Skip to main content

Service Orders

The service orders module lets you configure the bidirectional message flow between Dime.Scheduler and service orders in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.

Setup​

Configuring service orders in the Fast track wizard

Enable service orders solution​

To use the FastTrack solution, select Enable Service Order Planning.

Creating tasks​

The following two checkboxes configure the way tasks are created:

  • To create a single task in Dime.Scheduler for the service order select Send Service Header as Task.
  • To create a task for each service item line, select Send Lines with Service Header.

Send Service Header as Task​

When using the former, a resource allocation for the service order is automatically created in Business Central when you drag and drop the task in Dime.Scheduler. In other words, a record is created with information of the appointment that has just been planned in Dime.Scheduler. There is an immediate link between the resource allocation and appointment in Dime.Scheduler: any modification to the service order appointments will be reflected automatically and immediately in Business Central.

Resource allocation

Send Lines with Service Header​

When this switch is activated, no allocation lines will be created when you drag an drop a task to the planning board. Instead, Dime.Scheduler will update the starting and finishing times of the service order.

Default duration​

The default duration of a planned task in Dime.Scheduler (when you drag and drop a task from the open tasks list to a resource on the planning board) is 1 hour. To deviate from this value, enter a value in the Default Duration Service Line field.

Indicators​

  • The Default Category option lets you select which field from BC you want to use to set the color of a planned task when you drag and drop a task from the open tasks list to a resource on the planning board. You can choose between service order type, repair status (from service item line) and service zone. Leave blank to use the default color (blue).

  • The Default Timemarker option lets you select which field from BC you want to use to set the color of the time marker on a planned task when you drag and drop a task from the open tasks list to a resource on the planning board: choose between service order type, repair status (from service item line) and service zone. Leave blank to bypass the usage of time markers.

  • The Show Repair Status as option lets you select how to update the planned task(s) in Dime.Scheduler when the repair status on the service item line in BC is modified. You can choose to update the category or the time marker. It makes sense to align this with the settings for the default category and default time marker although this is not necessary: for example you can select service order type as the default category and then select the category to be updated when the repair status changes. This implies that as long as the repair status has not changed the color will show the order type. Once the repair status has changed, the color will reflect this status.

Timesheets​

Select Update Time Sheet from Planning Board to automatically create or update the time sheet of the resource in BC whenever a task is allocated to a resource or when a planned task is modified in Dime.Scheduler.

Filters​

The FastTrack wizard automatically creates the necessary configuration for the Skill Filter and Service Zone Filter if they have been enabled in the standard resource section. Subsequently, BC sends the skills required from a resource (based on the service item and the service zone of the service order) to Dime.Scheduler, which allows the user in Dime.Scheduler to use the automatic filter option in order to select the right resource for the task.

Usage​

Actions​

List Actions​

See common actions for an overview of the list actions for this type.

Card actions​

The following actions have been added to the service order:

  • Send service order
  • Delete service order

Service orders

Creating service orders​

What happens under the covers is quite simple: when you create a service order and invoke the send to Dime.Scheduler action, the connector fetches all the relevant data about the service order and the work items that belong to it, and sends it over to Dime.Scheduler.

In the graph, the following entities are used:

  • Service header
  • Service item lines
  • Customer
  • Contact

The relationship between a service header and a service item line is maintained in Dime.Scheduler where information about the service header is captured on the Job level whereas service item lines are mapped to a Task record. When a service order has multiple lines, those lines will be linked to the same job in Dime.Scheduler. Subsequently, when planned in Dime.Scheduler, they will be traced back to the same service order.

This is the default behavior. When switched off, the Send Service Header as Task field allows you to ignore the service item lines and map the service header to a task. Instead of a 1:N relationship, this feature flag enforces a 1:1 relationship. Otherwise, and if the Send Lines with Service Header is enabled, the behavior as described above will be applied.

When you send the service order to Dime.Scheduler, said tasks are created.

Service orders

It is worth mentioning that there's more setup that allows you to connect a field of the service header or item to an appointment's visual indicators. For example, a category can be used to reflect a service item's repair status or a service header's service order type or service zone code. This is default behavior although it is rather easy to BYOBL (Bring Your Own Business Logic) to Dime.Scheduler and use other fields as the source list for an appointment's color-coded visual indicator. There's more configuration available to tweak the default behavior, such as the default duration service line that sets the default duration of an appointment when you drag the task to the planning board.

Planning service orders​

The open task grid shows the list of that work that needs to be planned in. Planning a service item is easy: drag the task on the desired timeslot for the right resource. And there you go, you just registered a service order. How this scheduled appointment is processed in Business Central using the standard connector for Dime.Scheduler depends on the task level you've configured in this module: header level or service items level.

It might also create timesheets if this switch was turned on.

Note the following caveats:

  • When a service order is marked as 'Finished' in Business Central, Dime.Scheduler will not process any other incoming appointments.

Repair status​

The standard BC "Repair Status Setup" setup page has been extended: one new field has been added: Lock Appointment. This enables you to fix the planning in the planning based on the status of the order in Business Central.

Repair status