Dynamics 365 Remote Assist
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| Dynamics 365 Remote Assist | |
|---|---|
| Information | |
| Type | Business application |
| Industry | Enterprise AR |
| Developer | Microsoft |
| Operating System | Windows Holographic (HoloLens); Android and iOS (mobile app, 2019 to 2025) |
| License | Proprietary, per-user subscription |
| Supported Devices | HoloLens (1st gen), HoloLens 2; Android and iOS phones and tablets (mobile app, deprecated March 25, 2025) |
| Release Date | May 22, 2018 (free preview); October 1, 2018 (general availability) |
| Website | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/mixed-reality/remote-assist/ra-overview |
Dynamics 365 Remote Assist is a mixed reality remote assistance application made by Microsoft for its HoloLens headsets. A technician wearing a HoloLens shares a live, first-person video view with a remote expert, who joins the call through Microsoft Teams on a PC, Mac or mobile device and can draw ink lines and place arrows that appear anchored to real objects in the technician's space.[1][2] Microsoft announced the app as Microsoft Remote Assist at its Build conference in May 2018, released it as a free preview on May 22, 2018, and made it generally available under the Dynamics 365 brand on October 1, 2018, together with the space-planning app Dynamics 365 Layout.[3][4]
When HoloLens 2 was announced in February 2019, Microsoft offered the headset in bundles with Remote Assist starting at US$125 per month.[5] A companion mobile app for Android and iOS followed in 2019 and was deprecated on March 25, 2025; Microsoft now offers similar capabilities in Microsoft Teams mobile.[6][1] Microsoft has announced that Dynamics 365 Remote Assist and its sister app Dynamics 365 Guides will reach end of support on December 31, 2026, after which the apps will stop working.[7]
History
Announcement and preview (2018)
Microsoft introduced Remote Assist and Microsoft Layout at its Build 2018 developer conference. In a post dated May 7, 2018, Lorraine Bardeen described Remote Assist as a HoloLens app for "heads-up, hands-free video calling, image sharing, and mixed-reality annotations," aimed at what Microsoft called Firstline Workers. The video calling was built on Microsoft Teams, so the remote expert could answer on a PC, phone or tablet instead of a second headset. Experts and workers could mark up the shared view with mixed reality ink and arrows or insert images into it, and access was managed through Azure Active Directory sign-in and mobile device management.[3] The same post said the German car-parts maker ZF Group had used both apps on its factory floor.[3]
Both apps went into the Microsoft Store on May 22, 2018 as a limited-time free preview, which the May 7 announcement said was for existing HoloLens customers.[3] Microsoft said feedback from the preview would be used to make them generally available "as soon as possible."[8]
General availability (October 2018)
On September 18, 2018 Microsoft presented the two apps as part of Dynamics 365, its suite of business applications. TechCrunch reported that both would become generally available on October 1. Its report described a field technician using a HoloLens either to review a repair before arriving on site or to get live help during the job, while an expert in the office saw the same view and circled parts in real time. TechCrunch noted that Scope AR had announced a similar remote-assistance product about four months earlier.[9] PCWorld's Mark Hachman, writing the same day after an interview with Bardeen, then general manager of Mixed Reality at Work, said the app required the headset to be on Wi-Fi rather than a direct LTE connection, and that Microsoft had reduced the app's bandwidth use, including by lowering the video resolution.[10]
Bardeen's October 1, 2018 post marked "general availability of our first Dynamics 365 business applications," Remote Assist and Layout. It described Remote Assist as offering "heads-up, hands-free video calling, annotations, and file sharing," with access to Dynamics 365 Field Service work order data through the Common Data Service. The post cited Chevron, which had previously sent an inspector from Houston to Singapore every month and now carried out those inspections remotely.[4]
HoloLens 2 and the mobile app (2019)
Microsoft unveiled HoloLens 2 at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on February 24, 2019, at a price of US$3,500. The announcement stated: "Bundles including Dynamics 365 Remote Assist start at $125/month." The same event introduced Dynamics 365 Guides, a step-by-step work instruction app, in preview.[5] A Dynamics 365 blog post the following day said Remote Assist would come to Android in preview on April 1, 2019.[11] TechCrunch reported that the spring 2019 release was to add mobile annotations, group calling and deeper integration with Dynamics 365 Field Service, along with improved accessibility features in the HoloLens app.[12]
Remote Assist for mobile became generally available with version 2019.10.01 on October 1, 2019. It ran on Android and iOS phones and tablets and let a technician place a one-to-one Teams call with an expert, with both sides able to place ink and arrow annotations in the real world. The release also added annotation on a captured high-quality image, text chat and an in-app tutorial.[6]
Pandemic period and later updates (2020-2024)
During the COVID-19 pandemic, a Windows Blog Japan post of May 1, 2020 announced a free six-month Remote Assist license for customers affected by the pandemic, and, for medical institutions, free loans of first-generation HoloLens headsets in addition to that license.[13] Microsoft's release notes from February 2020 also mention a 90-day license-free trial of the mobile app.[14]
Later releases added call recording in group calls (October 2020), localization of the mobile app into 43 languages (December 2020), support for low-bandwidth situations and meeting recording on HoloLens (April 2021), restriction settings that stop users from making private calls or opening files and assets (January 2022), adjustment of outgoing video quality to reduce HoloLens temperature (April 2022) and support for Teams desktop on Mac (May 2022). In April 2021 the version for the first-generation HoloLens entered a Long Term Servicing state, with future updates focused on issue and security fixes while keeping feature parity with the February 2021 release (302.2102.2003). On April 19, 2024 Microsoft gave Remote Assist customers access to Remote Assist features inside Microsoft Teams mobile.[14]
Retirement (2025-2026)
The standalone mobile app was deprecated on March 25, 2025. Microsoft directs existing customers to Teams mobile, where a phone user can share a view for "spatial annotations" during a call, as long as at least one participant holds a Dynamics 365 Field Service, Guides or Remote Assist license.[1][15]
Microsoft's lifecycle notice states that Dynamics 365 Guides and Dynamics 365 Remote Assist reach end of support on December 31, 2026, and that subscriptions could be bought or renewed only until November 1, 2025. After the end date the products receive no security updates, other updates, bug fixes or technical support, and "the apps will no longer be functional," though customer data stays in their Dataverse environments. Microsoft suggests mixed reality solutions from its commercial marketplace and, for some Remote Assist scenarios, spatial annotation in Teams mobile.[7] The Licensing School reported in November 2025 that both products were closed to new orders.[16] In a January 2026 report, analyst firm Directions on Microsoft linked the retirement to the end of HoloLens production in late 2024 and wrote that Microsoft offers no first-party replacement.[17] UploadVR reported on October 1, 2024 that Microsoft had confirmed the end of HoloLens 2 production, and that the headset would receive updates for critical security issues and software regressions until December 31, 2027.[18]
Microsoft continued to ship maintenance builds through 2026. The HoloLens 2 app release of September 29, 2026 (version 320.2608.21001.0) is marked as required to keep using Remote Assist and adds in-app notices that the product will not be available after December 31, 2026.[19]
Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| May 7, 2018 | Microsoft Remote Assist and Microsoft Layout announced at Build 2018[3] |
| May 22, 2018 | Free preview released in the Microsoft Store for existing HoloLens customers[8] |
| October 1, 2018 | General availability as Dynamics 365 Remote Assist[4] |
| February 24, 2019 | HoloLens 2 announced; bundles with Remote Assist from US$125 per month[5] |
| October 1, 2019 | Remote Assist mobile for Android and iOS generally available[6] |
| April 1, 2021 | Version for HoloLens (1st gen) enters Long Term Servicing[14] |
| April 19, 2024 | Remote Assist capabilities available in Microsoft Teams mobile[14] |
| March 25, 2025 | Remote Assist mobile app deprecated[1] |
| November 1, 2025 | Last date to buy or renew subscriptions[7] |
| September 29, 2026 | Required HoloLens 2 app release with in-app deprecation notices[19] |
| December 31, 2026 | End of support; apps stop functioning[7] |
Features
Calls and spatial annotations
The technician uses Remote Assist on a HoloLens, while remote collaborators use the ordinary Teams app on a Windows 10 or later PC, a Mac, or an iOS or Android device. During a call the collaborator sees what the technician sees and can draw arrows or ink on their own screen; the marks appear in the HoloLens wearer's space and stay attached to the part of the machine they were drawn on as the wearer walks around.[1][2] Microsoft's documentation ties this behavior to spatial anchoring. It also notes that both parties see only the holograms inside the HoloLens wearer's field of view.[1] Collaborators can share files from OneDrive, such as schematics, into the technician's space, or share their screen to show a video or presentation. The technician can take snapshots, and calls can be recorded.[1][20] The HoloLens app supports voice commands for all features, which Microsoft says work even in loud industrial environments.[1]
On phones, spatial annotation depends on the device's own augmented reality tracking. Teams mobile users who share their space must have an Android device with ARCore support or an iPhone or iPad with ARKit support, and Microsoft advises them to scan the area slowly from several angles so that the device builds a map of visual feature points before annotations are placed.[15]
Integration with Dynamics 365
A Remote Assist license covers the Remote Assist app, Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Dataverse. Dataverse provides a model-driven web app for capturing asset data, creating one-time call links and viewing call analytics.[2] When Remote Assist is connected to Dynamics 365 Field Service, a technician can open a booking, call the expert listed on the work order, change the booking status, and post the call log, snapshots and shared files to the work order at the end of the call.[2][20] Microsoft's current documentation states that a Dynamics 365 Field Service license includes Guides and Remote Assist at no extra cost.[2]
Requirements
The HoloLens app runs on HoloLens and HoloLens 2 with Windows build 10.0.17134.0 (April 2018) or later. Microsoft gives a minimum of 1.5 Mbps up and down for peer-to-peer video at 1080p and 30 frames per second, and 4-5 Mbps for optimal quality. It notes that the first-generation HoloLens may not reach full 1080p quality even at those speeds.[2]
Use in healthcare
Remote Assist was used in hospital settings during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a prospective observational evaluation published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research in 2020, Guy Martin and colleagues described deploying HoloLens 2 headsets with Remote Assist, which runs over Microsoft Teams, across three clinical clusters at a UK teaching hospital. Typically a single senior staff member entered the COVID-19 area to carry out the round with the headset, while the rest of the team joined from a protected nonclinical location and took part through the first-person bedside view. Among 28 staff, the authors reported a 51.5% reduction in time spent exposed in high-risk COVID-19 areas and an 83.1% reduction in personal protective equipment used per round per day.[21] Microsoft's product documentation states that Remote Assist is intended for communication and is not intended for use as a medical device or for medical diagnosis or treatment.[1]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 "Welcome to Dynamics 365 Remote Assist". Microsoft Learn. Microsoft. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/mixed-reality/remote-assist/ra-overview. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 "Requirements for Dynamics 365 Remote Assist". Microsoft Learn. Microsoft. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/mixed-reality/remote-assist/requirements. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Lorraine Bardeen (2018-05-07). "Introducing two new mixed reality business applications: Microsoft Remote Assist and Microsoft Layout". Windows Experience Blog. Microsoft. https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperience/2018/05/07/introducing-two-new-mixed-reality-business-applications-microsoft-remote-assist-and-microsoft-layout/. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Lorraine Bardeen (2018-10-01). "Bringing mixed reality and Dynamics 365 together". Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog. Microsoft. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics-365/blog/business-leader/2018/10/01/bringing-mixed-reality-and-dynamics-365-together/. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Microsoft at MWC Barcelona: Introducing Microsoft HoloLens 2". The Official Microsoft Blog. Microsoft. 2019-02-24. https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2019/02/24/microsoft-at-mwc-barcelona-introducing-microsoft-hololens-2/. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Bryce Holmes (2019-10-01). "Dynamics 365 Remote Assist goes GA in the October 2019 update!". Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog. Microsoft. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics-365/blog/it-professional/2019/10/01/dynamics-365-remote-assist-goes-ga-in-the-october-2019-update/. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 "Dynamics 365 Guides and Remote Assist reaching end of support on December 31, 2026". Microsoft Lifecycle. Microsoft. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/announcements/dynamics-365-guides-remote-assist-end-of-support. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lorraine Bardeen (2018-05-22). "Microsoft Remote Assist and Microsoft Layout available today as limited-time free preview". Windows Blog. Microsoft. https://blogs.windows.com/devices/2018/05/22/microsoft-remote-assist-and-microsoft-layout-available-today-as-limited-time-free-preview/. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ Ron Miller (2018-09-18). "Microsoft is putting HoloLens to work with new Dynamics 365 applications". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2018/09/18/microsoft-is-putting-hololens-to-work-in-dynamics-365/. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ Mark Hachman (2018-09-18). "Microsoft's Dynamics 365 Remote Assist finally makes the HoloLens useful for anyone". PCWorld. https://www.pcworld.com/article/3306440/microsoft-dynamics-365-remote-assist-hololens-app.html. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ Lorraine Bardeen (2019-02-25). "Introducing Dynamics 365 mixed reality applications for HoloLens 2 and mobile devices". Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog. Microsoft. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics-365/blog/no-audience/2019/02/25/introducing-dynamics-365-mixed-reality-applications-for-hololens-2-and-mobile-devices/. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ Ron Miller (2019-02-21). "Microsoft bringing Dynamics 365 mixed reality solutions to smartphones". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2019/02/21/microsoft-bringing-dynamics-365-mixed-reality-solutions-to-smartphones/. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ "最前線の現場をサポートする遠隔支援ソリューション 6カ月無償提供のご案内". Windows Blog Japan. Microsoft. 2020-05-01. https://blogs.windows.com/japan/2020/05/01/remote-assist-six-months-free/. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 "Version history for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Remote Assist". Microsoft Learn. Microsoft. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/mixed-reality/remote-assist/version-history. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 "Use spatial annotations through Microsoft Teams mobile". Microsoft Learn. Microsoft. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/mixed-reality/remote-assist/teams-mobile-annotate. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ Louise Ulrick (2025-11-17). "Dynamics 365 Guides and Dynamics 365 Remote Assist retirement". Licensing Lore & Law (Licensing School). https://www.licensingschool.co.uk/licensing-blog/2025/11/17/dynamics-365-guides-and-dynamics-365-remote-assist-retirement/. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ Andrew Snodgrass (2026-01-26). "Dynamics 365 Retiring Guides and Remote Assist, Move Before Dec. 2026". Directions on Microsoft. https://www.directionsonmicrosoft.com/reports/dynamics-365-retiring-guides-and-remote-assist-move-before-dec-2026/. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ David Heaney (2024-10-01). "Microsoft Is Discontinuing HoloLens 2, With No Replacement". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/microsoft-discontinuing-hololens-2/. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 "What's new in Dynamics 365 Remote Assist". Microsoft Learn. Microsoft. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/mixed-reality/remote-assist/whats-new. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 "Dynamics 365 Remote Assist HoloLens frequently asked questions". Microsoft Learn. Microsoft. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/mixed-reality/remote-assist/faq-hololens. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- ↑ Guy Martin, Louis Koizia, Angad Kooner, John Cafferkey, Clare Ross, Sanjay Purkayastha, Arun Sivananthan, Anisha Tanna, Philip Pratt, James Kinross, PanSurg Collaborative (2020). "Use of the HoloLens2 Mixed Reality Headset for Protecting Health Care Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Prospective, Observational Evaluation". Journal of Medical Internet Research, vol. 22, no. 8. https://doi.org/10.2196/21486. Retrieved 2026-10-13.