In Last two posts on Work Orders, we discussed basic information captured on a work order and how it is used. In this article we will focus Field service Administration where we define our configuration data like work order types, incident types, Characteristics etc.

These configuration or administrative settings allow great flexibility and customization in Field service.

Items included in administration section are:

Field Service Settings: Field service settings allow us to configure, work order/Booking settings, Resource pay type settings, RMA (Return Merchandise Authorization), RTV (Return to Vendor), Agreement settings, Purchase order settings, Inventory and other.

This section allows you to define prefix & starting number for work orders, RTV, RMA, Agreements, Inventory and Purchase orders. System allows users to define whether to auto generate work orders on activation of Agreements, how many days/months in advance system can create work orders and invoice. This will also allow us to configure whether a purchase order requires approval or not.

Characteristics/Skills:
Skills / Characteristics are used to define areas in which resources are proficient. These can be specified in two types, 1. Skills & 2, Certifications. Proficiency models are used to to define a specific skill level in an area. Proficiency model is look up to additional values can be added or removed.

Territories: Allows us to break large service areas into smaller ones which can be used to filter work order on schedule board/Schedule assistant. Once defined, work orders can be automatically assigned to a territory.

Resource Roles/Categories: This section allows users to configure role a resource can play. This helps while scheduling work orders to filter based on resource requirements. Roles and categories can be used as place holders on projects. In Field service module, while using Agreements, if we know resources skills for a specific work order type or incident type, we can mention it so while auto generation we can block resources.

Resources: A resource in Dynamics 365 for Field Service is anything that needs to be scheduled. This can be users, crews, service centers, company assets (equipment), accounts, or contacts.

Priorities: Defines priority of a work order. You can also assign each priority value a custom color, which will display in the outline of the resource booking time slot on the schedule board. This allows dispatchers to visually distinguish a job’s priority while managing the schedule.

Work Order Sub Statuses: In previous posts we read about Work order status. Work order system status values can’t be modified in the system; however, to allow your company to create custom status values, you can create one or more sub-status values associated with each system status. This lets you map work order statuses to your unique business processes more precisely.

Booking Statuses: Again, work order status system allow you to create multiple sub-statuses mapped to each of your booking statuses in order to more precisely define your company’s unique business processes.

Booking Rules: Booking rules in Dynamics 365 for Field Service allow a System Administrator to create warning or error messages that users see when creating or editing a resource booking record, based on custom conditions. For example, a booking rule could be created to warn a user when they attempt to book a work order to a resource on the schedule board that doesn’t have the skills required for the job.

Postal Codes: Creating postal code records and relating them to service territories lets an account be automatically assigned to a service territory when the account address is entered. When a user tabs out of the postal code field on the account record form, the system automatically populates the service territory field if it finds a match to the postal code. Postal codes can be assigned to territories, but it is not necessary for the territories feature to work.

Resource Pay Types: Resource pay types can be used to track your company’s costs associated with a resource booking. When the status of a resource booking record is set to “complete,” the system generates booking journal records, according to the time that a field agent spent performing the work. The system can create one booking journal record for each of the following journal types: travel, working hours, break, overtime, and business closure, depending on the various resource booking statuses that the user applied to the resource booking while completing the work.

Incident Types: Incident types act as service templates and allow users to quickly create work orders for the most common types of jobs that your company performs, including all of the necessary service tasks, products, services, required skills, and estimated work order duration.

Service Task Types: Service task types in Dynamics 365 for Field Service are used to define the “types” of service tasks that you will include in your incident types and work orders and are performed by the field agent at the service location. Service tasks can be assigned a duration that rolls up to the work order duration. Service tasks are used to create process steps, or checklists, for the field agent to follow when completing a work order, and can be added manually or by associating incident types with each work order.

Time Groups: Specify time groups consisting of multiple time windows to be used for scheduling in Dynamics 365 for Field Service. The schedule assistant will add the time group start and end times to the search results. This lets a user group the results by time group. Time groups are saved based on the time zone of the user who creates the time group record.

Price List: Price lists in Dynamics 365 for Field Service define pricing levels. When you use a price list, you can specify how much a customer is charged for your product and services. The price list is noted on the account, work order, agreement, or the individual product or service. If price list is not specified on work order or agreement, price list defined at product level will be used.

Purchase Order sub statuses: Purchase orders can be created to track items that need to be ordered from your suppliers. A purchase order record has system status values of Draft, Submitted, Canceled, Products Received, and Billed. Optionally, you can create one or more sub-status values for each of the system status values to help track the purchase order status more precisely, according to your business practices.

For example, for the system status of Submitted, you could create sub-status values of “Waiting for vendor confirmation” and “In route to warehouse.”

Warehouse: Track your product inventory using a warehouse record in Dynamics 365.

ShipVia: When you create a Dynamics 365 for Field Service purchase order in the system, it’s a good idea to track how the order is shipped. This helps you track the purchase order. The ship-via option lets you specify different shipping methods used by your company.

For example, you might use freight shipping, USPS Ground, or FedEx when products are purchased. In this case, you can specify these shipping methods in the ship-via setting. When you create ship-via methods, you’ll see this in the purchase order form.

RMA sub-status: When a product needs to be returned, a return merchandise authorization (RMA) is created in Dynamics 365 for Field Service. Set up an RMA sub-status to specify the return status more precisely, in accordance with your business processes.

RTV sub-status: When a product needs to be retuned to a vendor, a return to vendor (RTV) record is created to track the returned items. RTV sub-status values can be created to specify the return status more precisely, in accordance with your company’s business processes.

Agreement sub-statuses: Set up agreement sub-statuses in Dynamics 365 for Field Service to specify the current agreement status more precisely, according to your company’s business processes.

Payment Terms: Payment terms in Dynamics 365 for Field Service are primarily used in conjunction with purchase orders, to allow the purchasing manager to specify terms when creating a purchase order

Tax Codes: Set up tax codes in Dynamics 365 for Field Service and specify how much tax will be applied to your products, agreements, and services. Each tax code may contain multiple child tax codes; in that case, the tax rate will be determined by the total of all children. If an area has more than one type of tax, for example, state and county tax, then use the Tax Group option to combine several tax codes into one group.

You can read more information about these settings and how to create these records in Microsoft Documentation.