made more secure by switching to GlideRecordSecure from plain GlideRecord.

New survey channels

In addition to making it easy to collect feedback about surveys via email, you can now provide additional channels for your employees to provide feedback. 

Teams

You can setup HappySignals Surveys via Teams as a survey channel directly in the HappySignals Ticket-based IT Experience application. This requires installation of the HappySignals Surveys via Teams in Entra / Azure and setting up configuration from the settings.

If you are using the previous separate version of HappySignals Chat Connector you need to disable it before using the new version, however you can choose to keep the separate Chat Connector in use if you want, but then you can't use the new integrated version at the same time.

Teams surveys now have more flexibility in the greeting message in Teams, you can customize the message using any field or referenced field. Also Translations are supported, so you can tailor the message for different languages.

For teams there is also instance mapping to prevent unwanted messages between production/non-production environments, this is mapped in HappyConstants as described in the Mapping HappySignals instance

Portal

New widget to enable using rating element in portal for ticket related surveys, Element support branding so you can make it fit your organization internal branding when needed. Easily add translations to support multi-language portals or adjust tone of voice for English standard texts.

If you are using previously created widgets in portal for ticket related surveys you need to create new versions of those based on the new widged as the there have been internal changes so the old versions don't work correctly.

 

Tracking sent surveys from ServiceNow

You now have the ability to monitor which support tickets have had a survey sent out from ServiceNow. This new feature helps you keep track of your survey coverage and spot any gaps in your feedback collection process. For example, it can help you identify situations where a survey was sent, but there was no actual person available to receive or respond to it—such as when a ticket was closed automatically or assigned to a system account.

This visibility allows you to improve the accuracy and effectiveness of your surveys, ensuring that feedback is being collected from real users in meaningful situations.

Additionally, if a survey link needs to be sent again—for instance, if the original message was missed or the user prefers a different communication channel—you can now easily recreate the survey link and resend it. This can be done through various channels like email, Teams, or even the service portal, giving you more flexibility in how you reach users and collect their input.

 

General updates

Data preservers

Added Data Preserver to prevent instance-specific HappySignals connection details (Endpoint, Shared Secret and API-key) getting copied between environments on instance clones.

If you are using Clone Profiles you might need to include the new Data Preservers to profiles where you want to use them.

Mapping language code differences

New constant for mapping language code differences between ServiceNow and HappySignals.

Worknote message mapping

New constant for customizing worknote content, this is to enable custom content without the need to change underlying business rules.

Script changes

  • HappyLinkCreator - createLink now returns object instead of a URL object format is
    • {url:survey link, survey_record: Survey GlideRecord}
  • HappyLinkCreator calls to global.HappyCustomConfig extension script include has been replaced by scripted extension point
  • HappySurveySender new script include that handles the survey delivery to Teams.

Other changes

  • Improved date and time handling between ServiceNow and HappySignals.  ServiceNow app will now align with HappySignals Analytics’ time and use GMT time, rather than the system’s time zone.
  • Translated data values are now collected in ServiceNow system language (when English translation is available)
  • Anonymous yet unique responder identifier is now included in HappySignals data by default.
  • Disabling response rate calculation for specific tables has been deprecated.

Post update checks

After any application make sure to run functional testing in a non-production environment before installing any updates to production.

Additionally, after each update, check that all scheduled jobs within the application are set to"Active" as these can get deactivated as part of the update process.

HappySignals Support

If you encounter issues, have questions or need support with the update contact our support at

support@happysignals.com