Dynamics GP Feature Focus – Take a company offline

Sometimes, Dynamics GP needs to be taken offline to perform certain activities that are easiest with an empty system—such as regular maintenance, system updates, error fixes, and even year-end close. Luckily, version GP 2013 R2 and beyond have a feature that allows you to take the system offline, making these routine updates and fixes easier than ever.

Note that taking a company (or several companies—you can choose) offline only allows the offline administrator and other specified users to log into the company, but you can set a message to alert anyone who tries to access the system during that timeframe so they’re aware of the reason they aren’t able to login.

Let’s look at how to do that so you can proceed with these tasks without worry that none of your users will lose their work progress or interfere with the tasks you are performing in the system.

TAKE A COMPANY/COMPANIES OFFLINE

1. Open the Administration page.
2. Navigate to Utilities.
3. Select Take Company Offline. From here, you can choose which companies you want to take offline by highlighting them and clicking “Insert” to transfer them into the “Offline Companies” box. Or, you can “Insert All.”
4. You can also select the Offline Message, which can be Default or Custom. If you choose to customize a message, you can let any user know why the system is offline, how long it will be offline, and any other details you deem necessary.
5. Clicking Okay at the bottom of the window will make the company offline and send out the default or custom message you’ve set.

In this same window, you’ll be able to see your current users, shown as a hyperlink that will send you straight to the User Activity window. From there, you can see who is logged in, giving you the ability to end user sessions if needed. 

Note that if there are any users within the system at this time, you will receive a notification window to confirm that you do, indeed, wish to send out a message to those users. If you select “Yes,” the “Send Message” window will open, which we will cover in the following section.

SEND MESSAGES IN GP

You can send messages right in GP and choose to whom that message is sent. This window automatically opens when completing the process above if there are any active users remaining in your system.

There are other scenarios where it’d be helpful to use the “Send Message” feature in GP, as well. If you are planning to go offline, this is an easy way to alert your team in advance and urge them to log off before the scheduled offline time, or in other situations where you’d like GP to notify specific individuals with more custom notifications, not only relating to the system going offline.

SET AN OFFLINE ADMINISTRATOR

In the Company Setup window, you will be able to specify a user when the company is offline – this should be the person who is performing the maintenance, year-end close, or other tasks that require the company to be offline. Don’t forget this step before going offline the first time!

1. Navigate to the Administration page.
2. Select Setup and the “Company Setup” window will open.
3. In the bottom right, find the “User with offline access” field, and search for the desired user. Be sure to save after selecting the proper user. 

The offline feature will ensure your users don’t lose work and everyone is out of the system for those tasks that require system desertion to complete, such as maintenance, error fixes, and year-end close. You will avoid confusion, frustration, and questions when your users get booted out of the system! Plus, you can send messages for other purposes to keep all users updated on what’s going on within the system when needed.

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