Help us help you

When you encounter a problem with your Power Platform solution or Dynamics 365 app that you can't resolve on your own, you want help fast. When your support request includes all the information we need to troubleshoot an issue, we can respond with the right advice or fix faster. This article outlines the steps you should take before you submit a support ticket and the information we need from you to address your request promptly.

We go into more detail about the general information we need, regardless of the product involved, in Help us help you - general questions for Power Platform and Dynamics 365.

Before you open a support ticket

Triage the problem before you submit a support ticket. This step is key to helping us help you more efficiently. You might want to involve your IT department, a business super-user, or an implementation partner or independent software vendor (ISV), depending on where the problem occurs.

The purpose of your triage is to answer the following questions:

• Was the issue resolved in a different context or in a more recent released version?

• Is it related to a known product limitation, and is a workaround available?

• Was it caused by a user taking an invalid path through the business process?

• Is it the result of custom or ISV code?

  This question is especially important, because custom or ISV code that we don't know about can lead the support team down incorrect troubleshooting paths and delay resolution.

• Is it the result of API constraints or performance restrictions?

Troubleshoot the problem if you can. We offer troubleshooting tips, guidance, and resources for specific Power Platform and Dynamics 365 products in the following articles:

• Help us help you with Power Platform
• Help us help you with customer engagement apps
• Help us help you with technical issues for Finance and Supply Chain Management
• Help us help you with Finance
• Help us help you with Supply Chain Management
• Help us help you with Commerce

When you submit a support ticket

Make sure that your support request clearly and concisely describes the issue, who it affects, and how it affects them. The more information you provide, the easier it is for us to prioritize your request and respond with the help you need. The following sections outline the information we need from you to address your request promptly.

Create the support ticket under the right plan

Microsoft offers several support plans. Make sure that you understand the features of each plan and select the one that's appropriate for your situation. If you're working with an implementation partner, they might want to open the support request using their plan.

State the problem

A clear problem statement is crucial for us to help you effectively. It helps direct your ticket to the right team and helps the support engineer understand the problem faster. Engineers handle cases from many customers and might not always be familiar with your company-specific or industry terminology.

Describe the problem

Make sure that the problem description contains as much relevant information as you can gather. A clear and comprehensive description in the first round of communication helps us resolve the issue faster. The description should contain the following information:

• A clear and accurate description of the problem. Include the context of the situation and what happened before or after the problem occurred.

• The steps to reproduce it. Include any unusual data, configurations, or scenarios related to the problem statement.

• Any company-specific or industry terms. Provide references to external documentation related to the terms, as needed.

• Any custom extensions or ISV code in the area where the problem occurred.

• The expected outcome versus the actual outcome. Sometimes the problem lies in the expectation, not in the experienced outcome. A clear description can help us catch such mismatches early.

• Details of any error messages received, and screenshots of the problem if you can capture any.

• How often the problem occurs, such as weekly, at the same time every day, or apparently at random.

• Details about the tenant, the environment, the user, the activity ID, the batch job, and the API.

• A comprehensive description of all the triage steps you took before opening the support ticket. Include the answers to the triage questions, any traces and log files, and whether the problem is reproducible in other environments and which ones.

• Any other information that might be relevant and helpful to us.

Describe the problem's impact

The customer impact statement is important because it helps the support engineer and engineering teams prioritize and route the ticket. Even if the request is clearly urgent or of high severity, the support engineer needs this statement anyway. Providing it at the beginning makes the support process more efficient.

Leave us feedback

Is there anything else you need help with? Leave us feedback.