So, it’s late on a Sunday night, and you’re starving! You place an urgent call to the pizza delivery service down the street and anxiously await the arrival of the delicious pizza… When the pizza is delivered, it’s time to eat… The aroma is wonderful… open the box, only to discover the pizza is upside-down 

…would you get another pizza from them the following time? I’d phone the restaurant and ask them to send me a fresh one, and then I’d wait for another 30 minutes. It all relies on the service that is being offered. 

To put it simply, service management refers to the processes in place to ensure that consumers remain satisfied long after the sale of a product has been completed. It doesn’t matter how bad or inconvenient things are between a business and a consumer… Even if things don’t go according to plan, great service management and a desire to please the customer can always turn things around 

It’s no different with Adam and his cake-related misadventures because consumers can have high expectations in many different settings. It is possible to use the Business Central Service Management functionality right out of the box with Dynamics 365. Let’s take a closer look at what’s possible and how it’s done. 

What does the Service Management module in Business Central have to offer? 

Here, we’ll take a look at a few of the system’s most important features and see how they may help your company. Let’s go through the differences between repairs and services first. An auto ‘repair,’ or replacement of damaged or broken parts, is what you often expect when you bring your car to the mechanic. Brake discs and other suspension components could fall under this category. Consumable parts like oil and filters are typically replaced as part of a ‘service.’ Business Central’s Service Management module takes care of both responsibilities. 

This module can be used in a variety of ways, such as: 

• service or repair goods you originally sold and manufactured or assembled.  

• repair items that your business does not sell, but which your service department is able to service or repair Additionally, your sales team will have access to new potential consumers because of this. 

• Before a kit is sold, use the service module to manage its setup. 

The service module can be used to perform the following tasks if you are renting or hiring equipment: 

• before delivering it to the customer, customize the kit. 

• to fix and maintain equipment that has been lent or rented out. 

• maintain the equipment in order to make it available to the following customer. 

With the help of a Service Contract, you can provide regular maintenance to your customers’ items. 

• The Service Contract capability may handle regular routine maintenance of objects. 

This work can be done at the customer’s location or in your own facility. A service invoice can be used to account for travel and lodging expenses when work is performed off-site. 

Dynamics 365 Field Service or Business Central? 

Be aware that Microsoft has a specialty product called “Microsoft Dynamics 365 Field Service” before diving into the features and benefits. This program is more functional than the Service Management module in Business Central, but it is not integrated with your ERP data. Microsoft’s product integrations are getting better and better all the time. A second system, on the other hand, would necessitate additional licensing fees. 

Having said that, custom programming can fill in any holes in the Business Central Service Management module’s capability. Adding a ‘Test Certificate No.’ field and a ‘Comments’ section to the Service Item History is one simple example of a change. Obviously, we can advise on whether Business Central is the correct fit based on the intricacy of your requirements. We can tell you if your needs are better served by a product like Dynamics Field Service, and we will! 

The ability to manage services 

Let’s now focus on some of the most important features of the Service Management system. This includes 

• Service Item Card 

• Service Order 

• Service Contract 

Service Item Card 

The Service Item card is at the heart of the module’s Service Management features. Service items can be created either manually by the user or automatically following the shipment of a sales order. 

On a Service Item card, it is possible to find the following information: 

• Service Item No. 

• customer who owns it. 

• original Item No. within your business. 

• Serial No. 

As a result, each Service Item is different.  the system is able to store information specific to this Service Item. Included here are: 

• Service Item components 

• warranty information 

• service history 

Service Item Components 

It is possible to keep track of the history of individual components against the Service Item. The history of components like the ‘CPU, “motherboard,’ and ‘disks,’ for example, can be recorded in a computer. It’s unlikely that you’d want to keep track of every nut and bolt, but the option is there. Helps you understand how much resources are needed to produce an item as well as the item’s profitability over time. Using the ‘Statistics’ function on the Service Item card, you can view this. 

Warranty 

When it comes to customer satisfaction, warranty management is critical to the success of a firm. Both components and labor are covered by the Service Management module, which manages warranty issues from both perspectives. The start and end dates of warranties, as well as the percentage distribution of costs, can be customized. 

Consider the situation where you sold a product with a one-year guarantee to a consumer. The consumer returns the item for repair within that time frame. It’s up to the warranty distribution percentage to determine how much responsibility is shared between the client and your company. This can be set to 100%, which means the buyer will not be responsible for any charges if the product is still covered by warranty. 

If an item is returned within the warranty term with damage caused by the customer, the system also addresses this. A bill for the repair will be sent to the customer since the service was not done as part of the warranty. 

Service History 

The item’s service history is stored against the service item and can be utilized for diagnostics inside the company. 

Allocating the best resource to work on this item 

An item’s skill requirements can be noted on the Service Item card. Technicians and engineers are two examples that come to mind. 

These abilities can be applied to a resource. As a result, you have the choice of allocating the best resource to the Service Order at your discretion. In addition, you can define a Service Zone against the client and the resource, allowing the business to deploy the right resource more easily for the job. 

Service Order 

Repair and maintenance of equipment are made possible with the Service Management module. Using service orders, you can keep track of what needs to be serviced. A G/L code can be immediately linked to the Service Item Worksheet, which allows you to book objects, resources (such as labor), charges (such as travel or lodging), and other things. Customers can also get competitive pricing by holding their own price lists against these. After that, a Service Invoice is generated for the customer and integrated into Business Central’s financial system. 

Contract for Services 

In order to successfully arrange routine maintenance on their service items, users can build service contracts for customers. For a single Service Item, you can set up several contracts. Instead, the service agreement can be utilized to secure the agreed-upon prices for the specified services. 

The department’s day-to-day operations 

Both the service department and workers such as engineers can benefit from a wide range of tools provided by business central. The Service Tasks page allows engineers and technicians to view the tasks assigned to them. An overview of the current service orders can be accessed through the Dispatch Board page. From this screen, they can allocate resources to individual service requests. The Service Tasks page is updated if a service order is assigned to a user. 

Remarks at the end 

There are many benefits to using the Service Management module in Business Central, and we hope that we’ve given you a taste of them. 

Thank you for spending your time with this. It’s our hope that this information has been useful. To get in touch with us, please use the form below. Please get in touch with us if you have anything to say. 

Smart App Business Solutions is a Microsoft Gold Partner and Microsoft reseller for Dynamics 365 Business Central licenses. We implement all modules of Dynamics Business Central for customers. If you need more information, please contact us on 1800 72 27 28  |  [email protected]