By Skylar Shonblom, CRM Consultant, Argano
Dynamics 365 for Field Service is an end-to-end solution that helps organizations deliver field-based service to customer locations. The application helps improve resource productivity through combined workflow automation, scheduling algorithms, and mobility, maximizing customer satisfaction. Organizations can manage complex service agreements; manage onsite installation, maintenance, and break/fix services; track assets and inventory; and identity and dispatch resources.
At the heart of the Field Service application is the work order, which is the record that contains the information on what work needs to be done. This is used to coordinate and schedule the resources and activities. A work order may or may not be created from a case or opportunity within Dynamics 365.
The Lifecycle
Work Order generation: A work order can be manually created in Dynamics 365 or created from a case or opportunity record, based on an incoming call, email, portal, or automatically generated on a recurring basis via a service agreement. A work order may contain the assigned incident, product, services, skills or certifications required, territory, etc. Assigning a preset incident type can automatically add the tasks and durations of what the field agent must perform to complete the work order.
Schedule & dispatch: Dispatchers will then interact with the Schedule Board, Schedule Assistant, or a routing engine to schedule the work order based on available field agent skills, working hours, and geographic location. The field agent or customer can then be automatically notified by the system and the field agent may review and accept/decline the work order.
Service delivery: Field agents conduct work onsite with the mobile application. Information about what is performed in the field is entered in the mobile app, or reported back to the dispatchers.
Review & bill: The back office reviews and approves the completed work. From here, an invoice may be sent out, inventory adjustments carried out, etc. Beyond the base work order lifecycle functionality included out of the box, Field Service can be automated to include trigger notifications, integrating with an ERP or accounting application, and used in conjunction with a customer-facing portal. Field Service allows organizations to improve their first time fix rate, complete more service calls per technician per week, reduce travel time and mileage, organize and track resolution of customer issues, and keep customers updated with the status of their service call.
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