Reshape your company’s service operations with Dynamics 365 Field Service—the leading field service management application. By connecting your people, places, and things, you can deliver exceptional customer experiences that put your organisation ahead of the competition. With features like work order management, resource scheduling, asset management, and frontline worker tools, you’ll move from reactive to proactive service, providing world-class service that predicts customer needs.
And the exciting news doesn’t stop there. In the 2023 first release, Field Service takes optimisation to the next level. Service managers can efficiently manage their team’s operations, while dispatchers can easily assign work orders to nearby workers. Plus, a refreshed schedule board experience is available for all users. Frontline workers can also enjoy further enhancements to their mobile apps, streamlining their work and maximising their productivity.
For more information, check our quick summary of top new and updated features in Field Service from Microsoft 2023 first release.
1. Find Information Faster Using Enhanced Search
Unlock the true potential of your workforce with the enhanced global search in Field Service.
No more endless scrolling and digging through irrelevant information because this useful feature brings the most relevant data right to your fingertips. With a simple search by customer name or technician, you can find work orders and bookings without breaking a sweat. The powerful algorithm curates the search results on a single page, saving your team valuable time and effort.
But that’s not all—Microsoft has also made it effortless to take quick actions directly from your search results. Forget clicking back and forth between pages! You can now streamline your workflow and get things done faster than ever before. With the enhanced global search, productivity gains are just a click away. So, experience the future of field service management and see the results for yourself!
Public preview from March 2023 | General availability from April 2023
2. Manage Work Orders Effectively with Not-to-exceed Values for Cost and Price
Maximising your company’s success and maintaining strong relationships with customers and vendors requires effective management of your bottom line. That’s why setting clear financial expectations is crucial. And now, with the innovative not-to-exceed capability in Dynamics 365 Field Service, managing costs and prices on work orders has never been easier.
This feature allows you to set up not-to-exceed values for both cost and price on work orders, giving you complete control over your expenses. The system can automatically apply not-to-exceed values based on the customer, incident type, and location of the work. Alternatively, you can add the not-to-exceed values on the work order directly.
Additionally, this functionality will even notify service managers and frontline workers with warning icons when the not-to-exceed value is almost reached or exceeded. This ensures timely actions, preventing costly overages.
This powerful feature is ideal for those who need to set limits on what they can charge without seeking approval. It’s also perfect for managers who establish limits on work order costs, especially when vendors are contracted to perform the work. And with the ability to track when not-to-exceed values are exceeded, you’ll always be in control.
Public preview from March 2023 | General availability from April 2023
3. Use Trades to Better Organise Your Service Operations
Unlock the power of efficiency and cost savings for your business with the latest trade feature!
Gone are the days of a disorganised service operation. With this new feature, you can effortlessly organise the types of services you offer into customisable categories called “trades.” Think plumbing, roofing, electrical repairs, and air conditioning services, just to name a few.
Not only does this feature streamline the work-order creation process for your users, but it also prevents any confusion or mistakes when providing services. With trades associated with specific locations and accounts, you’ll only see incident types related to the selected trade, ensuring you never accidentally provide the wrong services.
By using this feature, you’re not only saving time, but also ensuring your organisation is operating at peak efficiency. Avoid costly mistakes and only provide agreed-upon services, all while making your workflow simpler and more organised.
Public preview from March 2023 | General availability from April 2023
4. Enhance User Experience by Removing Work Order Costs
Maximise your business value and take your productivity to new heights with the innovative new feature: the cost toggle. For businesses, time is money, and this streamlined work order experience will help you save both.
Gone are the days of manually tweaking forms and views to show or hide cost information. With just one setting change, you can easily toggle work order cost information on or off, giving you complete control over your user experience.
Whether you’re already tracking costs or just starting out, the cost toggle makes it a breeze to customise your setup. And with the ability to enable pricing and costing independently, you can tailor your workflow to your specific needs.
Public preview from March 2023 | General availability from April 2023
5. Effortlessly Switch Between Tenants Within the Field Service Mobile App
Experience seamless switching between tenants with this 2023 first release update for the Field Service Mobile application! Whether you’re an iOS or Android user, you can now effortlessly move between multitenant organisations without having to sign out of the app. This feature is a godsend for frontline workers who are a part of multiple tenants, as it eliminates the need for time-consuming logouts and logins.
With B2B guest users also being able to access shared app access from the Field Service Mobile user interface, collaborating with colleagues across tenants has never been easier. This exciting new capability is now available as part of the Power Apps tenant switcher in the 2023 first release, so unlock the most of this innovative capability today.
General availability from April 2023
6. Dynamics 365 Mobile Service App Shows Offline Sync Status
Embrace increased productivity and efficiency in your field service operations with the Field Service offline-enabled mobile application. With its latest update, frontline workers can now have a better view of their offline data synchronisation status and application connectivity.
This feature is available on iOS and Android devices through a visible sync icon in the main header. The icon even comes with badges that represent various sync states such as Connected, Not Connected, Syncing Data, Pending Changes, Error, and Warning.
But that’s not all! You can also access additional details about the application’s connectivity to Dataverse and the storage used on your device by checking the sync status page. This feature is included in the Power Apps offline sync icon and is now available as part of the 2023 first release.
Time to forget the connectivity issues and embrace a smoother, more efficient field service experience with the Field Service Mobile app.
General availability from April 2023
7. Other Performance and Device Memory Enhancements in Field Service Mobile App
Dealing with slow and unreliable mobile apps can hinder your ability to perform your job effectively. But Microsoft 2023 first release brings more enhancements to the Field Service mobile app, the ultimate workhorse for frontline workers in a variety of scenarios and conditions.
With faster launch times and form loading, increased stability, and improved memory management, you’ll never have to worry about crashes or freezing. Plus, with offline data synchronisation and improved validation experiences, you can access critical information even when wireless networks aren’t available.
Not only will these improved app functionalities help you perform your work efficiently and effectively, but they will also help ensure that your customers receive timely fixes. Additionally, it will also keep the back office updated with the latest information. And with the incremental deployments throughout 2023, you can further improve and provide the best experience possible for your workforce.
What’s Next?
Microsoft 2023 first release brings transformative updates and improvements that empower your field agents to do more with less. Several service companies are already using Dynamics 365 Field Service to simplify the nuances of their business. So, what’s keeping you from leveraging these latest capabilities to improve your field service operations? For comprehensive information, read the official release notes here.
Note
The features listed here are planned for release from April 2023 through September 2023. However, the delivery timelines may change, and the listed functionality may not be released. For more information, go to Microsoft policy. Also, read our 2023 first release highlights for other Dynamics 365 applications and Power Platform.
