Domain separation in Connect Support and Connect Chat

This an overview of how domain separation works in Connect Support and Connect Chat, and the expected interactions across domains to support multiple tenants. Domain separation enables you to separate data, processes, and administrative tasks into logical groupings called domains. You can then control several aspects of this separation, including which users can see and access data.

Overview

Support: Level 1

Domain separation is supported in this application. Not all ServiceNow applications support domain separation; some include limitations on the data and administrative settings that can be domain separated. To learn more, see Application support for domain separation.

Connect Support adheres to the standard domain separation patterns within ServiceNow, with some exceptions. Most notably, Connect Support allows for users in a parent or top-level domain to interact with chat_queue_entry records generated from child domains. Users can then pose questions in specifically-labeled chat_queues directly to the primary administrators of the instance.

Connect Chat supports data separation within domain separated instances. Delegated administration—the ability to override configuration settings and logic in domains—is not supported.

How domain separation works in Connect Support

Connect Support supports data separation within domain-separated instances. Delegated administration—the ability to override configuration settings and logic in domains—is not supported.

Configuration

Connect Support is configurable by system administrators only. Configuration settings apply to all domains. Overrides for configuration details and process logic in domains are not supported.

After domain separation has been enabled, the following Connect Support-related tables are not domain-separated in the base system:

```
chat_queue
```
```
connect_action
```

Records created from users in a child domain remain in the child domain to both the agent and the user initiating the chat. Any of the following tables represent records that support the conversation.

Table 1. Records from conversations
Table	Description
`chat_queue_entry`	Holds the initial question from the end user, and other metrics to determine overall support efficiency, such as `wait_time`.
`live_group_profile`	Represents the conversation itself
`live_group_member`	Each individual member of the support conversation
Incident and other task-based records	Any record generated from `connect_actions`.

How domain separation works in Connect Chat

Configuration: Connect Chat is configurable by system administrators only. Configuration settings apply to all domains. Overrides for configuration details and process logic in domains are not supported.

Actions may be made available to specific domains based on condition filters set by system administrators.

Data Management: Connect Chat messages are not assigned to a domain. Rather, visibility is restricted to conversation participants.

Usage scenarios

Usage diagram for how domain separation works for Connect

Chat with users in the same domain (Supported)

Domain visibility allows users to see other users in the same domain.
Examples:
- - Service Provider user may chat with another Service Provider user
  - ACME user may chat with another ACME user

Parent domain user initiates chat with child domain user (Supported)

Domain visibility allows users to see users in child domains.
Examples:
- Service Provider user may initiate a chat with a Service Provider sub-contractor user
- ACME user may initiate a chat with ACME EMEA user

Domain user initiates chat with user in a domain where visibility has been granted (Supported)

Domain visibility allows the user initiating a chat to see users in the target domain.
Examples:
- Service Provider sub-contractor user may initiate a chat with an Initech user, given domain visibility
- Service Provider users may initiate a chat with any domain user, given the contains relationship with the TOP domain

Sub-domain user initiates chat with Parent domain user (Not supported)

Domain visibility does not allow users in child domains to see users in parent domains. This means they are unable to initiate a chat session.

Configuration

Administrators may configure multiple Chat Queues. Support Queues are not assigned to a domain. Assignment groups may exist in any domain.

Any user with the appropriate link can enter a queue, regardless of the user’s domain. Exposure of links to specific queues through the default user interface may be controlled using domain-specific overrides. Exposure of links to specific queues through the Service Portal may be controlled using conditions or custom coding logic.

The Reporting Dashboard contains statistics related to all queues and all agents. Statistics are not filtered according to domain. Therefore, it is not appropriate to expose this page to users within child domains.

Data management

Connect Support Queues are global. No domain field exists on this table and it is not suitable for domain separation.

Connect Support messages are assigned to a domain based on the domain of the user entering the queue. Members of the Assignment group for the queue must have domain visibility to the user entering the queue to participate in chat sessions.

Records generated from chat sessions display based on the agent’s home domain. However, once the record is saved with a Company value, business rules assign the newly created record to the corresponding domain.

Usage scenarios

In the illustration above:

The ACME support queue is configured to be available from 8-5 on weekdays. The ACME Support group in the ACME domain provides first-level support. If more advanced support is required, users are escalated to the Service Provider’s Service Desk queue.
The Service Desk queue is configured to be available 24x7 and is staffed by the Service Desk Group in the Service Provider domain. If more advanced support is required, users are escalated to the Tier 2 Support queue in the same domain.

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