Share the location from the mobile app

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Field technicians often travel to various locations throughout their workday, and it's helpful for schedulers to know where technicians are at any given time.

Technicians using the Dynamics 365 Field Service mobile app can enable location sharing from the app, allowing schedulers to visualize their location on the schedule board and see their location history.

For a guided walkthrough, check out the following video.

Prerequisites

  • Administrator access to Dynamics 365 Field Service.
  • Read access to the msdyn_geolocationsetting table for the security role of mobile app users. These permissions are included with the default Field Service - Resource role.

Enable location tracking

To send a technician's location information to Field Service, enable location tracking in the web application.

  1. In the Field Service web app, change to the Settings area.
  2. Go to Geolocation > Geolocation Settings.
  3. Set Enable Location Tracking to Yes.
  4. Enter a Refresh Interval (seconds) to define how often the system checks the location information. We recommend values between 60 and 300 seconds.
  5. Optionally, set the time and day for when you want the system to track location data.

Location tracking events

The Geolocation Tracking (msdyn_geolocationtracking) table stores all the location information. The following scenarios create new rows:

  1. Sign in: A user signs in to the Field Service mobile app.
  2. On the move: A user moves away from their location more than 200 meters. The system creates new records after every refresh interval.
  3. On stop after moving: A user stops changing the location. The system creates a few more records as it settles and then stops.

Note

Location tracking events might be sent less frequently based on the mobile device operating system. This frequency can be influenced by battery savings settings, device battery charge status, and other applications running on the device that might consume device resources.

You can audit location information with other Field Service tables. For more information, see Auditing overview.

You can configure how far back in time a geolocation is valid. This is important for scenarios when a mobile device loses internet connection, making dispatchers unaware of the true location. The time threshold can be configured in Resource Scheduling > Settings > Administration > Scheduling Parameter > Geo Data > Geo Location Expires After X Minutes.

Ask users to allow Field Service mobile to access their location

The app prompts users to allow location access after signing in to the app. The app requests several permissions that are needed to update the location consistently. Revoking the listed permissions can decrease performance or lead to outdated location information.

To have location tracking work properly, allow the app to use Precise Location and set the location tracking to Always allow in the device settings.

Verify that location tracking works

In the Field Service web application, open the schedule board and select a resource that has location tracking enabled. The current location of the resource appears on the schedule board map. Select the map pin icon next to see the resource's detailed location.

Note

Dispatchers can use current locations for schedule assistant travel time calculations by selecting Real time mode in the schedule assistant filter pane. For more information, see Advanced filters for the schedule assistant.