Advanced Work Assignment - How to enable audio notifications blocked by browser - Support and Troubleshooting

Advanced Work Assignment - How to enable audio notifications blocked by browser Issue .ns-kb-css-body-editor-container { p { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, #000000); } span { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, #000000); } h2 { font-size: 24pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, black); } h3 { font-size: 18pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, black); } h4 { font-size: 14pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, black); } a { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #00718F); } a:hover { font-size: 12pt; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #024F69); } a:target { font-size: 12pt; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #032D42); } a:visited { font-size: 12pt; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #00718f); } ul { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; } li { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; } img { display: ; max-width: ; width: ; height: ; } } In recent releases, a couple of defects were fixed which had impacted the ability of agents to hear audio alerts upon receiving AWA inbox items while engaged in work in another application or browser tab:

DEF0200111 ( PRB1485842 ) - Audio notifications don't come through for the first chat when the browser tab is out of focus DEF0313277 ( PRB1553865 ) - Tasks are delayed in Chrome when the browser isn't in the foreground Both of the above have been fixed and are available in recent Rome and San Diego patches. However, due to the default behaviour of modern browsers, there is still a sequence of steps for which audio alerts may not be played:

The agent loads or reloads the workspace while already having an active presence state. Without making any further clicks on the workspace, the agent switches to another browser tab. A work item is assigned to the agent while the workspace tab is still out of focus. Release .ns-kb-css-body-editor-container { p { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, #000000); } span { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, #000000); } h2 { font-size: 24pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, black); } h3 { font-size: 18pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, black); } h4 { font-size: 14pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, black); } a { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #00718F); } a:hover { font-size: 12pt; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #024F69); } a:target { font-size: 12pt; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #032D42); } a:visited { font-size: 12pt; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #00718f); } ul { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; } li { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; } img { display: ; max-width: ; width: ; height: ; } } The behaviour described above may occur on any ServiceNow release where Agent Workspace or configurable Workspace is used with Advanced Work Assignment. It has been observed both on Chromium-based browsers (Google Chrome and MS Edge) and well as Mozilla Firefox. Cause .ns-kb-css-body-editor-container { p { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, #000000); } span { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, #000000); } h2 { font-size: 24pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, black); } h3 { font-size: 18pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, black); } h4 { font-size: 14pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, black); } a { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #00718F); } a:hover { font-size: 12pt; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #024F69); } a:target { font-size: 12pt; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #032D42); } a:visited { font-size: 12pt; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #00718f); } ul { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; } li { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; } img { display: ; max-width: ; width: ; height: ; } } Browsers today have default settings which constrain the ability to play media on a website if the user has not yet actively interacted with the page (clicked or typed somewhere) after it was loaded. So if an agent does nothing other than load or reloads their workspace tab before moving on to something else, that tab will not yet be able to play the audio alerts that would be expected for incoming work.

Resolution .ns-kb-css-body-editor-container { p { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, #000000); } span { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, #000000); } h2 { font-size: 24pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, black); } h3 { font-size: 18pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, black); } h4 { font-size: 14pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--text-primary, black); } a { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #00718F); } a:hover { font-size: 12pt; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #024F69); } a:target { font-size: 12pt; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #032D42); } a:visited { font-size: 12pt; color: var(--now-color--link-primary, #00718f); } ul { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; } li { font-size: 12pt; font-family: Lato; } img { display: ; max-width: ; width: ; height: ; } } Fortunately, browsers provide a way to loosen the media constraints for particular sites or tabs. When using ServiceNow with Advanced Work Assignment, it is recommended to take the following actions to avoid missing out on alerts:

Google Chrome:

Select Menu > Settings. Select "Privacy and Security" in the left navigation menu Select "Site Settings" from the "Privacy and Security" options The hostname of the instance (e.g., "Instance.service-now.com") may be listed under recent activity. Select it there, or search for it under "View permissions and data stored across all sites") On the permissions page for the site, make sure the "Notifications" and "Sound" permissions are set to "Allow". By default, the Sound permission is set to "Automatic (default)" which does not allow audio with no user interaction. Microsoft Edge:

Select Menu > Settings. Select "Cookies and Site Permissions" in the left navigation menu Under "All permissions", select "Media autoplay" For "Control if audio and video play automatically on sites", select "Allow". If this is not desired for all sites, the hostname of the ServiceNow instance may be added to the "Allow" list Firefox:

Select Firefox > Preferences Select "Privacy and Security" in the left navigation menu Scroll down to the "Permissions" section and select "Autoplay" Settings Set the Default for all Websites to "Allow Audio and Video". Alternatively, to allow audio and video only for the ServiceNow instance, an exception can be made by visiting the site and following the instructions under "Site settings" section on this page .