Business Central’s latest update, 2024 Wave 2, brings significant improvements to the job queue system, addressing the long-standing challenges with the background processing while introducing robust notification capabilities giving you better system oversight. What is new in 365 BC Job Queues?
Revolutionizing Background Task Management
The core job queue system has undergone a complete transformation from its previous version. Thank you, Microsoft! Rather than functioning as the old single scheduling system, it now operates as a true queuing mechanism with sophisticated task management capabilities. This is a huge benefit for businesses handling a large volume of processing tasks.
From Call-Back to True Queue System
Before this change, if you had several tasks that needed to run one after another (like processing invoices, running reports, or updating inventory), the system would try to run these tasks “at once”. The result was similar to multiple people trying to get through a doorway at the same time, bumping into each other, and randomly passing through. Now the tasks are held in a true queue and processed next in-line.
The new system is more like an organized line at a bank, velvet ropes and all, which means you get:
- Better reliability: Tasks won’t keep trying and failing repeatedly, which wastes system resources and potentially causes performance issues.
- Predictable order: If you schedule multiple tasks, they’ll now run in the order you created them (unless you mark something as high priority). Before, it was random which task would run first.
- More efficient resource usage: The system now properly “waits its turn” instead of constantly checking if it can run, which reduces server load.
- Better handling of related tasks: If you have multiple tasks that can’t run at the same time (like updating the same data), they’ll now queue up properly instead of conflicting with each other.
Learn more, watch the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central 5-minute video on Job Queues here.
Making Business Better
A business processing large amounts of sales and purchase orders, each containing thousands of lines, faced significant challenges with the previous version. Individual orders would take several minutes to process, leading to queue times of up to 30 minutes. With the changes in the background of Job Queues, now the system prioritizes urgent tasks, such as processing orders for waiting delivery trucks, to move to the front of the line when necessary.
Comprehensive Notification System
To complement the enhanced queuing system, Business Central now offers robust notification capabilities. The setup process is streamlined through an assisted setup guide to address three key areas:
- Notification Configuration
Users can specify who receives notifications when background tasks fail or stop. Options include notifying the task owner and designated Job Queue Notification Administrators. This targeted approach ensures that the right people are informed without creating unnecessary noise for other users. - Multi-Channel Alerts
The system supports both in-product notifications and external alerts through business events. In-product notifications appear directly in the user’s role center, while external notifications can be orchestrated through Power Automate for delivery via email or other channels. This flexibility ensures that critical information reaches stakeholders even when they’re not actively using Business Central. - Customizable Thresholds
Users can set notification thresholds to manage alert frequency. For instance, with integration tasks that might face temporary connection issues, users can choose to be notified only after multiple failures rather than on the first occurrence. This prevents alert fatigue while ensuring important issues don’t go unnoticed.
Role-Specific Experiences
Additionally, users now receive immediate visibility into their background tasks through their role center. This includes separate queues for failed, in-progress, and pending tasks. With this visibility, users can quickly access error details and take corrective actions directly from their notifications.
Administrators get an enhanced view with access to all users’ job queue statuses and comprehensive monitoring capabilities. This broader visibility helps identify patterns and systemic issues before they impact business operations.
Technical Foundation
We are all wondering, how did Microsoft do this? This enhanced notification system is built on several new technical capabilities:
- A new job queue entry API with restart functionality
- Comprehensive job queue log entries API
- Job queue task failed business event
- Ready-to-use Power Automate templates
Microsoft is constantly improving the features and functionalities in Business Central. It’s improvements like these that represent a significant step forward in Business Central’s background processing capabilities. Organizations can now manage their background tasks more efficiently while maintaining clear visibility into system status and potential issues. The combination of improved queue management and comprehensive notifications ensures that critical business processes run smoothly, and issues are addressed promptly when they arise.
Many changes have been made to Business Central lately – have you seen them? Talk with our team of experts and we can show you around! Contact CAL today.
By CAL Business Solutions Inc., Connecticut Acumatica & Microsoft Dynamics GP / 365 BC Partner, www.calszone.com
