Dynamics 365 Field Service Module Overview

Dynamics 365 Field Service provides organizations to assist in creating work orders, scheduling and dispatching technicians, work order execution, asset management and servicing, and inventory and billing, D365 Field Service helps equip technicians with what they need to increase first-time fix rates.

Overview of Field Service Functionality:
● Work orders to define the service work needed primarily (but not exclusively) at customer locations.
● Scheduling and dispatch tools to manage resources and equipment needed for customer service,
visualize onsite appointments, and optimize service schedules with efficient routing and resource skill
matching.
● Communication tools to enhance collaboration between customer service agents, dispatchers, field
technicians, customers, and other stakeholders.
● An easy-to-use mobile application that guides technicians through schedule changes and service
work.
● Asset management capabilities to keep track of customer equipment and service history.
● Preventive maintenance by automatically generating recurring maintenance appointments for equipment.
● Inventory, purchasing, and returns capabilities to manage truck stock, purchase order requests and
fulfillment, and product returns.
● Billing capabilities to generate invoices based on products and services delivered to customers.
● Time tracking to help you track how resources are spending their time, whether they’re traveling, on
break, or working.
● Analytics for reporting on key performance indicators for managing work orders, scheduling activities,
and interacting with customers.

Field Service Lifecycle:

Implementation Considerations:

The solution architect needs to understand the Field Service process and address each of the stages in
the process outlined in the following diagram.

When implementing Dynamics 365 Field Service, the SA needs to perform gap analysis on
the following four main processes:
● Work order creation
● Schedule and dispatch
● On-site work with mobile application
● Review and completion of the work order
There are many configurable items that need to be setup before scheduling of work orders can commence. Some configurable items can have a significant impact on the functionality of Field Service.

Deployment Considerations:

Most of the configuration data that will be used to support the bulk of the application functionality is
captured as data. For this reason it will not be included in solutions. The following are not included in
solutions and the solution architect will need a process to manage their deployment:
● Schedule Boards
● Settings
● Resource
● Characteristics
● Proficiency Models
● Products & Services
● Incident & Service Task Types
● Resources, Territories, Organization Units
● Sub-statuses
● Requirement Group Templates

Key Entities in Field Service Module:

Work Order: The primary record type used in Dynamics 365 Field Service. It specifies important
information such as who the work is for, where it should be performed, what needs to be done, skill
required, and time-lines.
Work Order Products: Defines products that will be used on the work order. These typically represent
items that might be installed such as an appliance or item that will be used during the process,
such as a special cord required to install the appliance.
Work Order Services: Defines services that are being executed as part of the work order.
Service Tasks: Acts as to-do list for the resource who will be performing the work. This ensures that
they are not missing anything during the process.
Incident: Act as a template to prepopulate information into a work order to save time during the
intake process.
Customer Asset: Refers to a piece of equipment that is sitting at a customer location, such as the
washing machine that was installed earlier. Work Orders can be related to specific Customer Assets.
Agreement: Service contracts used to generate work orders and invoices on predefined schedules,
based on terms defined in the agreement. These are used most for preventative maintenance contracts.
Scheduling: After a demand has been generated, the items will need to be scheduled and dispatched. Dynamics 365. Field Service leverages Universal Resource Scheduling help schedule an item. Universal Resource Scheduling provides the ability to schedule anything, such as work orders, time off, audits, etc. It provides multiple tools to assist organizations in scheduling items.

Hope this blog post given some idea about field service module (overview). I have shared from my point of view & as per my product knowledge. Happy to hear from others if I have missed anything.