Sivakumar Venkataraman Microsoft SR PTNR TECH CONSULTANT

Sivakumar Venkataraman

Joined: 8/6/2015

  • Adding Resources to Multiple Groups with Overlapping Date Ranges

    Mon, 19 Mar 2018 17:54:00 GMT – Dynamics 365 Project Service Automation – New 

    When we create a resource of type Group, it does not let the same resource (contact/user or equipment) to be added to multiple groups with overlapping date ranges. This looks like a design flaw. We can have resources be part of two different resource groups and that also within the same time frame. Please provide this capability in the Resource Management for Project Service and/or Field Service.

  • Show Booked Time Along with Approved time on the Utilization Dashboard

    Wed, 20 Nov 2019 21:20:39 GMT – Dynamics 365 Project Service Automation – New 

    Show Booked Time Along with Approved time on the Utilization Dashboard

  • Server Side Synchronization for Email Integration with Multiple CRM Organizations and a Single Exchange Server

    Tue, 10 Mar 2020 23:08:12 GMT – Dynamics 365 Sales – Needs Votes 

    One of my customers has a Hybrid scenario of email integration with Dynamics 365 On Premise and Exchange Online. The Dynamics 365 On Premise has multiple organizations and he was using Email Router to connect it to Exchange On Premise earlier. Since they have moved from Exchange On Premise to Exchange Online, and with the deprecation of Email Router, they are required to start using the Server Side Integration for Email Integration needs. However, the Server Side Integration of the Email System only allows one Dynamics 365 Organization to connect to an Exchange instance and does not support multiple organizations. It would be great if we can provide a capability of the server side sync to support multiple organizations (especially in a hybrid scenario) as leveraging Power Automate sometimes is a but cumbersome and involves a bit of effort.

  • Provide a Capability to Substitute A Crew Resource with Another Resource Outside the Crew

    Thu, 08 Oct 2020 10:43:46 GMT – Dynamics 365 Field Service – Needs Votes 

    Provide a Capability to Substitute A Crew Resource with Another Resource Outside the Crew Use case: Customer uses crews to book a group of resources (i.e.) a technician, an equipment and a vehicle to a job. But lets say when commuting to the customer location, the vehicle breaks down and needs to be substituted with another vehicle. With crews, we do not have the substitute option for bookings on individual resources. We only see an option to rebook the entire group. This is a very common scenario and its bad that we are not able to see the Substitute option for an individual crew member. Even if we set the Crew Strategy to Self Managed, we don't see the option for Substitute at individual resource level. Hence the ask to provide the capability for substitute for individual resources inside the crew.

  • Provide a Capability to Substitute An Individual Resource in a Requirement Group with Another Resource Instead of Using Rebook Option

    Fri, 09 Oct 2020 12:17:24 GMT – Dynamics 365 Field Service – Needs Votes 

    Provide a Capability to Substitute An Individual Resource in a Requirement Group with Another Resource Instead of Using Rebook Option Use case: Customer uses requirement group to book a group of resources (i.e.) a technician, an equipment and a vehicle to a job. But lets say when commuting to the customer location, the vehicle breaks down and needs to be substituted with another vehicle. With requirement groups, we do not have the substitute option for bookings on individual resources. We only see an option to Rebook the entire group. Now if assume once the job has begun and is in Progress, if we use the Rebook option to book a new combination of resources (as the substitute option) to replace the broken down equipment or vehicle, the booking status of the group goes back to Scheduled and not In Progress. This is not an optimal way of booking substitutes for resources. Please advise. This is a very common scenario and its bad that we are not able to see the Substitute option for an individual crew member. Even if we set the Crew Strategy to Self Managed, we don't see the option for Substitute at individual resource level. Hence the ask to provide the capability for substitute for individual resources inside the crew.

  • Dark Mode in Dynamics 365 Mobile App & Dynamics 365 Field Service Mobile App

    Wed, 01 Jun 2022 18:20:53 GMT – Dynamics 365 Sales – New 

    It would be good to have a Dark mode option in the mobile app. This is a key accessibility feature.

  • Dark Mode in Dynamics 365 Field Service Mobile App

    Wed, 01 Jun 2022 18:23:53 GMT – Dynamics 365 Field Service – Under Review 

    Please consider creating a dark mode theme for D365.

    Thank you

  • Capability in Swarm to Prioritize Experts into Collaboration Based on Proficiency Level

    Tue, 16 May 2023 09:28:50 GMT – Dynamics 365 Customer Service – Needs Votes 

    The current Swarms feature does have a feature where we can add experts to specific skills and also define their proficiency level in the respective skill.

    However, the search for experts only checks the bandwidth of these experts based on the number of active swarms they are part of.

    However, it will be good to have a capability where Swarm also checks for proficiency levels and invites an expert with a higher proficiency level into the collaboration. We can also provide a setting to the customers if they want to enable this option to provide a preference for the proficiency level. If the customer opts for this, then we can use the above logic. Else we can use the default logic which is available today (based on bandwidth on existing active swarms)

  • Allow a Feature to Post the Collaboration Request to a Teams Channel

    Tue, 16 May 2023 09:35:41 GMT – Dynamics 365 Customer Service – Under Review 

    Currently, Swarm requests look for a minimal number of experts and loop them into the collaboration. It does not account for resource working hours or availability etc.

    Since we already have Teams integration into Dynamics 365, we can leverage this and map specific skills into one or more Teams channels (apart from adding experts to specific skills)

    This way, when there is a request for a specific skill, Swarm can automatically post a collaboration request in the respective Teams channels that have been mapped to the skill.

    And anyone who is part of the channel can accept the collaboration request and join the Swarm. This way, it opens up the option of unlimited SME collaboration options.

    In the Swarm, we can show the skill of every resource based on resource-skill mapping, which we will have in the Swarm.

  • Multi-Level Approval Feature for Timesheets, Expenses and Materials

    Tue, 16 May 2023 10:31:09 GMT – Dynamics 365 Project Operations – New 

    Currently Project Operations has a linear single level approval process.

    In various conversations with partners, they are looking for a multi-level approval process in project operations as a key need for their customers.

    This will be a really good feature to add to project operations, as it can make the approval process very dynamic.