Comparison of Dynamics 365 Field Service and Customer Service

Dynamics 365 Field Service and Dynamics 365 Customer Service are both useful for businesses that need to scale their service operations and increase customer satisfaction. However, there are key differences between the two.

In this article, I’ll explain the differences and similarities between these two solutions, and help you learn which may be best for you. Let’s start with a table comparing them.

 
Note: Dynamics 365 Customer Service and Dynamics 365 Field Service are two of the five different Dynamics 365 apps that serve various CRM needs. In some contexts, you may also see those products referred to as “Customer Engagement” or “CE” apps. 

What Are the Key Functionality Differences Between Dynamics 365 Customer Service and Field Service?

The key difference is that Dynamics 365 Field Service focuses on optimizing labor and service efficacy in the field whereas Customer Service concentrates on delighting customers via the agent experience.

Field Service includes:

• Work order management
• Asset reservation, scheduling, and management
• Labor scheduling and dispatch tools
• Remote monitoring of serviceable equipment
• Field-level safety forms and hazard assessments
• Mobile field guides and instructional tools
• Communication tools for instant correspondence with customers, customer service agents, dispatchers, etc.
• Teams integration for technical support and escalation while onsite
• Remote assist via HoloLens
• Auto-creation of preventative maintenance appointments
• Time tracking and billing

Customer Service includes:

• Comprehensive activity and communication tracking related to customer issues
• Case and queue management with routing rules and service terms
• Streamlining work distribution with Unified Routing
• Mobile tools including chat, and resource and case monitoring
• Knowledge base for on-demand solutioning
• Embedded AI insights and analytics to improve customer satisfaction
• Team collaboration and communication tools

Both include:

• Service Level Agreement (SLA) management and terms adherence
• Workflows for work distribution, communication, and data management automation
• Advanced resource identification and routing
• Portals for customer self-service and data management (Field Service comes with a pre-built portal for self-scheduling and notifications)
• Intelligent reporting on KPIs and predictive indicators
• Out-of-the-box integration with Power BI and the rest of the Power Platform

Does Dynamics 365 Include Both Customer Service and Field Service?

Yes. Dynamics 365 is a family of business applications (sometimes referred to as modules), including those for sales, marketing, finance, and supply chain.

These applications can be used individually to serve their unique functions or used in combination to aid in cross-departmental optimization.

Both Dynamics 365 Customer Service and Field Service (as well as all the other Microsoft Dynamics Customer Engagement applications) are built on Microsoft’s Dataverse. This means they “speak the same language” of a standardized system of data tables and relationships, so administering and using both applications can be a seamless experience.

These applications can also be configured with the help of a skilled Dynamics Partner to meet a broad range of related business needs.

What Is the Difference in Pricing Between D365 Field Service and Customer Service?

The biggest difference in pricing between Dynamics 365 Field Service and Customer Service is that Customer Service has two types of licenses (Professional and Enterprise) whereas Field Service does not. The Field Service license price is equivalent to the Customer Service Enterprise license price.

The two different levels of Customer Service licenses differ in terms of the depth of functionality, with more pre-built automation in the Enterprise license.

 
If your users are accessing both Customer Service and Field Service, there are substantially discounted “attach” licenses available. Talk to a Dynamics Partner about the best licensing options for you.

What Are D365 Field Service and Customer Service Used For?

Dynamics 365 Customer Service is most often used for managing a team of customer service representatives who work in your office or their home offices. Field Service is most often used to manage the complexities of scheduling service, collaboration and tracking while your resources are in the field.

We often see Customer Service used by:

• Membership organizations
• Organizations with call centers and 3^rd party support
• Companies needing team visibility into customer cases and issues

A D365 Customer Service Partner can also help you configure the solution to handle partnerships with distributors, retailers, and more.

We often see Field Service used by:

• Companies that require safety documentation for regulatory purposes
• Manufacturers needing to monitor and maintain assets via the Internet of Things
• Home and appliance repair organizations

Anytime you need someone with specific skills to go somewhere and do something, Field Service helps. Talk to a D365 Field Service Partner to discuss how the solution could be applied to your use case.

Note: In our experience, Field Service is commonly used alongside Customer Service or a Dynamics ERP solution, or both.

In particular, organizations where field technicians also must use inventory (repair parts, raw materials, etc.) should consider tracking that inventory in an integrated Dynamics 365 ERP solution.

What Are the Overlaps in Functionality Between D365 Field Service and Customer Service?

There are certainly some overlaps to these solutions, because Field Service provides some customer service-themed tools and Customer Service offers functionality that could assist in supporting customers in the field.

Both use Accounts and Contacts. To varying degrees, both also technically have the capacity to use Leads as well.

Both systems provide collaboration tools and track all activities — emails, phone calls, appointments, etc. — against your service and support goals. They also automatically track metrics and provide real-time reporting to show trends, predict changes, and prevent customer attrition.

Is Dynamics 365 Field Service or Customer Service Better for My Business?

Which solution is better for your business depends on how your team interacts with customers, and what specific gaps or pain points you face in your processes.

Issues on Demand

If you have a team of representatives that receives and troubleshoots issues on demand — whether through a queue or a scheduler — you are likely to need D365 Customer Service. In this situation, your customers send in issues, questions, and requests as they come up, and that creates unpredictable demands on your team. So being able to quickly assign work, offer reps immediate answers, and provide instant communication tools is critical to maximizing your efficiency.

Onsite Service

If your company provides onsite services to your customers or must support assets in the field, then Field Service is probably a good fit. This solution allows you to be able to reserve and deploy any kind of asset as well as provide virtual support for both remote and onsite activities. Complex schedule management and resource collaboration are key focuses for Field Service.

Who Should Use Both?

It’s sometimes best to use both applications together, especially if customers must be supported onsite and can send in issues and requests at will. A company of this kind typically has dedicated teams for predicted and requested field work and for handling incoming customer issues that need to be responded to in a consistent manner.

In these cases, Dynamics 365 Field Service and Customer Service together will provide interlinked functionality, letting you move issues fluidly between those teams and track work as it moves across the organization.

For advice tailored to your specific situation, please contact us. We’d love to talk about which Dynamics products may be best for you.

Related Resources

For more information on other apps within the Dynamics 365 family, check out these articles:

• Overview of D365 Field Service
• Overview of D365 Customer Service
• Comparison of D365 Sales, Customer Service, and Marketing

* Please note that all pricing is subject to change without notice. Based on the contract commitment, the per user per month price may differ from the price listed above. Always contact Encore for the most current product pricing.