How to Install Project Service Automation (PSA) and Sample Data? (Episode 05)

Posted on March 30, 2020 by Paresh Sharma

Download Sample Data

Use the following link to download Dynamics 365 for Field Service and Project Service Automation Sample Data: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=56050.

  • Run the Executable file to extract the package
  • Extract the Package to for its contents

NOTE: Read the System Requirements and Install Instructions carefully.

  • Within the package:
    • You will use Dynamics 365 for Field and Project Service Demo Data October 2017.pdf file for detail installation instructions.
    • If FPSDemoData.dll file is blocked, you need to unblock it.
    • You will use ImportUserMapFile.xml file to update data mapping.
    • You will use PackageDeployer.exe file to run the package deployer wizard.

Install Project Service Automation and Field Service

Since the sample data is for Field and Project Service, so you need to install both the solutions in Microsoft Dynamics 365.

Go to Dynamics 365 Admin Centre:

  • Select the instance
  • Edit the Solution
  • Find “Field Service” and “Project Service Automation” and install

NOTE: This can take several minutes.

Create and Configure Users

As per instructions in Dynamics 365 for Field and Project Service Demo Data October 2017.pdf file create and configure users.

  • The following users are created:
    • David So
    • Jamie Reding
    • Molly Clark
    • Spencer Low
    • Veronica Quek
    • William Contoso
  • Provide the System Administrator Role.
  • You will also need to update the ImportUserMapFile.xml data mapping file with email addresses of these users in your system.

  • Finally, in the Enabled Users view, select and open the System Administrator whose credentials you will use for the sample data installation (“Spencer Low” suggested).
    • Go to the navigation bar at the top of the page and open the “Work Hours” option.
    • Edit the existing Work Hours, schedule, selecting the “Entire recurring weekly schedule from start to end” option, and make sure that the work hours are set to “9:00 AM – 5:00 PM (8 Hours)” with Monday through Friday and the Time Zone set to “Pacific Time (US & Canada). This is required to ensure that Schedule Board settings and already schedule Work Order and Project work appear correctly post installation.

Run the Package Deployer Installation

Please note that since you install the sample data, this step cannot be undone, so do not perform this on Production Environment. This sample data is meant more for testing or demo purposes.

  • Find and run the PackageDeployer.exe.
  • Agree to terms.
  • On the next window:
    • Select deployment type Office 365.
    • Use the user and password of the system administrator configured above.
    • Make sure Display list of available organizations is checked.

  • Select the appropriate Dynamics 365 organization.
  • Click Next twice. You should see something like the following:

  • Click Next to start the sample data installation process. Load of sample data can take up to 4 hours to complete. Ensure your client computer remains on and connected to the Internet during the process and that your session remains active.
  • After loading completes, click Finish to exit the package deployer.

Verify the Install

After the demo data completely loads, log in as the “Spencer Low” and confirm the following:

  • Go to Project Service > Settings > Price Lists and confirm that Bill Rates and Costs Rates exist, with the appropriate Currency, for each country/region in the data set.
  • Go to Project Service > Settings > Organizational Units and for each Org Unit (excluding city entries), confirm that a Cost Price List with the appropriate Currency has been associated. If any are missing, find and associate the correct Cost Price List.

Watch the video:

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About Project Service Automation (PSA) (Episode 03)

Posted on March 30, 2020 by Paresh Sharma

About PSA

  • Project Service Automation (PSA) provides an end-to-end project management capabilities to teams who are execution projects.
  • PSA is built on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Framework.
  • Almost all kind of projects can be managed using PSA.
  • You can access PSA from Unified Interface.
  • With PSA solution installation, Resource Scheduling is also installed. PSA lets you define the projects, opportunities, quotations, orders and contracts whereas Resource Scheduling helps you define resource skills, resource roles and pricing.

Important Terms In PSA

  • Customers

    A customer is an organization. This includes

    • Customer
    • Vendor
    • Partner
    • Affiliate or Other
  • Contacts

    A Contact is an individual.

    • Associated with maximum one Account (through Contact form)
  • Project Opportunities

    Opportunities are warm leads who are interested in you project services (similar to sales)

    There is a separate form for Project Opportunities.

  • Project Quotes

    When a potential customer asks for more information about project such as product, pricing, etc., a quote is sent.

    You can create one or more quotes for a project opportunity.

  • Project

    Under Project you can define scope, estimates, timelines and resources required to meet an objective.

    Alternatively, you can quickly create a project using Project Templates.

  • Project Contract

    When you win a quote, you create a project contract to make it official.

    You can create one or more project contracts for a quote.

  • Invoices

    An invoice is used to bill customer for the project.

    When you create a project contract, you set the frequency to generate invoices.

    You can modify the created invoice before confirming.

  • Schedule Board

    Schedule Board shows all resources, their availability and allows you to book resources for a project.

    Multiple views are available like Hours, Days, Weeks and Months.

  • Resources

    You can book resources against a project for scheduling and invoicing.

    Resources can include users, contacts, accounts or equipment.

  • Time Entries

    Resources working on a project can enter their timesheet (time entries) explaining how much time they spent working on a project.

    Users enter duration in minutes, hours or days.

  • Expenses

    Expenses against a project can be entered by resources so you can be invoicing your client.

    Frequency of entering expenses may vary based on project requirements.

Watch the video:

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What is Project Management? (Episode 02)

Posted on March 30, 2020 by Paresh Sharma
Project Management is the application of Knowledge, Skills, Tools and Techniques to Project Activities to Meet Project Objectives.

 

– By PMI )Project Management Institute).

The statement above is the definition of a Project Management by Project Management Institute. Let us have a look at some of the terms:

  • Knowledge – What you should do when a project comes and what are the different processes.
  • Skills – How do you manage your projects, do you have team managing skills? Or do you have daily reporting skills?
  • Tools – What mechanism are you using to meet your project objectives? For example, Project Service Automation is that tool that you will use to manage your projects.
  • Techniques – The approach that basically helps you to implement things in your project.
  • Project Objective – This is the core thing that you need to meet.

Project Management Triangle

A s a Project manager, when you want to implement a project, you will need to consider the concept of project triangle:

  • If you are implementing a project you should ask yourself a question “Do I know the scope of the project?” and “Can I meet the agreed and defined scope?”.
  • The project must be delivered within the cost. Now, this is the cost that your company is incurring to execute the project to maintain the profitability.
  • The project must be delivered on the agreed schedule.
  • You must maintain the quality while you meet the agreed scope and deliver within the cost and agreed schedule.

Watch Video:

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What is a Project? (Episode 01)

Posted on March 26, 2020 by Paresh Sharma
A Project is a Temporary Endeavour undertaken to create a Unique Product, Service or Result.

– By PMI )Project Management Institute).

The statement above is the definition of a Project by Project Management Institute. Let us understand few words from this definition:

  • Temporary Endeavour – It means that a Project will have a start and an end date. So a Project cannot just keep on going. That is not called a Project but an Operation.
  • Unique Product / Service / Result – Whenever you are trying to create a new Product, it’s going to be different, in other words “unique” (it can be a software, hardware or anything that can be used by your customers). The same is with the service which is going to be unique for each customer (for example implementing Business Central for different customers) Or it can be a unique Result.

Example:

  • New Product – Building a Time Management Software.
  • New Service – Implementation of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.
  • Improvement to Existing Product / Service – New Feature Addition to the Business Central Implementation.
  • Producing A Result – Creating a Document Explaining How Dynamics 365 Business Central Purchase Process Works.

Project Vs Operation

Following are some parameters, based on which you can differentiate and understand how you can use Project Service Automation for your Projects.

Parameter Project Operation
Duration Temporary Ongoing
Output Unique Repetitive
Purpose Create a unique product, service or result. Sustain the business
End When specific objectives are attended Adopt a new set of objectives and the work continues

Watch Video:

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How to Bulk Delete the Bulk Delete in Dynamics 365?

Posted on February 8, 2020 by Paresh Sharma

The bulk deletion feature helps you to maintain data quality and manage the consumption of system storage by deleting data that you no longer need. But then how do you delete the Bulk Delete logs?

Click Advanced Settings > Settings > Data Management > Bulk Delete.

In Bulk Record Deletion, click New.

In the Bulk Deletion Wizard, provide the following criteria:

  • Look For: System jobs
  • Condition: System Job Type Equals Bulk Delete

Click Next to run the Bulk Delete. You will notice that all the logs from the Bulk Delete are removed except for the one which was created to delete the system jobs.

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How to Install & Configure Language Packs in Dynamics 365?

Posted on February 1, 2020 by Paresh Sharma

With language Packs, users can view Dynamics 365 User Interface in the Language that is different from the base language.

For example, if English is the base language, its possible to install a French Language Pack and then users will be able to view Dynamics 365 in French Language.

Before using Language Packs, Language Pack must be enabled in Dynamics 365 instance.

User can select their User Interface and Help language under Personalization Settings.

Process

Click Advanced Settings > Settings > Administration > Languages.

Here you can see all the languages available by default.

Let us say we would like to enable “French” language. So select the option and click Apply.

NOTE: This feature will take several minutes and during the process, other people in the organization may not be able to use Dynamics 365. So, make sure you time it properly.

Once the feature is enable, please note that every user can change the display language for items such as menus and dialog boxes, by setting Personal Options.

Go to Languages tab and set you preferred User Interface Language and Help Language. Check what changes you see in the system!

Bonjour! Can you spot the difference?

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Create and Manage KB Article Templates (Episode 22)

Posted on January 9, 2020 by Paresh Sharma

Setting up a comprehensive knowledge base is the key to increased customer satisfaction and improved productivity. A knowledge base is created to help the customer service reps with solutions to the most common issues, so that they can assist customers quickly.

  • You define the structure and purpose of the article in Article Templates (available from Service Management settings in unified interface).
  • You can create templates for various purpose such as for recording Procedure or Question and Answer or Solution to a problem or maybe a Standard KB Article. These can be used as a base by the customer service reps to create various articles in the system.
  • There is no limit on creating Article Templates.
  • Inactive Article Templates cannot be used in template selection.

Scenario

  • Tech Quantum gets a lot of request on how to setup Chart of Accounts correctly in Business Central.
  • A lot of training participants ask for similar step by step training tech notes.
  • Tech Quantum has decided to create Articles for the step by step procedure.
  • A support engineer creates an Article Template which can be used to create step by step procedural articles.

Process

Go to Service Management > Article Template, from the Customer Service Hub.

Perform the following steps:

  • Click New to create a new template.
  • Specify Name, Title, Keywords, Subject and Description. Also specify if it is for internal or external purpose.
  • Use the Designer or HTML area to create a template and use the Preview function to see how it will look like.
  • Save the template.
  • Use the Approve functionality, to approve the template (usually done by another person based on roles).
  • Then Publish the Article Template, so that it is available for use.

Now, click Service > Knowledge Articles. Create a new knowledge article based on a template.

Once Created Approve and Publish the KB Article so that it is available in search.

Go to an open case, in the related section, click on the Knowledge Based Search icon, and try searching for the KB Article.

If you find the article click Link to link it with the case. You can also Email the article as well to the customer.

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Knowledge Base Article and Article Templates (Episode 21)

Posted on January 7, 2020 by Paresh Sharma
  • Knowledge Base is a collection of articles that are used by the service team to solve customer cases or provide information.
  • An Article Template provides structure and determines how the Article is displayed to users.
  • An article can be searched by Knowledge Base Search Control, Quick Find In Grids and Global Search.

NOTE: Use the new Knowledge Article Template entity. The old Article Templates have been depreciated and no longer in use.

How to Access Knowledge Article Templates?

In the Customer Service Hub, change the area to Service Management. Then select the option Article Templates.

How to Search KB Articles?

There are three ways to search KB Articles:

  • Knowledge Base Search Control

    In the app, select a case by navigating to Service > Cases. In the Related section (also known as Reference panel), select Knowledge Base Search and search for knowledge articles using keywords in the search box.

  • Quick find in Grids

    In the app, go to Service > Knowledge Articles, and select the search box to search the knowledge base using keywords.

  • Global Search

    Select the Search icon on the navigation bar to do a global search for knowledge base articles. Global search lets you use Categorized search or Relevance search.

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Merge Cases (Episode 20)

Posted on January 5, 2020 by Paresh Sharma

There might be a situation where multiple cases are related to the same issue; In such cases instead of handling them individually, you can merge those cases and provide the solution.

Note the following points:

  • When merged, all the open activities are combined under one case and remaining cases are cancelled (you need to select one case in Merge Case window).
  • It is possible to merge up to 10 cases at a time.
  • Merge case functionality works with Parent-Child cases as well.

Scenario:

  • After Business Central training, customer’s employees face a lot of challenges in Setting up Business Central.
  • One of the contacts, sends an email to Tech Quantum regarding the issue (New case is created).
  • Another contact calls Tech Quantum support centre and reports the issue (New case is created).
  • After investigation, it is identified that both cases are related to the same issue. So, Tech Quantum support team merges both cases and provides a solution.

Process

Go to Cases in Customer Service Hub and select the cases to be merged. The Merge icon will now be displayed in the ribbon. Click Merge.

Select the case that the other cases will be merged into. Review the cases and corresponding customers before you merge the cases. You can’t undo this action. Click Merge.

Once merged, check the status of other cases, they should be in Cancelled state.

Open the active case and check if all the activities have been merged.

Also check the Case Relationships tab.

 

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Implement Parent-Child Cases (Episode 19)

Posted on January 4, 2020 by Paresh Sharma

You might face situation where you receive similar cases and you would not like to pay attention to each case as since the nature of these cases are similar. In such a situation you can create a parent case, identify similar cases and link them as child cases. You can provide a solution to your customer and finally close the parent case and choose if you want to automatically close the associated child cases.

Following are some points to note regarding Parent-Child cases:

  • It is possible to create multiple cases associated with one parent case.
  • Parent-Child case relationship is used when you want to keep track of multiple issues for a customer or track the same issue for multiple customers.
  • It is an easy way to manage cases rather than handling multiple cases of similar nature.
  • Parent-Child case settings includes:
    • What fields must be populated from parent case when child case is created.
    • Closure preferences, such as:
      • Parent & Child cases can be closed independent to each other (default).
      • Close all Child cases when Parent case is closed.
      • Do not allow the Parent case closure until all Child cases are closed.

Scenario:

  • After Business Central training, customer’s employees face a lot of challenges in Setting up Business Central.
  • So, instead of creating individual cases, a Parent case is created for “Business Central Setup Issues”.
  • Whenever a new issue is raised by the customer related to system setup, a child case is created against the parent case.
  • After understanding all the issues/scenarios, the Tech Quantum team decided to create a Knowledge Base (training) so all the issues can be resolved.
  • Finally, to close all the child cases, the parent case is closed.

Process:

Click Advanced Setting > Settings > Service Management > Parent and Child Case Settings.

In Case Settings:

  • Select the attributes that you would like to inherit from parent to child case.
  • Specify closure preference, by selecting one of the following:
    • <Blank>
    • Close all child cases when parent case is closed
    • Don’t allow parent case closure until all child cases are closed

NOTE: When you select <Blank>, which is default, all cases (parent or child) have to be closed independently.

In this example, we will select the second option, i.e. “Close all child cases when parent case is closed”.

To test the settings, create a Parent Case and some Child cases. Then resolve the parent case and notice the result on child cases. They, all will be closed simultaneously.

Similarly choose another setting in Parent and Child Case Settings and see what results you get!

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