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CHAPTER 22: MAINTAINING USERS AND RESOURCES Objectives
The objectives are:
Understand the concepts of scheduling users and other resources
in Microsoft Dynamics CRM
Set up a schedule for a user, facility or equipment Create, and
add users, facility, or equipment to a resource group View
schedules for resources Remove resources from the scheduled
services Create, edit, or add members to a site Set or edit
business closures
Introduction This lesson discusses the scheduling
administration, set up process, and administrative activities in
detail since this is a key entry point in the scheduling process.
The lesson begins by selecting the working hours for the business,
resources and so on, and then discusses the other activities
related to ensuring that the scheduling engine as all required
information to begin the scheduling process.
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Scenario Situation
Scheduling appointments is primarily a manual operation for
Adventure Works Cycle, who uses a spreadsheet to track service
activities. Because of the manual scheduling process, they could
not effectively manage how resources are used, and they frequently
find themselves with a limited number of resources when they
deliver services to their customers.
Goal Description
Adventure Works Cycle's existing service scheduling processes
must be migrated to Microsoft Dynamics CRM Service Scheduling to
enable them to maximize their business objectives. For example,
Adventure Works Cycle wants to reach maximum use of resources,
facilities, and equipment when delivering services to their
customers.
To ensure that the availability of resources can be factored
into availability searches, the Service Scheduling Manager must set
up the following information in Microsoft Dynamics CRM:
1. Business closure dates. 2. Resources, for example, workforce
and facilities/equipment that
participate in the scheduling process. 3. Group Resources. For
example:
any resources from the group all resources from the group a
subset of resources
4. Multi-locations or site requirements, including proper
resource
selection and handling of time zones. 5. Verify service
proposals.
Scheduling Users and Other Resources for Services Resources are
the users who can provide a service, and the equipment and
facilities required to provide the service to customers. Microsoft
Dynamics CRM can manage the schedules, the services to be
performed, and the availability of workforce.
When the skills of the personnel are combined with the correct
equipment and facilities required to perform services, a comany can
improve the efficiency with which it schedules and provides
services to customers.
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Selecting the Resources that Perform Services
For each service an organization offers, select the resources
required, either as individual resources or as resource groups, to
perform the service. To select resources, create selection rules
for the service that details what combination of individual
personnel, equipment, and facilities, or resource groups is
required when someone schedules this service. For example, you can
set up a rule that a bike repair requires a bike technician and a
specific set of tools.
If you have groups of resources with similar skills or skill
levels that can be scheduled interchangeably, you can create
resource groups for easier selection. For example, you can put all
the repair technicians into a technicians resource group. When you
are defining the selection rules for your services, you select only
the technicians group instead of the individual technicians.
You can set up services and resources so that the Microsoft
Dynamics CRM can consider different size facilities or the
experience levels of users when a service a scheduled. This is
known as capacity scheduling. Capacity is a relative unit that you
define. For example, in a bicycle repair shop, if a repair bay has
the capacity of four units and a bike inspection requires one unit,
the repair bay can accommodate four bike inspections at the same
time. Capacity can also measure skill level. For example, a junior
bike technician has a capacity of one unit and a senior technician
has the capacity of two units. A bike inspection requires two
units, therefore, it takes either two junior technicians or one
senior technician to perform an inspection.
Defining when Your Resources are Available
You can manage the schedule of individual resources by
scheduling the availability of each resource. This includes
vacations, time-off, working hours, capacity, and maintenance.
You can view the schedule for resources, compare it to other
schedules, and check for conflicts.
With this information, when you schedule a service, Microsoft
Dynamics CRM determines which resources or combination of resources
are available to perform the service at a specific date and
time.
Scheduling Organization-wide Closures
You can set the days the organization is closed for holidays and
other events. You can also exempt individual resources from the
closure schedule.
User Work Schedules Setting up work schedules in Microsoft
Dynamics CRM enables schedulers to benefit by being able to factor
the users, facility, and equipment schedule into availability
searches when scheduling service activities.
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Note the following when working with schedules:
1. Weekly Schedule form, which can be used to set a resource's:
Working hours Working days Date ranges Time zone
2. Scheduling Administrator, which can set a recurring schedule
that
can be the: Same for each work day Varied with each day
Users Working Hours
By default, when users are created or upgraded, they have a 24
hour per day, 7 days per week working calendar, but are not linked
to the business closures calendar.
In Microsoft Dynamics CRM, a billing day is based on the working
hours set up in personal options. For example, if the start time is
8:00 AM and the end time is 5:00 PM, the work day has nine billable
hours.
As part of setting Working Hours for the resource, the
Scheduling Administrator can decide whether the resource should
observe business closures or not. For more information, refer to
the Business Closures Section.
Procedure: Set or Change Working Hours for a User, Facility, or
Equipment
1. In the Navigation Pane, click Settings. 2. In the Settings
area, click Business Unit Settings, and then click
either Users or Facilities/Equipment. 3. In the list, open the
resource record to modify. 4. Under Details, click Work Hours. 5.
On the Monthly View tab, double-click a date on the calendar that
is
the first day you want the new schedule to start, or any date
that will be affected by the new schedule.
6. In the Edit Weekly Schedule dialog box, select one of the
following and then click OK. a. This date only Changes only the
date selected. If you select this
option, skip to step 9. b. Edit from this date onward Changes
only the schedule going
forward. c. Edit the weekly recurring schedule Changes the
entire
schedule from the start to end date.
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7. In the Weekly Schedule dialog box, select one of the
following: a. Are the same for each working day The new schedule is
the
same for every day of the week. After selecting this option,
select the days of the week when the resource is available.
b. Vary by day The new schedule is different for one or more
days of the week. After selecting this option, select the days of
the week when the resource is available.
8. Click the work hours link for the schedule you want to
modify. If working hours have not been set previously, the link is
displayed as Set Working Hours.
9. In the Work Day dialog box, complete the following fields: a.
Start Select the time the work day starts. b. End Select the time
the work day ends.
10. Select the days of the week when this schedule is effective.
Click
OK. 11. Click Save or Save and Close.
NOTE: There are three different types of schedules that can be
set up: weekly, monthly, and daily.
Procedure: Schedule a Break for a User or a Daily Unavailability
for a Facility or Equipment
You can schedule a regular period of time during a workday when
a resource is not available to be scheduled for a service
activity.
For a user, this could be a break or lunch. For a facility or
equipment, this could be for daily maintenance. You can schedule
one or more breaks for each work day.
1. In the Navigation Pane, click Settings. 2. Under Settings,
click Settings, then in the Settings area click
Business Unit Settings, and then click Facilities/Equipment. 3.
In the list, select the facility, equipment, or user to modify. 4.
Under Details, click Working Hours. 5. Do one of the following:
To add a break to a single work day On the calendar,
double-click the specific day you want to
modify. On the Edit Weekly Schedule page, select This date only,
and
then click OK. To add a break to an entire schedule
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On the calendar, double-click on the first day of the schedule
you want to modify.
On the Edit Weekly Schedule page, select from this date onward,
and then click OK.
6. On the Set Working Hours dialog box, beside the time period
in which you want to add a break, click Add Break.
A 15-minute break is added in the middle of the selected time
period.
7. Adjust the start and end times as needed. 8. Repeat steps 6
and 7 as needed. 9. Click OK. 10. Click Save or Save and Close.
Schedule Time Off or Temporary Unavailability
You can schedule a period of time in the middle of an existing
schedule when a resource is not available to be scheduled for a
service activity.
For a user, this could be a sick day or vacation. For a facility
or equipment, this could an equipment failure.
Procedure: Schedule Time Off or Temporary Unavailability
Procedure: Schedule Time Off, or Temporary Unavailability
1. In the Navigation Pane, click Settings. 2. Under Settings,
click Settings, then in the Settings area click
Business Unit Settings, and then click Facilities/Equipment. 3.
In the list, open the facility and equipment to modify. 4. Under
Details, click Working Hours. 5. On the Monthly View tab, select a
date on the calendar. 6. On the Actions toolbar, on the New menu,
click Time Off. 7. In the Time Off dialog box, complete the
following boxes:
Reason Type a short explanation for the resource's absence. The
text appears in the resource's Working Hours calendar view and on
the Service Calendar.
All Day If the resource is available for part of one or more
days and you want to select specific hours, clear this check box.
If the resource is unavailable for the entire day (midnight to
midnight) of all of the days, select this check box.
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Start Time and End Time If the All Day check box is selected,
the resource is unavailable from midnight to midnight for the
selected dates. Otherwise, you can set specific start and end
times.
Duration If you do not want to calculate the end date, select
the number of days the resource is unavailable. Microsoft Dynamics
CRM automatically calculates the end date and time.
Time Zone If the resource is not in the same time zone as the
rest of the organization, you can select the time zone. Microsoft
Dynamics CRM automatically adjusts the times on the calendars.
8. Click OK. In the working hours calendar and the Service
Calendar, affected
days are marked with a red block.
NOTE: When the time off expires, the previous schedule
continues. You can also create new schedules, breaks, and time offs
from the New menu on the Actions toolbar.
Procedure: Restrict when a Resource can be Scheduled for a
Service
You can restrict when a resource is available for a specific
service. The resource is still available for scheduling service
activities for other services.
1. In the Navigation Pane, click Settings. 2. In the Settings
area, click Business Unit Settings, and then click
either Users or Facilities/Equipment. 3. In the list, open the
resource record to modify. 4. Under Details, click Work Hours. 5.
On the Monthly View tab, double-click a date on the calendar that
is
either the first day you want to restrict the service or a date
in a recurring schedule.
6. On the Edit Weekly Schedule dialog box, select one of the
following options and then click OK. This date only Changes only
the date selected. If you select this
option, skip to step 8. Edit from this date onward Changes only
the schedule going
forward. Edit the weekly recurring schedule Changes the
entire
schedule from the start to end date.
7. On the Weekly Schedule dialog box, click the work hours link
for the schedule you want to modify.
8. On the Work Day dialog box, click the Service Rules tab. 9.
On the Actions toolbar, click New.
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10. On the Service Restriction dialog box, locate and select a
Service. Click the lookup icon to search for a record.
11. In the Start Time and End Time lists, set the time when the
facility or equipment is not available, and then click OK
12. Click OK, to close the Work Day dialog box. 13. Click Save
or Save and Close.
Adding a New Facility or Equipment
Facilities and equipment are used for service scheduling. New
facilities and equipment are added to Microsoft Dynamics CRM from
the Facilities/Equipment form.
NOTE: You must have system administrator security privileges to
add facilities or equipment.
Procedure: Add a New Facility or Equipment 1. In the Navigation
Pane, click Settings. 2. Under Settings, click Settings, and then
in the Settings area click
Business Unit Settings. Then click Facilities/Equipment. 3. On
the Actions toolbar, click New. 4. On the form, enter information
in the following fields.
Name Type a name with a length of 100 characters or less. The
name should be meaningful and unique. By default these records are
sorted by name in the Facilities and Equipment area and in the
Service Calendar area.
Time Zone You can select a different time zone if the facility
or equipment is in a time zone that is different than that of the
main business unit.
Business Unit This field is filled in automatically with the
business unit. If the facility or equipment is part of a different
business unit, you can change this information. Click Lookup to
search for another business unit.
5. Click Save or Save and Close.
NOTE: You can also select a Site for the facility or equipment.
This is important if you have more than one site to make sure that
all of the resources are at the same site for a service
activity
If you want someone to receive an e-mail message regarding this
resource, for example the equipment manager, enter a valid Primary
E-mail address.
You can enter a detailed description of the facility or
equipment, including model numbers, room size, or other identifying
information.
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Time Zones
Some organization's sites might exist in multiple time zones.
The service appointment has a time zone, also known as the
corresponding appointment location.
Note the following factors when considering time zones:
Appointment times Time conversion
Generally, the organization considers the appointment time in
terms of where the customer visits or is located for the
appointment. It might be the time zone of the customer for out
bound service calls.
The time zone of the target site is considered when converting
time into local time for presentation of appointment time
information. For example, the scheduler is able to communicate
local time information to the customer.
NOTE: Use the Set Working Hours dialog to schedule the times
when a resource will be available. You can set the working hours,
breaks, time zone, split working hours, and add restrictions for
when the resource's services can be scheduled.
Creating a Group of Resources that can be Scheduled Together
Resource groups provide a convenient way to identify resources
that might perform a specific service, such as skill based
classification.
For example, if the organization has several technicians that
are all at the same skill level and training, consider creating a
technician resource group and add all of the technicians to the
group.
When defining the required resources for services, you can
select the resource group rather than the individual technicians.
When you hire new technicians, you can add them to the resource
group rather than to each service.
NOTE: You can edit an existing resource group by following steps
1 and 2 to navigate to the Resource Groups area. Then, open the
resource group to edit. Use the information in this procedure as a
guide when entering data or making changes. Making changes in the
Details area does not affect service activities created with this
resource group, but removing members or deleting this resource
group can affect existing service activities.
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Creating a Group of Resources that can be Scheduled Together
Continued
When working with resources, groups provide the following
services:
Lest users build more sophisticated organizational structures.
Enables organizations to create, organize, and manage the
workforce
and facilities/equipment that participate in the scheduling
process. Helps organizations create a dynamic grouping of
resources.
Procedure: Create or Edit a Resource Group 1. In the Navigation
Pane, click Settings. 2. Under Settings, click Settings, and then
in the Settings area click
Business Unit Settings. Then click Resource Groups. 3. On the
Actions toolbar, click New. 4. In the Resource Groups form, enter
information in the following
fields: Name Type a name for the resource group. Microsoft
Dynamics
CRM does not check that the name is unique. Business Unit To
locate and select a business unit, click
Lookup. Description Type a detailed description of this resource
group,
including the criteria that you used to determine which
resources to add to the resource group.
5. Click Save. After you save the record, Resources appears
under Details.
6. Click Resources, and then on the Actions toolbar, click Add
Resources.
7. In the Look Up dialog box, select the users,
facilities/equipment, teams, or other resource groups to add to
this resource group. Adding other resource groups to a resource
group helps manage large numbers of resources. For example, you
could add the resource groups of senior technicians and junior
technicians to a resource group of technicians.
8. Click OK to add the selected resources to the resource group.
9. Click Save or Save and Close.
NOTE: Consider setting up restrictions on a group to optimize
resource use across required resources.
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Procedure: Add an Individual User, Facility, or Equipment to a
Resource Group
You can add a user, facility, or equipment to a resource group
from the individual resource's record. This can be useful when you
are creating the record for a new user, facility, or piece of
equipment.
1. In the Navigation Pane, click Settings. 2. Under Settings,
click Settings, and then in the Settings area click
Business Unit Settings. Then click either Users or
Facilities/Equipment.
3. In the list, open the record you want to modify. 4. Under
Service, click Resource Groups. 5. On the Actions toolbar, click
Add to Resource Group. 6. In the Look Up Records dialog box, select
the resource groups to
which you want to add the user, facility, or equipment, and then
click OK.
7. Click Save or Save and Close.
Procedure: Add Multiple Resources to a Resource Group
Use this procedure to add or remove multiple users, facilities,
or equipment to a resource group.
1. In the Navigation Pane, click Settings. 2. Under Settings,
click Settings, and then in the Settings area click
Business Unit Settings. Then click Resource Groups. 3. In the
list of resource groups, open the resource group you want to
add resources to. 4. Under Details, click Resources. 5. On the
Actions toolbar, click Add Resources. 6. In the Look Up Records
dialog box, add users, facilities/equipment,
teams, or other resource groups, and then click OK. 7. Click
Save or Save and Close. Procedure: Add Multiple Resources
to a Resource Group Continued
Demonstration: Adding Multiple Resources to a Resource Group
This demonstration illustrates how to add multiple resources to
a resource group in Microsoft Dynamics CRM.
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Scenario
The Service Scheduling Manager has spent some time grouping
users into resource groups in Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Microsoft
Dynamics CRM provides this feature to improve the Scheduling
Administrators productivity in managing and grouping users.
The Service Scheduling Manager wants to group three of Adventure
Works Cycle's bike technicians into a resource group to allow for
easier scheduling of resources with a specific skill set.
Goal Description
Create a resource group for Bike Technicians and add Judith
Walker, Chris Perry, and Mathew Pereira to the group.
Steps
1. Log on to the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Web Application: User
ID: Roger Password: Pa$$w0rd.
2. On the Settings page, click Business Unit Settings and then
click Resource Groups.
3. Click New. 4. On the Resource Group page, enter Bicycle
Technicians as the
name of the resource group. 5. Select Adventure Works Cycle as
the business unit. 6. Click Save. 7. In the left navigation bar,
click Resources. 8. Locate the Bicycle Technicians resource group.
9. Click Add Resources. 10. In the Look up Records dialog, from the
Type drop-down list, select
User as the record type, and then click Find. 11. From the list
displayed in Available records: Double-click and add
Judith Walker, Chris Perry, and Mathew Pereira to the Selected
Records and click OK.
12. Click Save and Close.
NOTE: Scheduling Administrators might add teams to a resource
group just for grouping users.
View Schedules for Resources You can view a resource's schedule,
including the details of the resource's daily and weekly
schedules.
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Procedure: View a List of Resources
You can view a list of resources in the Service Calendar area.
The Service Calendar includes a scalable, linear view of the
resource's schedules.
1. In the Navigation Pane, click Service, and then click Service
Calendar.
2. In the Type list, select the type of resource, and then in
the View list, select the view of the resource you want to
appear.
3. In the list of resources, you can do any of the following:
Click a letter on the alphabetical jump bar at the bottom of
the
list to go to that section of the list. Expand the list pane by
dragging the right edge to view
additional columns of information. Reverse the sort order of the
list, by clicking a column heading.
View general information about a single resource by selecting
the resource in the list and then clicking the expand arrow under
the Zoom bar.
Exporting Resource Groups
The Resource form is used to export a list of resources to a
spreadsheet.
Procedure: Find and View the Work Schedule for an Individual
Resource
1. In the Navigation Pane, click Customer Service, and then
click Service Calendar.
2. In the Type list, click Resource. 3. In the Find box, type
the name of the resource, or the last name of a
user, and then click Go.
You can use asterisks (*) as wildcards in the search.
4. In the list of resources, open the resource you want to view.
5. On the form for the resource, under Details, click Working
Hours. 6. On the Monthly View tab, double-click a date to view the
schedule
for that week. To change the month you are viewing, at the top
of the calendar, click the forward and back arrows on either side
of the displayed month and year.
Manage How Resources are Allocated for Service Activities You
can set up services and resources in Microsoft Dynamics CRM to take
into account different-sized facilities or the experience levels of
the users when a service is scheduled.
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This is known as capacity scheduling. Capacity is a relative
unit that you define.
For example, you could define capacity in a bicycle repair shop
as the number of bikes the shop has room to accommodate at the same
time.
If a repair bay has room for four bike-repair stations, the
repair bay can accept four bikes for repair or inspection at the
same time.
Capacity can also measure skill level. For example, a junior
bike technician has the ability to perform one bike inspection per
hour, and a senior technician has the ability to perform four bike
inspections per hour.
If two bikes must be inspected in one hour, it takes either two
junior technicians, or one senior technician who can perform the
inspections in half the time.
If your organization prefers to make sure that a resource is
fully utilized before another resource is scheduled, you can also
set an option to check which resources are the least busy or most
busy. The default is to select the next available resource at
random. For example, to ensure that a technician is scheduled as
fully as possible before another technician is scheduled, then you
can select the Most Busy option.
Procedure: Set the Capacity Required for a Service
To effectively manage the capacity, service-specific limits may
need to be set in Microsoft Dynamics CRM.
For example, one generally used limit is No more than one
appointment at a time. This limits the amount of production by a
specific resource.
Another example would be as follows: Only schedule these types
of services during these specific time ranges; or, Schedule no more
than one service during a specific time range.
Capacity is a relative unit of measurement defined by a
business. To use this feature, set both the capacity of the service
and of the resources required for the service.
1. In the Navigation Pane, click Settings. 2. Under Settings,
click Settings, and then in the Settings area click
Services. 3. In the Services area, open the service you want to
modify. 4. On the Service form, on the Required Resources tab,
double-click
the selection rule you want to modify. Selection rules appear in
the tree beside.
5. In the Edit a Selection Rule dialog box, expand the
Scheduling Details area.
6. In the Capacity Required box, enter the capacity required for
this service.
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7. Click OK. 8. Click Save or Save and Close.
NOTE: Because many resources may be able to do multiple
appointments concurrently you can reuse the same resource more than
nce. This process is frequently required for efficient resource
use.
Procedure: Set the Capacity of a Resource
Capacity is a relative unit of measurement defined by a
business. To use this feature, you must set both the capacity of
the service and of the resources required for the service.
To set the capacity for a service, you must navigate through the
Service form dialog boxes to the dialog box.
1. In the Navigation Pane, click Settings. 2. Under Settings,
click Settings, and then in the Settings area click
Business Unit Settings. Then click either Users or
Facilities/Equipment.
3. In the list, open the resource record to modify. 4. Under
Details, click Work Hours. 5. On the Monthly View tab, double-click
the link on the date on the
calendar that is the first day you want the new schedule to
start, or any date that will be affected by this edit.
6. In the Edit Weekly Schedule dialog box, select one of the
following and then click OK: This date only This option changes
only the date selected.
If you select this option, skip to step 8.
Edit from onward This option changes only the schedule going
forward.
Entire recurring weekly schedule from start to end This option
changes this entire schedule from the start to end date. Selecting
this option might change past days, which might affect reports
regarding hours worked in the past.
7. In the Weekly Schedule dialog box, click the work hours link
for the schedule to edit.
If working hours have not been set previously, the link is
displayed as Set Working Hours. You must set up a schedule for a
user, facility, or equipment before continuing.
8. In the Work Day dialog box, click Show Capacity, and then in
the Capacity column, enter the capacity.
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9. Click OK. 10. Click Save or Save and Close.
Procedure: Set How Resources are Allocated for Service
Activities
You can set the selection criteria of resources for a service.
For example, to ensure a technician is scheduled as fully as
possible before another technician is scheduled, select the Most
Busy option.
1. In the Navigation Pane, click Settings. 2. Under Settings,
click Settings, and then in the Settings area click
Services. 3. In the list of services, open the service you want
to modify. 4. On the Service form, on the Required Resources tab,
double-click
the selection rule to modify.Selection rules appear in the tree
beside. 5. In the Edit a Selection Rule dialog box, expand the
Scheduling
Details area. 6. In the Selection Criteria box, select one of
the following to set how
Microsoft Dynamics CRM presents the results of a search for an
available time slot for this service: Random (default) This option
selects proposed service
activities based on the next available time slots that meets the
scheduling criteria.
Least Busy This option selects the resources that have the
fewest number of appointments and service activities. This option
also creates a calendar in which resource use is kept balanced.
Most Busy This option selects the resources that have the
greatest number of appointments and service activities. This option
also creates a calendar in which individual resources are kept as
busy as possible.
7. Click OK. 8. Click Save or Save and Close.
Removing a Resource from a Schedule
If you have a resource that is not available for service
scheduling, but you do not want to delete the record for that
resource, you have three options:
If the resource cannot be scheduled for a specific service, but
you need to schedule the resource for another type of activity, you
can remove it from that service's list of resources. This does not
affect the rest of Microsoft Dynamics CRM or the resource's ability
to be scheduled for other services. For example, Joe has been
promoted and no longer performs bike repairs. You can remove him as
a required resource for the bike repair service.
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If the resource is temporarily unavailable and you do not want
any service activities scheduled, but you need the ability to
create other activities for the resource, you can remove it from
the schedule. This does not affect the rest of Microsoft Dynamics
CRM. For example, the repair bay is closed for painting for three
days. You can remove the bay from the schedule for those days.
If the resource is no longer available, you can disable the
record for the resource. This affects all of Microsoft Dynamics
CRM. Existing records do not change, but the resource cannot be
linked to new or modified records, nor can service activities be
scheduled with that resource. If the resource is a user, they will
not be able to log on and use Microsoft Dynamics CRM. For example,
Vladimir has retired, but might come back to work occasionally. You
can disable his record now, and re-enable it in the future.
Procedure: Discontinue a Resource from Performing a Service
To discontinue a resource from performing a service, remove the
resources from that service.
A resource can be both an individual resource, as well as part
of a resource group. Make sure to remove the resource from any
selection rules and resource groups they belong to for that
service.
1. In the Navigation Pane, click Settings. 2. Under Settings,
click Settings, and then in the Settings area click
Business Unit Settings. Then click either Users or
Facilities/Equipment.
3. In the list, open the resource you want. 4. Under Service,
click Services. 5. In the services list, open the service you want
to discontinue for this
resource. 6. Remove a single resource. 7. On the Required
Resources tab, in the right pane, select the
resource and then click Remove Selected Item. 8. In the
confirmation dialog box, click OK. 9. Remove a resource that is
part of a resource group. 10. On the Required Resources tab, in the
right pane, open the resource
group. 11. Under Details, click Marketing List Members. 12. In
the members list, select the resource. 13. On the toolbar menu,
click More Actions, and then Remove
Members. 14. In the Remove Members From Resource Group dialog
box, click
OK. 15. To save changes and close, click Save and Close. 16. The
Resource Group form closes.
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17. To save changes and close, click Save and Close 18. The
Service form closes. 19. To save changes and close, click Save and
Close. 20. The User or Facilities/Equipment form closes.
Procedure: Remove a Resource Temporarily from the Schedule
1. In the Navigation Pane, click Settings. 2. Under Settings,
click Settings, and then in the Settings area click
Business Unit Settings. Then click either Users or
Facilities/Equipment.
3. In the list, open the resource you want. 4. Under Details,
click Work Hours. 5. On the Monthly View tab, do one of the
following: 6. Click Save or Save and Close.
Create, Edit, or Add Members to a Site A site is the physical
location where a user, facility, or equipment can perform a service
activity. When customers make appointments, they can indicate at
which site they want to receive the service.
Sites also make sure that all the resources required for a
service activity are in the same location. Use the Site form to
create, modify, and view sites and add resources.
When multiple business locations are involved, the following
elements are critical for scheduling service appointments:
Location Selection of resources Time zone
The service appointment has one of the following locations:
Customer location, where the service provider goes to the
customer On site, where the customer travels to your office
building
Location information is important to communicate to the
customer. It also might have an affect on resource selection when
scheduling appointments.
Having location data defined in Microsoft Dynamics CRM enables
the system to ultimately provide better Automation.
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Procedure: Create, Edit, or Add Members to a Site
Customer and Resource Location
The scheduler might need to optimize for customer location, by
selecting resources that are closest to the customer location.
Ultimately, there are several locations to consider, which
include:
The site that the resource is based out of. The resource's
residence. (Service technicians are frequently
scheduled so that their work day starts/ends close to where they
live.) The resources current/expected location at the time before
the
appointment, for example, the previous appointment on the
schedule.
Procedure: Create or Edit a Site
Users can edit an existing site by following steps 1 and 2 to
navigate to the Site area. Then, open the site they want to
edit.
Use the information in this procedure to guide you in entering
data or making changes.
1. In the Navigation Pane, click Settings. 2. Under Settings,
click Settings. Then, in the Settings area click Sites. 3. On the
Actions menu, click New. 4. On the General tab, enter information
in the following boxes:
Name Type a meaningful name for the site. This name appears in
the list of available sites.
You can enter contact information for this site, such as phone
numbers, fax numbers, and e-mail addresses.
5. On the Addresses tab, enter the physical address of the site.
If the time zone for the site is different than the rest of the
organization, you can change it in the Time Zone list.
6. Click Save or Save and Close.
Procedure: Add Resources to a Site
After a user creates a site, the user can add people (users),
equipment, or facilities to the site.
1. In the Navigation Pane, click Settings. 2. Under Settings,
click Settings. Then, in the Settings area click Sites. 3. In the
list of sites, open the site to which you want to add resources. 4.
Under Details, click Resources. 5. On the Actions toolbar, click
Add Resources.
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Applications in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0
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6. In the Look Up Records dialog box, select users, facilities,
or equipment to add, and then click OK.
7. Click Save or Save and Close.
Procedure: Remove Resources from a Site 1. In the Navigation
Pane, click Settings. 2. Under Settings, click Settings. Then, in
the Settings area click Sites. 3. In the list of sites, open the
site for which you want to remove
resources. 4. Under Details, click Resources. 5. In the list of
resources, select the resources that you want to remove. 6. On the
Actions toolbar, click More Actions, and then click Remove
Resources. 7. In the confirmation message, click OK. 8. Click
Save or Save and Close.
Set or Edit Business Closures The business closure function
provides a simple means to list company holidays and other business
closures. These closures can be applied to resource schedules and
factored into availability searches when scheduling service
activities.
This allows organizations to plan when resources are available
to be scheduled for work by the scheduling engine. This capability
enables the service engine to avoid suggesting time slots during
business closures, and also does the following:
Resources are not scheduled during business closures. Closures
do not have to be listed independently on each resource's
calendar. Those that have selected the do not observe business
closures
option on their working schedules are the only ones not
affected. Enable Scheduling Administrators to define business
closures that
block availability on resource calendars. The name of the
closures appears on the monthly calendar and the
service calendar.
Weekly schedules define the base pattern of working hours, or
for example, Monday-Friday, 8 AM to 5 PM, breaks: 12 to 1 PM, and
so on.
Billable Hours
Note the following factors when working with billable hours:
Closure setup Weekly schedules Time off
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Single day schedules Resource scheduling during holidays
If you set up a closure from 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM, you are
working for four billable hours.
Time off rules override weekly schedules, for example, next
Tuesday the resource who ordinarily works Monday-Friday, 8 AM - 5
PM, is off.
Single day schedules are exceptions and override weekly
schedules, Time off, and Business Closures. For example, next
Friday your resource who ordinarily works Monday-Friday, 8 AM -5
PM, is working a different shift: 7 AM - 4 PM day.
For resources such as facilities or equipment that are used
during holidays, the Scheduling Administrator sets an option on the
resource to not use the Holiday Calendar to block off
availability.
NOTE: By default, when users are created or upgraded, they have
a 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, working hours calendar, but are
not linked to the business closures calendar.
Procedure: Set or Edit Business Closures
The following procedure sets business closures. You can also
edit existing business closures by following step 1 to navigate to
the Business Closures area.
Then, open the closure you want to edit. Use the information in
this procedure to guide you in entering data or making changes.
1. In the Navigation Pane, click Settings. 2. Under Settings,
click Settings, and then in the Settings area, click
Business Closures. 3. On the Actions toolbar, click New. 4. In
the Schedule a Business Closure dialog box, in the Name box,
type a name. The first 12 characters of the name appear on each
day of the closure on the calendar view of the affected resource's
Work Hours.
5. In the Start Time and End Time boxes, enter the start and end
date for the closure. If you want to enter a duration instead of an
end time, select the
length of the closure in the Duration box. Microsoft Dynamics
CRM automatically calculates the end time for you.
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Applications in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0
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If the closure is an all day event, select the All Day check
box. Microsoft Dynamics CRM automatically enters a duration of 1
day.
If you want to enter a specific time period, clear the All Day
check box. Two lists will appear. Use these lists to set the hours
during which your organization will be closed.
6. To save this business closure, click OK.
NOTE: The Do not observe option is not set automatically for new
resources.
Scheduling Customizations
By default, the Scheduling Administrator and System Customizer
roles have the appropriate privileges to perform customizations.
For more information, see the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Customization
Manual.
Summary Setting up the work schedule ensures:
Resources can provide services to customers. Resources are
scheduled to participate in service activities. Organizations can
effectively plan and improve the efficiency with
which they schedule and provide services to their customers.
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Chapter 22: Maintaining Users and Resources
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Test Your Knowledge Time Types
1. What are Time Types used in Scheduling Administration? Select
all that apply. (Select all that apply.)
( ) Free ( ) Sick ( ) Blocked ( ) Tentative
Capacity
2. What does Capacity involve? Select all that apply. (Select
all that apply.)
( ) Working Hours ( ) Blocking out time ( ) Consuming time ( )
Reserving Time
Scheduling Components
3. What are some necessary components for scheduling services
your company offers? Select all that apply. (Select all that
apply.)
( ) Resources ( ) Selection rules ( ) Repair technicians ( )
Capacity
Capacity Scheduling
4. Which of the following is included in Capacity
Scheduling?
( ) Skill Level ( ) Work hours ( ) Personal time ( ) Billing
rates
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Applications in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0
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Service Live Cycle
5. What are factors in the service life cycle? Select all that
apply. (Select all that apply.)
( ) Planning ( ) Follow-up ( ) Billing ( ) Delivery
Scheduling Components
6. What are components in Scheduling? Select all that apply.
(Select all that apply.)
( ) Assigning staff and resources ( ) Identify the highest level
of resource ( ) Prioritize service work appropriately ( ) Determine
availability of staff and resources
Billing Day
7. What is a billing day based on in Microsoft Dynamics CRM?
( ) Users Outlook calendar ( ) Users Schedule ( ) Users input to
Scheduler ( ) Users' personal options
Schedule Types
8. What are the different kinds of schedules that can be set up
in Microsoft Dynamics CRM? (Select all that apply.)
( ) Daily ( ) Weekly ( ) Monthly ( ) Yearly
Resource Groups
9. What is the benefit of resource groups? (Select all that
apply.)
( ) Enable organizations to create, organize and manage
workforce and facilities/equipment
( ) Enable organization to enforce skill set standards ( ) Allow
users to build more sophisticated organizational structures ( )
Create a dynamic grouping of resources
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Chapter 22: Maintaining Users and Resources
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Menu Options
10. What menu options in Settings can be used to create a
Resource group?
( ) Business Unit Settings ( ) Subjects ( ) Territories ( )
System Customizations
Service Calendar Views
11. What kinds of resources can be seen in the Service calendar
views? (Select all that apply.)
( ) Users ( ) Technicians ( ) Facilities ( ) Equipment
Time
12. For what time frame can you edit the schedule from a
Schedule view?
( ) For one day only ( ) Only per week ( ) For a date range ( )
Only for the complete assignment
Removing a Resource Group
13. What is true about removing a resource or resource
group?
( ) It can be reactivated ( ) Any associated records can be
reassigned ( ) It is a temporary action ( ) Any associated records
will be removed
Business Closure
14. What do business closures provide? (Select all that
apply.)
( ) Enabling planning when resources are available to be
scheduled for work by the scheduling engine.
( ) This capability enables the service engine to avoid
suggesting time slots during business closures.
( ) Closures will be listed independently on each resource's
calendar. ( ) Enable Scheduling Administrators to define business
closures that block
availability on resource calendars.
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Business Closure
15. When users are created what business closure information is
linked to them?
( ) That of their business unit ( ) None ( ) That of their
resource group ( ) That of their team
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Chapter 22: Maintaining Users and Resources
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Lab 22.1 - User Work Schedules In this lab you will find the
missing word from each one of these sentences.
Scenario
Challenge Yourself! 1. The Weekly Schedule form can be used to
set resources
working________, and working _________ . 2. The Scheduling
Administrator can set a reoccurring schedule that
can be the same for _______ work day or _______ for each work
day.
3. By default, when users are created or upgraded, they will
have a ______ working hour's calendar.
4. As part of setting Working Hours for the resource, the
Scheduling Administrator can decide whether the resource should
_______ business closures or not.
5. In Microsoft Dynamics CRM, a billing day is based on the
working hours set up in _________ _________
6. You can schedule a regular period of time during a workday
when a resource is not available to be scheduled for a __________
activity.
7. You can __________ when a resource is available for a
specific service.
8. The service appointment has a ______ _______, also known as
the corresponding appointment location.
Need a Little Help? 1. The Weekly Schedule form can be used to
set resources working
hours, and working days. 2. The Scheduling Administrator can set
a reoccurring schedule that
can be the same for same work day or varied for each work day.
3. By default, when users are created or upgraded, they will have a
24/7
working hour's calendar. 4. As part of setting Working Hours for
the resource, the Scheduling
Administrator can decide whether the resource should observe
business closures or not.
5. In Microsoft Dynamics CRM, a billing day is based on the
working hours set up in Personal Options
6. You can schedule a regular period of time during a workday
when a resource is not available to be scheduled for a service
activity.
7. You can restrict when a resource is available for a specific
service. 8. The service appointment has a time zone, also known as
the
corresponding appointment location.
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Applications in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0
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Lab 22.2 - Create Business Closures In this Lab you create a
service and create a business closure for Adventure Works Cycle. As
you complete the instructions, use the information in the Scenario
and Goal Description section.
Scenario
Adventure Works Cycle is closed for New Year's Eve this year,
and service appointments should be scheduled for this holiday.
Goal Description
The Service Scheduling Manager must input this closure into CRM
so that the scheduling engine does not suggest availability during
these closures.
After entering this business closure into Microsoft Dynamics
CRM, it will not be necessary for the Service Scheduling Manager to
enter this business closure for each resource, one at a time. Also,
the system will not suggest New Year's Eve as an available
appointment time.
Challenge Yourself
Use the information above to set a business closure in Microsoft
Dynamics CRM.
Log on to the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Web Application as the
System Administrator:
Login Username crmadmin Password Pa$$w0rd
Need a Little Help? 1. Navigate to Business Closures. 2. Create
a business closure for New Years Eve. 3. This closure is for an all
day event and the duration is one day. 4. Save the business closure
in Microsoft Dynamics CRM.
Step by Step 1. In the Navigation Pane, click Settings. 2. Under
Settings, click Business Management, and then click
Business Closures. 3. On the Actions bar, click New. 4. In the
Schedule a Business Closure dialog box, in the Name box,
type New Year's Eve. 5. Enter 31 December of the current year
for the Start Time.
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Chapter 22: Maintaining Users and Resources
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6. As the closure is an all day event, select the All Day check
box. Microsoft Dynamics CRM will automatically enter duration of 1
day.
7. To save this business closure, click OK.
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Lab 22.3 - Remove a Resource from a Scheduled Service In this
Lab you remove a resource from the schedule for Adventure Works
Cycle. As you complete the instructions, use the information in the
Scenario and Goal Description section.
Scenario
Adventure Works Cycle has discovered that Mathew Pereira, the
Western Region Bike Service Technician, is temporarily unavailable
for service scheduling for the next three days due to illness.
Adventure Works Cycle does not want to delete the record for
Mathew, who will be required to perform future services for
Adventure Works Cycle, in Microsoft Dynamics CRM.
Also, because Mathew is only temporarily unavailable, service
schedulers still need to create other activities for the
resource.
Goal Description
Remove Mathew Pereira temporarily from the schedule for the next
three days.
Challenge Yourself!
Use the information to remove Mathew Pereira temporarily from
the schedule in Microsoft Dynamics CRM.
Log on to the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Web Application as Roger
Van Houten.
Login Username roger Password Pa$$w0rd
Need a Little Help?
Log on to the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Web Application as Roger
Van Houten.
1. In the Navigation Pane, click Settings. 2. Under Settings,
click Administration, and then click Users. 3. In the list, open
the record for Mathew Pereira. 4. Under Details, click Work Hours.
5. On the Monthly View tab, remove the resource from the
schedule
for the specific time period.
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Chapter 22: Maintaining Users and Resources
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Step by Step 1. Log on as the System Administrator.
Login Username Crmadmin Password Pa$$w0rd
2. In the Navigation Pane, click Settings. 3. Under Settings,
click Administration, and then click Users. 4. In the list, open
the record for Mathew Pereira. 5. Under Details, click Work Hours.
6. On the Monthly View tab do the following:
Select today's date on the calendar. On the Actions toolbar, on
the Set up menu, click Time Off. In the time off dialog box,
complete the following boxes:
Reason - Type a short explanation for the resource's absence.
For example: Mathew Perry is out due to illness.
All Day - As the resource is not available for the entire day
select this check box.
Duration - If you do not want to calculate the end date, select
the number of days, in this case the duration is three business
days from today.
Time Zone - As Mathew is in the same time zone Microsoft
Dynamics CRM automatically adjusts the times on the calendars.
7. Click OK.
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Quick Interaction: Lessons Learned Take a moment and write down
three key points you have learned from this chapter:
1.
2.
3.
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Chapter 22: Maintaining Users and Resources
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Solutions Test Your Knowledge
Time Types
1. What are Time Types used in Scheduling Administration? Select
all that apply. (Select all that apply.)
() Free ( ) Sick () Blocked () Tentative
Capacity
2. What does Capacity involve? Select all that apply. (Select
all that apply.)
() Working Hours () Blocking out time () Consuming time ()
Reserving Time
Scheduling Components
3. What are some necessary components for scheduling services
your company offers? Select all that apply. (Select all that
apply.)
() Resources () Selection rules ( ) Repair technicians ()
Capacity
Capacity Scheduling
4. Which of the following is included in Capacity
Scheduling?
() Skill Level ( ) Work hours ( ) Personal time ( ) Billing
rates
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Applications in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0
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Service Live Cycle
5. What are factors in the service life cycle? Select all that
apply. (Select all that apply.)
() Planning () Follow-up ( ) Billing () Delivery
Scheduling Components
6. What are components in Scheduling? Select all that apply.
(Select all that apply.)
() Assigning staff and resources ( ) Identify the highest level
of resource () Prioritize service work appropriately () Determine
availability of staff and resources
Billing Day
7. What is a billing day based on in Microsoft Dynamics CRM?
( ) Users Outlook calendar ( ) Users Schedule ( ) Users input to
Scheduler () Users' personal options
Schedule Types
8. What are the different kinds of schedules that can be set up
in Microsoft Dynamics CRM? (Select all that apply.)
() Daily () Weekly () Monthly ( ) Yearly
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Chapter 22: Maintaining Users and Resources
22-35
Resource Groups
9. What is the benefit of resource groups? (Select all that
apply.)
() Enable organizations to create, organize and manage workforce
and facilities/equipment
( ) Enable organization to enforce skill set standards () Allow
users to build more sophisticated organizational structures ()
Create a dynamic grouping of resources
Menu Options
10. What menu options in Settings can be used to create a
Resource group?
() Business Unit Settings ( ) Subjects ( ) Territories ( )
System Customizations
Service Calendar Views
11. What kinds of resources can be seen in the Service calendar
views? (Select all that apply.)
() Users ( ) Technicians () Facilities () Equipment
Time
12. For what time frame can you edit the schedule from a
Schedule view?
( ) For one day only ( ) Only per week () For a date range ( )
Only for the complete assignment
Removing a Resource Group
13. What is true about removing a resource or resource
group?
( ) It can be reactivated ( ) Any associated records can be
reassigned ( ) It is a temporary action () Any associated records
will be removed
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Applications in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0
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Business Closure
14. What do business closures provide? (Select all that
apply.)
() Enabling planning when resources are available to be
scheduled for work by the scheduling engine.
() This capability enables the service engine to avoid
suggesting time slots during business closures.
( ) Closures will be listed independently on each resource's
calendar. () Enable Scheduling Administrators to define business
closures that block
availability on resource calendars.
Business Closure
15. When users are created what business closure information is
linked to them?
( ) That of their business unit () None ( ) That of their
resource group ( ) That of their team