Offline configuration
Though people are more connected today than ever before, field agents can still find themselves without internet access or with limited access, such as in remote areas or when working in locations like basements. Even though these agents don't have internet access, they still need to have access to relevant work order and booking details. The offline capabilities of the Dynamics 365 Field Service Mobile app enable agents to continue having access to necessary information while not connected. When agents are working offline, items such as their work orders, notes, service tasks, and pictures are available to them. After connectivity is restored, the data is automatically synced back to the server.
As your organization gets ready to deploy the mobile application, you should consider what information is available to workers while they're offline. For example, a junior worker might only need their work orders and bookings. A field service manager might require access to a broader scope of work orders that might not be assigned to the current operator of the mobile app.
Based on the offline profile that is defined for a frontline worker, the app downloads data to a local database from the device at predefined intervals or on demand. When an application goes into offline mode, all data is read directly from the database on the local device. No data is read from the server. This approach ensures that the app can perform consistently with or without internet connectivity.
To use the Field Service Mobile app offline, configure the offline capabilities by following these steps:
Set up an offline profile (one exists by default).
Add users to the offline profile.
Publish the offline profile.
Add the offline profile to the Field Service Mobile model-driven app.
For more information, see the Configure offline capabilities in the Field Service (Dynamics 365) mobile app article, which includes a video.
Set up an offline profile
An offline profile called Field Service Mobile - Offline Profile, is available by default and can be assigned to users to help them get operational quickly. It includes the recommended default settings for Field Service tables. You can create more offline profiles as needed. Offline profiles need to be created and edited from the Microsoft Power Platform admin center.
From the admin center, you need to identify and select the environment that you want to define the profile for. This environment is the one that you deployed Dynamics 365 Field Service to. Select Settings in the upper right of the screen. Offline profiles are available under Users + permissions > Mobile configuration.
Three items that define what data is taken offline in a profile are:
Tables - Specify the tables that are available offline and how often the data is synced.
Filters - Specify which data for each table is taken offline. For example, by default, you set a filter to only get the bookings entity within a range of seven days before or after the current date.
Relationships - Specify that a relationship exists between two tables.
Item association saves time because you don't need to set filters for every entity. You can associate related entities that follow filters that are set on the related entity.
For more information, see Configure offline capabilities in the Field Service (Dynamics 365) mobile app.
Get started modifying an offline profile
We recommend that you use the default Field Service Mobile - Offline Profile as your starting point. This approach helps make it easier for you to get operational, and you can update it as needed based on your business needs. The phrase "update as needed" typically refers to modifying the filter, relationships, and sync interval that are related to a table. We highly recommend that you keep the default tables in place, which are intentionally selected to represent core items that are used in Field Service.
You can determine what data to take offline by selecting Manage in the Data Available Offline section and then editing the table that you want to work with. Each table likely has predefined filters associated with them. To start personalizing what information is taken offline, you can choose the data download filter.
Four options to choose from (to take information offline) are:
Organization Row - Lets you specify which user-associated data should be downloaded. Three options are available (you can select more than one):
User's rows - Downloads table records that are owned or assigned to the user.
Team rows - Downloads table records that are owned or assigned to a team that the user is a member of.
Business unit rows - Downloads table records that are owned or assigned to users who belong to the same business unit as the user.
All rows - Downloads all rows in that table.
Related rows only - Downloads data that is stored in related tables, based on the defined relationships. If no relationships are defined for that table, no data is downloaded.
Custom - Lets you define a custom filter to control which data is downloaded.
For example, the Bookable Resource Booking (in other words, the booking) table has a data download filter set to Custom. The custom filter is set to download resource bookings that start or end in the next seven days or today. This setting ensures that the bookings are current and most relevant to the worker as of now.
Important
While setting all rows as the filter is an option, you should try to avoid using it unless it's necessary. Because it pulls down all data for a table, it could result in significant amounts of data being downloaded, which could have a large impact on sync times.
Note
The default offline profile is updated periodically as part of Field Service updates. If you edited the offline sync filter of an entity, the entity's sync filter won't receive updates. Other entity sync filters that have not been edited will receive updates in an unpublished state. Administrators can review the updates and decide if they want to take the update or continue with the previous sync filters. This factor only applies to sync filters and relationships that will receive updates while keeping your specific changes.
For more information, see Configure offline capabilities in the Field Service (Dynamics 365) mobile app.
Sync intervals
After identifying the data that you want to take offline, you need to define how often the record data should automatically sync on to the users' devices. You can set sync intervals to as little as five minutes or as long as one day. When defining sync intervals, you should consider the data that you're working with. For example, you might want records that change frequently, such as bookings, to have a short duration sync interval. This approach ensures that if you lose connectivity, you have the most current booking data possible. Records that change infrequently, such as products or accounts, don't need to sync as often.
The default Field Service Mobile - Offline Profile has predetermined sync intervals for each record type, which are selected based on typical usage patterns of those record types. We recommend that you examine the predefined items before making modifications. Depending on what data is syncing and the data volumes, the mobile application's performance can be impacted while items are syncing.
For more information, see Sync intervals.
Add users and teams to the offline profile
For each offline profile that you create, you need to define which users or teams that the profile should be applied to. You can add users or teams to the offline profile by using the People with offline access panel, located at the right of the profile screen. Users can be added individually or as part of a team. If your organization has many users who need offline access, you should consider using teams to help ease maintenance of user access. After a team is added to a profile, all members of the team will be added to the profile. The users within that team are displayed under the team. As users are added and removed from the team, those changes are reflected in the offline profile as well. When individual users are added, they're displayed directly in the offline profile.
A user or team can only be added to one offline profile at a time. If a user or team is added to another offline profile, a warning appears stating that the user is already part of a different offline profile. If you continue with the change, the user or team is moved to the new profile.
For more information, see Configure offline data.
Add the offline profile to the app
After you define your offline profiles, and when you know which users or teams that they apply to, you need to associate the offline profile with the Field Service Mobile application. To access the application, go to https://yourenvironment.crm.dynamics.com/apps and then go to the App Designer feature for Field Service Mobile.
In the App Designer, select the Settings button. On the General tab, select Can be used offline, and then set the mobile offline profile that you want to use.
For more information, see Configure offline capabilities in the Field Service (Dynamics 365) mobile app.
Other details
Sync conflicts can happen if a mismatch occurs between data on the device and data on the server. For example, when a frontline worker edits a work order on their mobile app and a back-office dispatcher edits the same work order on their computer, neither of these modifications are synchronized between them yet.
Conflict errors can be resolved based on the settings that the administrator sets. A conflict is raised at the entity level and not for each field.
For more information, see Sync conflicts.
For more information, see the configuration considerations article.