A new chapter for field service mobile

With the recent release of Microsoft’s new Dynamics 365 Field Service mobile app, some may be wondering, “Why is Microsoft introducing yet another Field Service mobile app and how is this app different from the current Field Service Mobile app?”

Unlike most other Dynamics 365 applications, Field Service relies heavily on providing an easy-to-use mobile experience for technicians who are out in the field. These technicians need access to important job site information and are oftentimes in areas with no internet service. Historically, Resco has provided the leading mobile platform for Dynamics 365 Field Service. However, customers that rely on the Resco Woodford app must configure the mobile experience completely separate from any Dynamics 365 app configurations. This dual configuration makes Field Service implementations longer and more costly.

Now with the new Dynamics 365 Field Service mobile app, Microsoft is finally bringing the mobile experience into the Power Platform as a model-driven app. This means Field Service mobile app configurations can now be done within the same admin console as all other Dynamics 365 apps, which could in theory reduce the amount of time needed for Field Service implementations going forward.

Administrators will no longer have to deal with the redundancy of building components like views, forms and business rules in Dynamics and then having to completely rebuild these configurations in a separate interface for the mobile app. Additionally, from the end-user perspective, the Unified Interface within model-driven apps will help provide visual consistency across apps for different business segments to alleviate the technology training process.

While complete feature parity between these two mobile solutions will take time to achieve, Microsoft has made significant strides with its first iteration of the Dynamics 365 Field Service mobile app. Some notable features include a calendar view of assigned jobs, media upload capabilities, signature capture and offline data sync. Visit the link below for a full feature comparison between the new Dynamics 365 Field Service mobile app built on the Power Platform and the current Field Service Mobile app built on the Resco platform: https://bit.ly/3hRHaII

As shown in this comparison, important Field Service features like push notifications, geofencing, custom reporting and offline business processes have yet to become available in the new Dynamics 365 Field Service mobile app. For this reason, Microsoft is recommending that more complex Field Service implementations continue to use the current Field Service Mobile app until June 2021, while simpler use cases can opt for the new Dynamics 365 Field Service app to get up and running with a mobile solution quickly.

Microsoft gives us a lot to look forward to in the coming year with its plans for this Dynamics 365 Field Service mobile solution. More than ever, the Power Platform continues to grow into a one-stop shop with ease of configurability and powerful integration tools, enabling businesses of all sizes to digitally transform in the modern era.