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Chapter 22: Maintaining Users and Resources

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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.

Applications in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0

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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.


Procedure: Add Multiple Resources to a Resource Group

Use this procedure to add or remove multiple users, facilities, or equipment to a resource group.


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.


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.



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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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.


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.


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.



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



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.


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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6. In the Look Up Records dialog box, select users, facilities, or equipment to add, and then click OK.


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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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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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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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


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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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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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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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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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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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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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


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


22-34

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


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


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


22-36

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

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