Microsoft Dynamics 365 Field Service Configuration (Entities)

Dynamics 365 Field Service is the ability to configure it based on your organization needs. A Dynamics 365 Field Service deployment will more closely resemble an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementation than an implementation of Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Sales or Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Service.

Configuration might include identifying, considerations of defining products & services and the defining the necessary Work Order Types, sub-statuses, service territories, and account configuration that will support the desired Functionality.

Define work order types, statuses and sub statuses
Define incident and service task types
Define Field Service products, services, and pricing options
Define service territories
Users and security roles
Configure Field Service account preferences

Geocoding: D365 Field Service uses latitude and longitude to determine location info. Addresses in D365 are geocoded, so they can be easily identified on maps, and be used to compare locations to find the closest resource.

Field Service leverages Universal Resource Scheduling (URS) to schedule work orders in the application. Field Service configuration consists of both defining items in URS and configuring Field Service settings. The first thing you want to configure is mapping functionality. By default, mapping is not enabled. This can be modified from the Field Service mobile app. On the site map, select the ellipsis and select Resource Scheduling. Under Administration > Scheduling Parameters, you will need to set the Connect to Maps field to Yes. Setting this field to Yes will ensure that the schedule board and schedule assistant will use maps to schedule items. By default, Field Service uses Bing Maps, but different mapping providers can be used by inserting the mapping Application Programming Interface (API) key for the provider.

Product Types: When configuring Dynamics 365 Field Service, you’ll need to define the products and services that will be used and delivered on work orders. Field Service uses the traditional Dynamics 365 product catalog to define products and services.

After a work order is fulfilled, the products and services involved are indicated on the work order, billed to the customer, and then deducted from inventory. Begin setting up your products in Field Service by defining the product type for each product. There are three product types to choose from:

Inventory: Products whose inventory levels are tracked and deducted from inventory when they are sold. Inventory products might include printers, appliances, windshields, carpet, or televisions.

Non-Inventory: Products that are sold to a customer but are not tracked in inventory. Non-inventory products might include zip ties or cables, or contract items such as lawn care services which are billed for the same amount each month.

Services: Services that are sold on a time-and-materials basis. Examples of services are an oil disposal and recycling fee, a product sanitation fee, or an initial consultation fee. All prices and costs associated with services are defined as hourly rates. Services will also have a duration of service associated with them when they are added to work orders. Duration of service can be calculated in one of two ways:

Manual: The duration is entered by the field agent by using the mobile application.
Calculated: The duration will be calculated based on elapsed time between work order schedule statuses.

Pricelists: Price lists can be defined in multiple places, such as in a work order or an individual product. It is possible that at times, items will be added that are not on the price list being used by the work order. In those instances, it is important to remember the following:

A work order’s price list is used if a product has a different default price list than the work order.
The price of the product will come from the list price on the product if an item is not on the work order’s price list.

Tax Groups & Tax Codes: Set up tax codes in Dynamics 365 Field Service and specify how much tax will be applied to your products, agreements, and services.

For all new installations of Field Service, Calculate Tax field in Field Service Settings defaults to No. For many Field Service organizations, tax calculation is not an important factor because:

The services are not being provided to an external customer. The tax calculation and application rules are complex enough that they are handled in a related ERP system.

Work Order Types: After you’ve defined your products and services, you can configure settings specific to Dynamics 365 Field Service. A good one to begin with is work order types.

There are several types of work orders, including inspections, installations, preventative maintenance, or standard service calls. By clearly defining the types of work orders you’ll provide, you’ll optimize your reporting, scheduling, and pricing.

To define work order types, in Field Service, under Field Service Settings, select Work Order Types.

Territories: Territories are used to break larger service areas into smaller areas. They can also be used as filtering criteria when attempting to schedule items.

Resources: Resources can be associated with more than one territory. If you have resources that service multiple territories, you can add each territory to the resource to ensure that they display in search results when any of their territories are used.

Postal Codes: To make the process of using territories easier, Field Service provides the ability to associate postal codes with service territories. When a postal code is used in a work order, the territory associated with the postal code will be added to the work order if no other territory exists for it. To define postal codes in the Field Service app, select Field Service Settings, and then, under General Settings, select Postal Codes.

Organizational Units: Represent containers that can be used to group resources together. Organizational Units might represent a location that resources can be dispatched out of, or they could be used to group together resources based on a region or service center.

Note: Every organizational unit must have a valid latitude and longitude address defined. Scheduling will not function correctly without it. The organizational unit table is not geo-coded like other table. You will need to use a mapping provider (e.g., Bing) to find the physical location address and copy the latitude and longitude information to the organizational unit.

Incident Types: Many organizations have a set of standard ticket types for services they perform. Incidents are templates used to populate work orders.

Define the following for an incident type:
Work order type: The type of work order to be executed (Inspection, break fix, preventative maintenance)
Required products: Each product and its quantity that will be needed to work on the ticket (Only products with a Field Service type of Inventory or Non-inventory can be added as products.)
Required services: Each service that will be conducted as part of the ticket (Only items with a Field Service type of Service can be added as services.)
Skill / Characteristics: The skills or certifications that a resource must have to work on this type of item
Tasks to be performed: A to-do list that specifies each task to be performed and its duration (The total time for all tasks is rolled up to the work order and will populate the estimated duration field on the work order.)

Service Tasks: A service task is a task that needs to be completed on a work order. Service tasks can be added manually to a work order, or they can be automatically populated by attaching them to an incident type. When an incident type containing the service task is added to a work order, the service task will be added too.

Accounts Preferences: When you create a work order in Dynamics 365 Field Service, you’ll specify a service account. A service account is the account record for the work that will be done. When you create the account, relevant info from it is automatically associated with the work order.

Because accounts play a critical role in a Field Service implementation, it is important to configure everything on account records correctly.

Work Order Status: A typical work order goes through several different stages before it is considered closed and billed to a customer.

Work Order Status: Open – Unscheduled, Open – Scheduled, Open – In Progress, Open – Completed, Closed – Posted, Closed – Canceled

Note: Don’t change or rename the OOB work order status.

Work Order Substatus: Although work order status provides a good overall look at the status of a work order, it does not always provide a complete picture. This is where work order substatus comes in.

OOB Field Service Security Roles:
Field Service – Administrator: Designed for service managers and IT administrators. This role has access to all Field Service entities including work orders, scheduling, and inventory.
Field Service – Resource: Designed for field technicians who carry out work orders for customers primarily via the mobile application.
Field Service – Dispatcher: Designed for schedulers who are responsible for managing and assigning a group of work orders to a group of resources.
Field Service – Inventory Purchase: Designed for inventory managers who are responsible for managing truck stocks, purchasing and reordering inventory, and processing product returns. Field technicians are not able to edit fields on the mobile work order form until you complete this step.

There are many configuration in Field Service – Before configuring the application, your organization should take time to consider what needs to be captured and how the application should be configured to accomplish that. D365 Field Service provides a wide variety of settings that can be configured.

Resource Scheduling Options:
•Types of resources will we need?
•How will resources be scheduled?
•Which method of scheduling; manual, schedule assistant, or RSO
•Dealing with time off?

Skill Types:
•What skills do resources need to work on items?

In my next post will see about the field service configuration. Ex: Bookable Resource, Characteristics, Category, Rating, Working Hours, Business Closures, Time off Requests, Facilities & Equipment.

Hope this blog post given some idea about how to manage the work order. I have shared from my point of view & as per my product knowledge. Happy to hear from others if I have missed anything.