NEIL PARKHURST

Field Service for Microsoft Dynamics CRM has many configuration options, here I describe the configuration required for CRM users.

Once Field Service has been installed you’ll need to complete some basic setup on each of your CRM Field Service users. This is a pretty straight forward process but you will need to consider;

• User Settings. (In particular the users address.)
  
• Security Roles.
  
• Field Security Profiles.
  

User Settings

First of all, it is worth keeping in mind that many of the details about users will need to be maintained in the Office 365 portal! For example, you will need to enter the resources home address in Office 365.

Email and phone number on the CRM user record can be used to send notifications to field agents of new work orders. Therefore, it is suggested you set these.

The territory field on the CRM user record is specific to CRM and is NOT used by Field Service, as it has its own separate concept of territory.

The users address in the details section is significant, if this user is linked to a Field Service resource record the address can be used as a starting or ending location for that resource. The address is used when calculating travel time and distance. To be able to use the address it will need to be geocode. (FYI: Geocode means setting the latitude and longitude on the address!)

You can Geocode the users address using the Geocode option in the navigation.

You should notice a Field Service tab at the bottom of the user record. Here you will see the Geocode associated with this user.

TIP:
I have a problem geocoding a UK address as the country code in Office 365 was incorrectly set! Notice that country on my address is correctly set to GB.

Security Roles

You will need to assign one or more Field Service roles to the users who require Field Service access. (I will explain each role in more detail later in this post.)

Field Security Profiles

Having added the roles to the user you will also need to add the user to one or more field security profiles. There is a field security profile that corresponds to each of the security roles.

FieldOne Sky CRM Security Roles Explained

Administrator

These are people who will need access to the Field Service administration options found in the settings area of CRM.

If you look at this role you can see that it grants full access rights on all entities connected with Field Service. This will include entities that are specific to Field Service such as work order but it will also include other system entities. (Such as account and activity.) It is important you are aware of this as you could be granting more access than expected!

Dispatcher

People responsible for scheduling and management of work orders.

• Has access to the scheduling entities
  
• Can create and add incidents, products, services, tasks and skills to work orders
  
• Has permissions to time off requests and time off reasons.
  
• Can view work order schedule rules
  

See below how the dispatcher often has full access on their business unit and all child business units. (But not full organization access.)

Inventory Purchase

People who are responsible for inventory, purchase orders and equipment returns.

• Has access to inventory, inventory journals, purchase orders and returns.
  
• Typically, this role is combined with dispatcher role when required.
  

This role actually grants access on a limited number of entities. Mainly included are the purchase and inventory entities. But when access is granted it is to the current business unit and all child business units.

Resource

People who will access Field Service via the mobile application. (Aka : The field agents.)

• Only has basic access to work orders and work order related entities.
  

With this role you will see that access to system entities is very limited. And even custom entities tend to be limited to only records owned by this user.

NOTE: It is typical that most users will also have one or more other “standard” CRM roles giving them access to other CRM entities. Such as contacts, opportunities, cases etc. You should also keep in mind the way CRM security roles work and ensure that users with Field Service roles aren’t inheriting more access than you intended!