Service management in Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations

Business scenario:

The organization is a hotel that manages service operations as part of their business like:

• Repair and maintenance of power supply systems
• Repair and maintenance telephone sets, televisions, electronic locks, video surveillance systems
• Repair of electrical wiring, installation, and repair of household electrical appliances.

This hotel has a team of dedicated service professionals (electricians) to look after their customers’ service requirements for on-site service.

The hotel would like to track the number of customers requests. How many service tasks were performed by an electrician, which of them are on time, delayed.

We will use the Service management module capabilities to cover this scenario.

Walk-through:

First off, the customer who will consume the service needs to be created. In our case, it might be the room numbers or just “Hotel guests” or even hotel name.

Since Service management module is fully integrated with Project management and accounting module, time and material project for all service requests will be created.

Change the Project stage to In progress.

Next step is Service agreement. The service agreement is an optional setup, but you need to define it once whether it will be used or not. If you decide to use it, for every single service order, you will need to select service agreement. Based on this decision you need to check/uncheck ‘Allow without service agreement’ flag on the service management parameters from:

In this example, we will create a service agreement and will set the following details:

• Description: a brief description of the agreement
• Project created earlier
• Service agreement group: group to categorize and filter service agreements
• Service level agreement

Next, we have created the following data in advance:

• Electrician tittle
• Electrician job
• Two Electrician positions and assigned two workers to that 2 positions

Basically, we will have two workers, who will serve as electricians in the hotel.

Next, we have created project categories:

• Service, hour category group
• Service and Installation shared category
• Service and Installation project category and assigned Service category group

Basically, we will have one service that will be performed by electricians in the hotel.

Based on that information, we will add service agreement lines with the details who performs the service, when to serve and what:

In the Service object form, for the created agreement, we will select all items on which a service is performed. In our case, it could be LCD TV, the different types of lamps etc.

For this purpose, we will enter all these items into the Service objects catalog. Before doing this, we will need to create a Service object groups to categorize all service objects.

Service object groups

Service objects

Once we are done with pre-configuration, we can add all needed objects into the corresponding service agreement.

If the electrician is working only with one specific object, we might want to set it on the service agreement line.

You might want to define the list of tasks that electrician can perform.

Service tasks

Once we are done with pre-configuration of the tasks, we can add all needed tasks into the corresponding service agreement.

If the electrician is working only on one specific task, we might want to set it on the service agreement line.

Set the Service interval – how regularly to perform the service.

We will not setup Sales price (since we are not selling this services), we will setup the cost price for each employee.

Before that, make sure that you assigned the category or project to the employee. Otherwise, that employee will not be available in the Resource drop-down list.

Click Hours button in the Cost prices section of the service agreement.

We are done with Service agreement.

Next, we will jump into Service orders. Service order can be created manually or automatically from service agreement.

Service order is the work performed by an electrician. We will manually create the order and define the following:

• Customer account: for whom the service is performed.
• Project ID: The project ID is the minimum requirement for posting the service order.
• Service agreement: service agreement to which the service order is attached

In the Service order lines, we need to select the following minimum of the information:

• Worker: the worker who should perform the service.
• Quantity: the quantity of the units that the service order is created for.
• Category: the category for the transaction type.
• Description: a brief description for the transaction.
• Service object relation: Select the object that the service order is created for.

We have the ability to set the preferred time to start the service.

Once the service order created, Service stage is Planning.

Service stages

Once the worker starts working on that service task, he needs to change the service stage to In progress.

The stage will be changed to In progress.

There is a possibility to track what is the deadline for the service order.

Once the service task is created, start time is recorded and visible in the Time recording form. Worker can change the time to his actual time of starting.

Once worker completes working on the corresponding service task, he needs either to stop time.

Or to get the sign-off and the actual time will be defaulted.

Once service order is being signed off, post service order needs to be done.

Message that service order was posted would appear.

All transactions will be recorded against the project.

Note: Cost account needs to be defined before you post the service order. In our case, the account is defined in the project category.

Project – cost (account from the project category) will be debited by the cost price multiplied by the number of hours from the service order line

Project – payroll allocation (account from Ledger posting setup of the project management and accounting module with ledger account type= payroll allocation) and will be credited by the cost price multiplied by the number of hours from the service order line

Customer account will not be debited since sales price was 0.00.

Ideally, if you are selling such services and you have sales price > 0, you would continue by clicking Invoice proposal.

With defining Invoice revenue accounts beforehand.

Next, you would post the Invoice proposal.

Don’t forget to close that service order by selecting Next stage button.

Let’s review several other possibilities that you might use within your implementation.

There is a possibility to create planned service orders for the next days from service agreements.

If Combine service order is by service agreement, then 1 service order will be created for all employees within service agreement.

Review the created service order.

If Combine service order is by employee, then as many service orders will be created as many employees in the service agreement.

As presented below:

The same can be done through periodic operation: Service management > Perform periodic tasks > Service orders > Create service orders.

Additional possibilities like Dispatch board.

In order to use it, you will have to complete several configurations.

Create a Dispatch team

Assign that team to the worker.

Select the stage when Activity will be generated.

Create a new service order, change the stage to the In process and verify that activity was created.

Open Dispatch board. All created activities are visible underneath the form (Note: Not sure why I don’t see them on the Dispatch board, but you are welcome put a comment with the solution if you find out that).

That’s it for now!