Service Management Overview in Dynamics 365 Business Central
I know Business Central is such a feature-rich ERP that no one can know all the detailed functionality, but I am surprised at how often someone from the community asks if there is service functionality in Business Central. Yes indeed, Business Central and its predecessor NAV both have service management functionality. The User Community has shown an uptick in interest towards service management functionality as evidenced by highly attended sessions in Community Summit NA.
I have never been surprised by the interest in service management functionality. In my first tour of duty with a Navision Solution Center, (Navision’s term for Partner), we had a Rental vertical solution and NAV Service Management was a critical part of the solution. Almost every one of our Rental customers serviced their own equipment and NAV’s Service Management functionality was a great solution.
What Service Functionality Exists in Business Central?
Plenty, as it turns out…
Service Order Management, including:
- Service Quotes
- Service Orders
- Service Contracts
- Notifications for delays
- Service history
- Warranty Tracking
- Service Zones
Dispatching, including:
- Resource Allocation
- Specialized Skills
- Pricing by Work Type
Troubleshooting, including:
- Symptoms
- Faults
- Resolutions
Service Items
Let’s dive into some of these features. Do you service the products you sell? Your Items can be tagged with a Service Item Group Code:
These Service Item Groups save you time before the service call comes in and then assist your order takers and technicians as they complete the repair.
Above we have established a Service Item will be created when we sell any Item with the Service Group Code of ‘RECEIVERS’. Service Items are the subject matter of repairs in Business Central.
We also set a default response time of 8 hours, meaning if the Service Order has not been updated within 8 hours of its creation the service manager will receive an email identifying the delay. And we have assigned a Service Price Group Code for ‘RECEIVERS’ to these Items, enabling us to provide a 10% discount on Service Contracts.
From the Related button on the ribbon of the Service Item Groups card, we can assign Skills required to work on the RECEIVERS, we can assign Resources (our Technicians) who have the required skill, and we can create Troubleshooting Guides to assist Order Takers and Technicians. We can also establish Standard Service Item Groups for RECEIVERS, which are the common Items or Services used to complete repairs on RECEIVERS.
Multiple Service Location
Do you have multiple service centers? Do you want to track performance by service center? Consider using the Responsibility Center and Service Zones to simplify the order entry process.
The Responsibility Center lets you define the dimension tag for the specific service center doing the work, in this case the Branch. And if you have multiple departments like Rentals, Sales, and Service – you can add the Department dimension.
Finally, the Responsibility Center can define the Location from which the inventory will be pulled to fill the demand.
In this example, an order taker from Houston would enter the Responsibility for HOU-SRV on their Service Order. When the Service Order is posted, the Sales and Cost of Sales will be tagged with the Branch HOU and the Department SERVICE. This would allow the accounting department to create Account Schedules and Analysis Views to report sales, cost of sales and margin by Branch and Department.
Another tool for simplifying the order entry process is the Service Zone.
Customers, Ship-to Addresses, Technicians, and Service Items can be associated with Service Zones. If Services Zones are used, the order taker in a global environment can readily see the Service Center closest to the Customer or Service Address at the time of order entry.
Because Technicians can be assigned to Service Zones, experienced order takers can also allocate a Technician to the Service Order, or at least provide availability to the customer. The dispatcher could review and, accept or change the allocation later in the process. But even the dispatcher’s job is easier when she can see the available Technicians within the Service Zone.
And speaking of dispatchers, below is the Dispatch Board.
From the Dispatch Board, the dispatcher can filter their open Service Orders to focus on their priorities. In multilocation operations, each Dispatcher can focus on the Service Orders in their Service Zone. Here the dispatcher can view specific Service Orders, allocate technicians, and review demand for parts needed to complete the work.
But wait, there’s more! How about enabling the order taker to resolve the issue while on the phone with the customer?
In Business Central, you can set up Fault Areas with Fault Codes, Symptom Codes and Resolutions. That means you can define resolutions for symptoms for very specific problems the customer may encounter. As the order taker is entering the Service Order, they can walk through the issue the customer is reporting a see if there is a known solution that may resolve the problem without dispatching a technician. A service call saved is time and money saved.
Final Thoughts
Kind of surprising, the level of service management functionality in Business Central, no? In two prior lives, I have had service responsibility for multilocation service operations. I love deploying the functionality because I recognize that when the service department operates efficiently, it is a great source of revenue and profit. Typically, the individuals responsible for work are under-appreciated and are usually operating on outdated systems because investments are directed towards other areas.
Service in Business Central gives the unheralded service staff the tools to improve operating efficiencies, and more importantly, customer service! Need to know more about how to get started, or how to utilize more of the Service functionality in Business Central? Send me an email.
