Forms Automation Software

Why Does Your Business Need Forms Automation Software and Data Collection Form App?

Efficiency is key for any high-performing business and digitization of the business process is essential for such efficiency. Data digitization is one of the most important tasks for any company planning to outperform the competition and streamline the workflow. One side of this process is the application of the digital process automation software to deal with data forms on the fly.

Data collection forms regardless of their inconvenience are required in any business. From purchase orders to travel requests, these forms are unavoidable and typically have long-term processing. Employees, supervisors, and senior management waste hours on filling in, signing and distribution of various forms. Unfortunately, even in the 21st century many companies still perform paper workflow manually losing thousands of effective working hours per year. 

There are also other challenges of paper workflow, including:

• Unprofessional appearance
• Substantial time for hand-in and delivery
• Inaccurate, illegible and missing information
• Processing time
• Inability to find a necessary form when needed 

Form automation is much more efficient in comparison with manual data collection processing. Forms automation streamlines workflow, saving staff time, and reducing errors. Learn the benefits of mobile form solutions and choose the data collection app fitting your business needs.

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What Are Mobile Forms and Form Automation?

Explore the Specific Features of Mobile Forms for Business

Form automation software can help your company to start the digitization of business processes. The main question here is – which solution will be perfect for your specific business requirements and what features are crucial for its effectiveness.

Here, we prepared the list of the most important features to consider when choosing a form automation software:

• Dynamic custom logic – the solution has to transform the complex paper form your organization has into the simple and intuitive mobile application. All the organization processes should be recreated and automated within the app following the inner logic developed within the company
• Data pre-population – automatically populate the form using date and timestamp information. The software has to leverage the historical data and auto choices within the form, using specific modeling techniques.
• Mobile form app – employees have to use the software on their preferred devices, including smartphones and tablets. The mobile data collection is essential to perform the work on the go in case of necessity.
• Participant alerts – simple notification emails or system alerts can be sent as soon as a workflow step is ready for a user, allowing the user to complete the step right away
• Reactive task management – users have to be notified about the follow-ups, escalation and alerts automatically.  The new tasks are developed on the fly based on specific responses.
• Automatic reporting – software has to populate, filter, and distribute reports across the required contact lists at the scheduled period.
• Relevant integrations –  find the tool being able to seamlessly connect to other platforms to send your data where it needs to go (such as a CRM, email marketing platform, or Google spreadsheet)
• Offline data collection – the software has to perform the offline data capture and autofill the forms when your device has no connection. The form’s update starts when the connection is restored.
• The advanced form features –  for annotations and sketches, geolocation, voice recording, QR and barcode scanning, e-signing, formula fields, images, and more.
• Dispatching – the forms have to be dispatched and delivered following the specific company’s workflow rules.

Investigate Types of Mobile Forms

Form automation software typically supports  various mobile forms types, like web forms, pdfs, word and excel spreadsheets. They  are based on the typical documents created within the organization on a daily basis. As we have discussed earlier the role of the form automation is to copy the existent paper forms into the digital format. The employees have to go through the digitization of the business processes in the simplest possible way. 

Let’s explore several types of mobile forms, investigating their pros and cons.

• Webform – is the simplest mobile form with only several fields to fill. This simplicity is its main advantage, but any other functionality is not available. In most companies, it will be just text forms with several fields.
• PDFs – the most popular mobile form, looking like the original paper used in the workflow. It can look like your branded document with the company’s logo, specific color scheme, and font size. That is the main advantage of the form. Although, if you require any specific calculations, dropdowns and security settings within the form, it will not be easy to implement. You will need additional resources and time to adapt the form for your requirements.
• Word and Excel Spreadsheets – it is again one of the popular mobile forms types created on the basis of existing documents. Such  forms can be easily created and edited, but the security issues and limited functionality make them  less popular in comparison to PDFs.

While you are choosing the form automation software check that it has the functionality for all mobile form types to perform enterprise mobile data collection automatically. It should also have additional features helping to develop the traditional forms following business workflow requirements.

Benefits of Mobile Forms Automation

The integration of mobile form apps into a business workflow can raise the company’s productivity to a new level plus improve various aspects of the everyday workflow:

• Improve productivity – the automation software like mobile form reduces multitasking within an organization. Information gathering, reporting, and storage are performed automatically. As a result, employees can work on strategic tasks leaving all the routine operations to mobile forms.
• Improve team collaboration – mobile forms can distribute work orders across the team and collect information from various employees involved in the project. They gather all the necessary information quickly and easily, as well as place them in secure storage. The workers will not spend time searching for the right file and will have more time for strategic tasks
• Reduce time on data collection – mobile forms allow you to gather relevant data in the fastest possible well. As a result, businesses access the necessary data faster and raise the operational efficiency
• Reduce carbon footprint – in the period when businesses become eco-friendly and care about sustainability technologies give the perfect opportunity to substitute paperwork. Such an approach will also help to reduce costs and protect the environment at the same time.
• Access all systems on the go – the mobile form apps allow to control the business workflow at any place and at any time streamlining the processes.

Examples of Mobile Forms Application in Various Industries

In fact, mobile forms software solutions are useful for any business especially for those located in the offline areas or working remotely. When your enterprise is located in a rural or mountain area with limited internet connection forms automation can really help. The offline functionality of the mobile forms allows users to fill them in the offline form app. The same is true for remote workers who might not have access to paper forms when needed. 

Let’s examine some examples of mobile forms application across industries:

• Transportation – here, the mobile forms are most useful for vehicle inspections. The form automation helps to collect data quickly and secure even in offline mode. The inspectors can create forms for regulations such as the FAA and the DOT and update them regularly. The managers can be sure that employees will follow the instruction during the inspection and can check their work in real-time. 
• Construction – all the documentation involved in the construction cycle can be automated, including contracts, repair templates, timesheets, inspection reports, and contractor tracking activities. Mobile forms become the perfect instrument in the construction project manager’s hands allowing them to control and streamline the documentation workflow. 
• Facilities management – the companies working in the field can benefit from data collection forms in various locations streamlining the reporting to head office. The typical reports like work orders, inspection checklists, contracts, costs estimation are created in minutes and distributed across the parties involved. In addition, the data is stored in one central location with easy access to any employee. 
• Energy and utilities – energy and utility companies can benefit from automatization of regulatory compliance reports, forms collecting all kinds of geotagged data, including photos, audio, video, and signatures, safety surveys, and work orders. Mobile form apps help to streamline the collection and sharing of the data in the field.

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Regardless of the industry form automation software enables organizations to reduce costs, access critical data in real-time, and improve decision making at every level. With such digital process automation software as Fluix, you can create custom apps and turn your paper documents into digital forms that your field teams can quickly complete on mobile devices both offline and online. As a result, your business will go through the digitization process streamlining your workflow and raising employees’ productivity to the new level.