As an end user of a Microsoft Dynamics solution, it is important, especially in these times, to get the most value out of your support agreements and processes. While the easy or convenient avenue may be to email support with every issue or question you have, in the long term it is not the most efficient business practice.

As a support process subject matter expert, I would like to recommend a few helpful tips to achieve a higher level of user satisfaction, efficiency, and empowerment to meet these goals.

Provide Supporting Details

The first thing that any user should keep in mind when submitting a support case that’s reporting issues, questions, or training requests is; the more specific and detailed, the better.

What does that really mean, though? The following details are the most beneficial to us, depending on the type of support requested.

Suggested Subject line: Account Name, Module and/or Error Experience

• A screenshot of any errors generated or a recording of the issue.
• Specific process or transaction being attempted when error appeared.
• Current version of the software that you are using.
• Are you aware of any changes to your environment recently?
• Is this affecting one user, or all users? One company, or all companies?

Something I really like to impress upon my clients is the importance of screenshots. They provide a clear picture of where and when you’re experiencing issues. The more details you can provide about the process, the quicker and easier it will be for us to resolve the issue.

Without sufficient information, we may spend more time than necessary identifying the problem, which could lead to increased costs for you. For instance, if you encounter an error while posting a purchase invoice, tell us which invoice you were trying to post, who the customer or vendor is, and send a screenshot of the error. This allows us to see the process you were following when the error occurred.

Remember, the quickest way for us to resolve a problem is by understanding it thoroughly. By providing detailed information, you’re ensuring a more streamlined, efficient, and helpful support process, which ultimately leads to faster resolution times.

Another thing to keep in mind with issues and errors is business priority level. In other words, is the process you are trying to complete business critical to daily operations for multiple users in your environment? A great blog post called Encore Care Support | Priority Levels, written by my colleague Scott Murn, further details these priority levels on support requests.

Process Documentation

Denis Waitley once said, “Life is inherently risky. There is only one big risk you should avoid at all costs, and that is the risk of doing nothing.”

Running into errors or issues is common for anyone using their solution the way it was intended to be used. However, that does not mean you should not walk our support team through how you arrived at the error; that is crucial to resolving your issue. This can be achieved by providing process diagrams and documents or just detailing your current process within the support request. Doing this for your initial and future requests will provide a more orderly and beneficial process for both Encore and your company.

Please remember that the more information, screenshots, and descriptions of the error and your process you send us, the more quickly and efficiently we can resolve your issue.

I also strongly recommend that you document solutions on your end. It’s good practice to take notes, record meetings, and document any answers you’re given to your questions. If necessary, keep a notebook or online record of the issues resolved. We also archive and document all resolutions on our end in our Knowledge Base.

Define the Scope of the Issue

As a service provider, Encore wants to assist you with your issues within the scope of each issue. To help us achieve this, please detail your request within the scope of that single support request.

For example, if it is a training request on Fixed Asset functionality within Dynamics 365 Business Central, it is not recommended that additional training requests for topics such as job costing, or financial reporting are included within the same request.

Another example would be detailing multiple errors that you are facing within Business Central that are unrelated to each other, like a journal posting error combined with a question on job costing. Please keep this in mind when submitting support requests, so that Encore subject matter experts can handle these in a streamlined, organized manner. Be sure to detail the specific people or users who are experiencing issues or need specific training.

Reaching out for support assistance can be overwhelming at times, but if you keep these recommendations and suggestions in mind when submitting requests, it will help your company achieve sustainable success while allowing you to get the most out of your Dynamics solution.

Learn more about the value of Encore Care or contact us for support at care@encorebusiness.com