Dynamics 365 Remote Assist Application
The Dynamics 365 Remote Assist application is deployed directly to the HoloLens 2 device via Intune, and Local Administrators will have the responsibility of ensuring the corresponding licences are activated. This can be done via the NHSmail Helpdesk Self-Service. Moreover, for licences to be assigned an Azure AD account is required. Further information on licencing can be found in the Dynamics 365 Remote Assist licencing section.
Although other applications are available in the Microsoft Store for Business, the only applications managed by the Intune Application Protection Policy are those available under the “NHS” tab. If you require more applications to be deployed via Intune, please raise a request via the NHSmail Helpdesk Self-Service. Whilst it is possible to download applications directly from the Microsoft Store for Business this is not advised.
OneDrive
OneDrive is a cloud storage service that allows you to access, manage and share files, including photos with any device and with any user. Files that are created on HoloLens 2 can be viewed and managed on OneDrive. Further information can be found by visiting the external Microsoft File Sharing and Saving documentation.
Photos and Screenshots
Remote Assist users are able to take photos using the “Camera” icon or “snapshots” of mixed reality annotations. These can then be shared with the remote collaborator via the Teams chat and saved in OneDrive automatically (or manually) to the “HoloLens Received Files” folder which can be viewed from the files tab. Further information can be found by visiting the external Microsoft Taking and Saving a Photo documentation.
File Accessibility
Supported files in OneDrive including .jpg, .bmp, .png, .tif/.tiff, .pdf, and still .gif can be opened and viewed from HoloLens. Moreover, Remote Assist users are also able to open files from OneDrive during a call, which can then be placed along the Remote Assist screen and be viewed by the remote collaborator. Further information can be found by visiting the “share files” section of the external Microsoft Collaborate with a Dynamics 365 Remote Assist User documentation.
File Sharing and Saving
Remote collaborators can share a supported file from their own computer or OneDrive with a link to the file appearing in the chat window during the call. Shared files are automatically saved to the Remote Assist user’s “HoloLens Received Files” folder. Further details on file sharing during Teams calls can be found in the file sharing section of Capabilities Available in Microsoft Teams Calls.
Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams desktop and mobile application allows for collaboration with Dynamics 365 Remote Assist users on HoloLens and mobile devices. However, as shown in the tables below, the features you can use to collaborate differ depending on which platform both the Teams and Dynamics 365 Remote Assist users are using.
For Teams desktop and mobile users features that are included when collaborating with Dynamics 365 Remote Assist on HoloLens and mobile users are shown in the tables below. Further details about the capabilities and conditions can be found in the Capabilities Available in Microsoft Teams Calls section and by visiting the external Microsoft Collaborate with a Dynamics 365 Remote Assist User Through Teams desktop and Teams Mobile documentation.
|
Feature |
Teams Desktop Feature Available | |
| Remote Assist on HoloLens | Remote Assist on Mobile | |
|
Make outgoing call |
Yes | Yes |
|
Receive incoming call |
Yes | Yes |
|
Join a one-to-one call |
Yes | Yes |
|
Join a group call |
Yes | Yes |
|
Join a meeting |
Yes | Yes |
|
Annotations |
Yes | Yes |
|
Text messages |
Yes | Yes |
|
File sharing |
Yes | Yes |
|
Call recordings |
Yes | No |
| Screen sharing | Yes | No |
| Feature | Teams Mobile Feature Available | |
| Remote Assist on HoloLens | Remote Assist on Mobile | |
| Make outgoing call | Yes | No |
| Receive incoming call | Yes | Yes |
| Join a group call | No | No |
| Join a meeting | No | No |
| Annotations | Yes | Yes |
| Text messages | Yes | Yes |
| File sharing | Yes | Yes |
| Call recordings | No | No |
| Screen sharing | Yes | No |
Cloud-call Recording
HoloLens 2 can be used to record from Dynamics 365 Remote Assist, while remote collaborators can record from Microsoft Teams Desktop.
Recordings are stored in Teams Cloud (Azure) with a 20-day limit before it is deleted. This is not something at this point that an admin can control or manage including the ability to delete.
Recording from Remote Assist on HoloLens
HoloLens 2 users are able to start a recording during a call by saying “Remote Assist, start recording” during a call with internal Teams users. This recording will continue when navigating to other options in the Remote Assist session.
The recording can be stopped by saying “Remote Assist, stop recording”. The user that initiated the recording owns the video and is able to see the recording in the Teams chat history, which can be downloaded. Further information can be found by visiting the external Microsoft Record Calls documentation.
Recording from Teams Desktop
When collaborating with a Remote Assist HoloLens user, recording for Teams is only enabled for group calls or Teams Meetings. For 1:1 calls the recording feature is disabled for Desktop Teams users, with only the Remote Assist user being able to initiate recording.
The remote collaborator can stop the recording, or it will end once the meeting is finished. The recording will be saved in OneDrive within a folder called “recordings”. The recording is also available in the chat for download by the owner.
Model-driven App
The Dynamics 365 Remote Assist model driven app is built on the Microsoft Dataverse in Power Platform. The model-driven app is a companion to the Dynamics 365 Remote Assist apps and enables new scenarios for managing data generated and used by Dynamics 365 Remote Assist.
Features include:
- Using the Dynamics 365 Remote Assist client app on HoloLens or mobile to capture and view asset data
- Monitoring operational metrics through the Calls Dashboard
Power Platform admins can create a new environment by visiting the Power Platform documentation on requesting a new dedicated environment. Environments can then be viewed and selected by the Remote Assist user from the Remote Assist settings. The list of assets created through the model-driven app in Power Platform are displayed in descending order by the last modified date. Remote Assist users are able to use the Search option to find an asset.
Capturing Asset Photos and Videos
Assets created in Power Platform can be named and categorised to provide a simple and organised way for Remote Assist users to capture data in their physical environment through Dynamics 365 Remote Assist, such as capturing an annotated photo. Capturing data to an asset record ensures that data is captured to the right place, in a consistent way, which allows for the easy location and use of that data.
Remote Assist users can take photos and videos and upload them to the correspondent asset in Power Platform, which get reflected in the model-driven app in Power Platform. These can then be viewed under the Asset section in the Dynamics 365 Remote Assist app.
Remote Assist users are also able to create a new asset from Dynamics 365 Remote Assist by navigating to “Asset” > “New Asset”, and again capture and view photos and videos for that asset in the model-driven app in Power Platform. Further information can be found by visiting the external Microsoft Capturing Assets documentation.
Dynamics 365 Remote Assist on HoloLens will not automatically update the list of asset records. If you create or update an asset from the model driven app and do not see it in HoloLens, restart Dynamics 365 Remote Assist on HoloLens by closing the live tile and reopening the app.
Call Dashboard
Call Dashboard allows administrators to view their organisation’s aggregated metrics for the Dynamics 365 Remote Assist calls. These metrics include the number of Dynamics 365 Remote Assist calls and their average duration. Moreover, administrators are able to drill down into individual calls or filter based on various categories.
Built on Microsoft Power BI, the Call Dashboard can be enabled from the Power Platform environment, which is then visible from the model driven app. The Remote Assist administrator or system administrator is able to see the dashboard, including the call metrics/logs. Data is refreshed every 24 hours. Further information can be found by visiting the external Microsoft Remote Assist Calls Dashboard documentation.
This is an opt-in feature available only to users with the security roles of Remote Assist – Administrator or System Administrator. It can take up to 24 hours for access to be provisioned. The Call dashboard will include all registered calls made for one week. Data is retained for 24 months.
Known Issues
Currently, there are minor known issues on certain policies and functionalities, which are detailed in the table below. Please note, these do not prevent the overall use of the HoloLens 2 devices and Dynamics 365 Remote Assist application. The issues have been raised with Microsoft and continue to be monitored for a resolution. This table will be kept updated to reflect the latest position.
| Issue | Impact |
|
OneDrive for Business |
Although the OneDrive functionalities are working as expected folder contents are not being displayed in the app (but can be seen in the browser). |
| Microsoft Stream |
When finish a call recording, users might see the message “Recording failed to upload to Stream”. This is an expected behaviour as Microsoft Stream is disabled by default in the NHSmail central tenant. |
| Last Reviewed Date | 02/09/2021 |
