Field Service Anywhere Category

With mobile technology expanding and Dynamics GP leveraging this technology to empower your technicians in the field, it is often difficult to figure out what devices are compatible with Field Service Anywhere (FSA). Windows Pocket PC 2003 SE, Windows Mobile 5, Windows Mobile 6, Standard, Professional, Palm; it is all very confusing. As in a previous post, there are a lot of considerations when choosing a device, not only from a hardware capability standpoint, but also a software standpoint. Not all devices are compatible with FSA and the OS that runs on the device is no exception. In a nutshell, the device must have touch screen capability and run Windows Mobile Operating System, so Palm devices are not an option. But with so many Windows Mobile OSs out there, how do I know what runs on what? Well, here is a breakdown. Note: The Smartphone Without Touch Screen is not an option for FSA and anything prior to WM 5 is also not an option.

With Field Service Anywhere, you have the ability to configure the application at a system level in order to get the right data to your remote technicians. Depending on your needs and remote data storage capacity, FSA has several configurable parameters which allow you to regulate how many service calls and how much contract information is sent to the remote devices. For example, you can transmit service calls for just the technician assigned, and all service calls for the technician’s office (regardless if he is assigned to the service call), and all service calls for the technician’s service area (regardless if he is assigned to the service call). This is a great option for those service organizations that share service calls among technicians in a given office or service area. Likewise, access to contract data is important in the field for many organizations. Not only for the items being serviced, but any items the company may have on contract. Therefore, the option to sync full contracts is a valuable feature that can empower your techncians in the field to look at additional contract revenue for items not under contract. You can refer to pages 18-20 of the Field Service Anywhere Installation Guide for specifics on the data synchronization rules.

With the recent economic downturn, it is even more important that service organizations take care of their existing client base.  Better service means keeping your customers happy and that means future business for you.  However, companies also have to be better at managing their costs.  FSA can help you do that.  In case you didn’t know, here are a couple of things that Microsoft points out in regards to the efficiencies you can achieve with FSA in your organization. Continue Reading »

The Microsoft Field Service Anywhere for Dynamics GP is a robust application that allows remote technicians to perform their work on laptops or handheld devices and communicate with centralized servers.  Thus allowing for more efficient technicians, better service for customers and faster time to billing for your company  Therefore, choosing the right device for your technicians is critical.  While there are some basic requirements for compatibility, there are many more considerations to factor in when making your decision.  Below are just a few things we have discovered and felt it important to share with you. Continue Reading »

Field Service Anywhere is architected to maintain historical data on the each mobile device. As such, the device data storage can become quite large over time depending on the transaction volume of the technician. Therefore, it is advised to periodically reset the mobile data set to a clean state and perform an initial sync again. The initial sync process is the process performed to initially load data once a new mobile device is added to the FSA system. It is recommended that you perform this process on a bi-weekly or monthly process. Continue Reading »

Field Service Anywhere (FSA) is a Microsoft product which allows remote technicians to track and process service calls on mobile devices, either laptops or pocket PCs.  With the ability to add labor, parts, expenses and additional charges and complete service calls via wireless devices, FSA is proving to be a valuable part of many field service operations.  While FSA is a Microsoft product, I.B.I.S., Inc. has had a great deal of experience with the product and feels compelled to share our knowledge and experiences via this blog.  Hopefully, our experience will provide value to both customers and partners alike when deploying FSA.  So keep an eye on this blog for important information that could help you.  As always, constructive feedback is always appreciated.