Moving from Connect Chat to Sidebar SummaryAs the way of working has evolved, so has our product strategy. We're moving away from Connect Chat and investing in Sidebar, the new record-based collaboration feature on Next Experience. Connect Chat has been in maintenance mode for many releases and will continue to be available in Core UI (UI16). However, Connect Chat will not be available in Next Experience. Sidebar overview and availability Sidebar enables Agents to have discussions with a specific group of people around a ServiceNow record, specific area of concern, or course of action to work faster and smarter together as a team. Sidebar is available with any ServiceNow Standard entitlement starting in the Tokyo release. Considerations Before Moving to Sidebar The Next Experience UI must be enabled to user Sidebar. Your path to activating Next Experience may depend on your instance's level of customization. Guidance and support from those who helped you customize your instance, or another certified partner, will ensure that your move to Next Experience goes smoothly. Click here to learn more. Sidebar offers some of the functionality that Connect Chat offered, but it is not a direct replacement. The table below demonstrates the differences in Connect Chat vs Sidebar. Functionality Sidebar Connect Chat Activity stream tiles ✔️ Configurable quick actions ✔️ Direct messaging ✔️ Discussions around a record ✔️ ✔️ Discussions around VTBs ✔️ Email notifications ✔️ Emojis ✔️ Favoriting discussions ✔️ File drag and drop ✔️ ✔️ Follow a record ✔️ KB article quick search ✔️ Menu and docked window ✔️ ✔️ Mobile app support ✔️ Notifications ✔️ Searching through discussions ✔️ ✔️ User presence in discussions ✔️ How to Move from Connect Chat to Sidebar There is no migration path to export Connect Chat conversations to Sidebar. Instead, you will need to setup Next Experience and Sidebar as a brand-new solution within your organization. To quickly enable Sidebar, please complete the following steps: Ensure that the Polaris system property is set to true: glide.ui.polaris.experience.Install the store application: Omni-Experience Standard Feature Set.Navigate to Conversational Interfaces > Settings and switch on the Emojis toggle.Navigate to Conversational Interfaces > Settings and define the User Member Query.Ensure that AI Search is enabled, navigate to quickactions_action and enable "Search KB Article" for the sys_cs_collab_chat table by setting to active.Configure additional Quick Actions as needed.Related LinksAdditional resources for setting up Sidebar: Installing SidebarConfiguring SidebarConfiguring the User Member QueryConfiguring AI SearchTheming If your organization determines that they are not ready to make the move, you can learn more about how to disable Next Experience and continue use of Connect Chat, here.