Last week, while attending to the needs of one of our clients, a noteworthy issue arose concerning their change logs. The logs had become immense and critical changes frequently went unnoticed, causing frustrations within the team.
The company’s controller presented a fantastic idea – what if they could receive email notifications whenever important data is modified?
The resulting conversation led us to set up a special Dynamics 365 Business Central feature: Field Monitoring. In this article, we’ll share how this feature has the potential to bolster data security and head potential problems off at the pass.
Why You Need Field Monitoring
Business Central change log entries furnish a treasure trove of useful data. However, without some automated help, it’s really hard to use them to spot trouble coming. Wouldn’t it be great to have the ability to preempt difficulties before they arise, rather than merely reacting to them afterward?
Field Monitoring is an out-of-the-box feature in Business Central that can help users to stay in the know when certain data fields are modified. While permissions effectively control access to different parts of the database, Field Monitoring makes sure the right people know when changes are made via email alerts, providing another way to ensure data integrity and potentially even prevent fraud.
How to Set Up Field Monitoring Email Alerts
Start by clicking in the search box in Business Central and typing “Field Monitoring Setup”.
Once you have the Field Monitoring Setup screen in front of you, follow these steps:
- Specify the user who will receive the message in the Notification Recipient
- Select the user that will serve as the “sender” of the notifications in the Notification Email Account (NOTE: Make sure email accounts within Business Central have been properly configured.)
- Click Start to begin monitoring.
Business Central will warn you to use this feature conservatively, as overuse will flood your email account and could potentially affect Business Central's performance.
Once you’ve activated it, you should receive the following message, announcing that Extended Security has been enabled, in your email inbox:
NOTE: All Users that are currently logged into Business Central will need to log out and log back in before Field Monitoring will begin to operate.
Select Fields for Monitoring
Once the initial setup is complete, search for the Monitored Fields Worksheet to choose data fields to monitor and configure notifications.
You can select the fields by writing the Table Number and the Field Number in the grid and checking the Notify box to be alerted to changes.
As depicted below, we have elected to receive notifications whenever alterations are made to the Bank Account Number or Routing/Transit Number fields within our Bank Account and Vendor Bank Account tables.
NOTE: Simultaneous use of Change Log Tracking and Field Monitoring Tracking on the same fields is not permitted. Both features will populate the Change Log Entry (405) table, producing redundant data.
Test the Configuration
Now it’s time to see Field Monitoring in action! First, be sure to log out and log in again before your first test. Next, make a change to one of the data fields you’re now monitoring. If all is well, you’ll receive a message like the one below:
This email has 3 important parts:
- Direct link to the Monitored Field Log Entries.
- Details of the changes made (both the original and the new values), the user who made the changes, and when they occurred.
- A link to Effective Permissions lets you modify user permissions quickly to prevent further changes from that user.
Advantages of Field Monitoring
Field Monitoring in Dynamics 365 Business Central is both practical and easy to manage and adds to your data integrity safeguards. Leveraging this out-of-the-box feature keeps key staff members abreast of important data modifications, ensuring data security and accuracy.
Want Deeper Control and More Features?
While all this functionality comes out of the box, there are times when you need even more. You’ll find a wealth of useful apps in our . As a sampling of the tools available, change log and workflow power users will enjoy our and add-on applications that provide additional control, business insights, and workflow automation. See how you can activate Change Log Entries and Field Monitoring through a more user friendly interface located directly on the master record:
In Conclusion
Enable Field Monitoring in your Dynamics 365 Business Central instance today to capitalize on change detection and data security. Stay one step ahead, proactively dealing with issues as they arise.
Want to learn more? Contact us today at bc@erpconnectconsulting.com.
