Technology – our lives currently revolve around it.
Until 2019, we didn’t really think about it and most companies refused to be a part of the digital transformation. There were many reasons behind this but the one that stood out was the refusal to let go of old processes. 2020, however, changed everything. Every business across the globe was forced to embrace technology. One of the many changes that we saw through the pandemic was the adoption of mobile forms.
A digital version of a paper form is termed as a mobile form. You can open it and fill it in using any device including your smartphone.
An app that has multiple forms (each defining a specific purpose) is called a mobile forms app.
This single change can spell the demise of paper forms because hey, who has the flexibility to use paper now? It not only increases overheads, but it also poses a health risk in today’s times. Digitizing forms, thus, makes so much more sense and brings in numerous benefits to organizations. This is why there’s a significant demand in the market for mobile form apps at the moment. What’s more, many mobile form apps also allow organizations to automate complete workflows to make the whole process seamless and quick.
Also read: RIP paper based forms – It’s time to go paperless with forms automation
Is convenience the only benefit mobile forms offer? Absolutely not. The benefits are manifold and a few are baffling! Let’s skim through them –
There is no doubt that Mobile forms are the need of the hour but the question is “How can a mobile form data collection help my business?”
There are so many different ways in which mobile forms can help! You can use them for various purposes, all from a single app on your phone. To help you understand better, we have penned down a few top ways to use them –
Working from home is the new normal. This has increased the importance of daily job reports. But, at the end of the day, if a few team members send incomplete reports, a few others prefer calling their managers, and the rest forget, it is difficult to sketch out the progress. Managers will waste a lot of time following up, waiting, and trying to collate all the data.
Mobile forms make this easy by allowing employees to upload all data through their phones within minutes. They don’t need to write an email or get to their computers. This enables accurate data collection, quick assessment, and proper tracking of the job lists.
This can also be used to submit job reports for field activities in various industries. This data once submitted, becomes available to other users who have permission to access that data. All in real-time
Invoices are a crucial part of any business and quite tedious too. Manual invoicing is a huge process that takes a lot of energy. Wouldn’t it be awesome to be able to automate this? Mobile forms do just that! They give real-time data and give managers an instant report on all the purchase orders received, products/services sold, etc. Managers can then use this information to create invoices on the fly. There’s no back and forth at all!
Top mobile form apps will help you send custom PDFs of the data collected. You can create templates to be used for the same. These look like physical forms complete with logos and other company details, enabling instant printing whenever needed.
Also read: 10 Key Business Processes you can Accelerate with Document Generation Software
Did you know that businesses waste a lot of time coming up with a quote for their products and services? When a potential client asks for a quote, the sooner you send it, the better your chances of closing the deal. Any delays can cause the client to move on. With mobile forms, the process automatically speeds up because a service/sales person can use a mobile form from anywhere to select product/service being offered, any applicable discounts and special conditions, and submit the quote. The quote once approved is automatically be routed to the customer.
So many infrastructure projects are executed in remote locations with limited or no access to the internet. Similarly, on-field executives when visiting customers door to door cannot expect internet connectivity on their devices all the time. Mobile forms with an offline facility are a lifesaver for all these scenarios. So, if the field staff is in a remote location without Internet connectivity, they do not have to panic. They can still capture all the information they need using mobile forms. This may include simple text data, signatures, or any photographs taken. Once the mobile device gets access to the internet, all the offline data is automatically transmitted and synced with the central server.
Also read: 5 reasons going paperless reduces paper trail risk for any business
This use of mobile forms is a blessing for logistics companies. Their entire business relies on fleet management. For every haul, drivers can use mobile forms to fill in data and send it to the office. They won’t have to physically visit the office every day to log in updates. The end customers will also benefit from this because they will know the real-time status of their deliveries.
A lot of industries use expensive equipment in the field for which maintenance reports need to be maintained properly. These reports are crucial to predict any servicing that may be required in the future. It also gives organizations a platform to troubleshoot when the need arises. A simple maintenance report form on a mobile device will take care of all this along with giving them the chance to meet sudden requirements. The form is on their phone. They just have to fill it whenever a job comes in!
A mobile form can help track items that are being used, being brought in, and being dispatched from the facility. This data can be compared to the order details to ensure that everything is going smoothly. It also allows you to update the CRM and make the billing process move faster.
Inspections are common to any industry. It may be an EHS officer capturing health and safety data, a construction manager inspecting a project site, or a driver recording the health parameters of the vehicle. Most of these inspections are done on the shop-floor, project sites, or on the field. Mobile forms based inspections allow users to capture the data at the source using any mobile device. All submitted data becomes available in the central server in real-time.
Tracking was once a tiresome endeavor. Managers found it very difficult to keep a track of the workflow because there are so many steps to examine. A mobile app can notify the manager instead, allowing him/her to track each step or provide approvals without doing much. If they want to know the status of a particular task, understand the roadblocks, or approve any activity, they can simply do it with a mobile form. Easy!
This comes handy when employees are working out of the office or traveling for work. A single notification through the mobile forms app will tell them about a new job or requirement. It will also give them all the information needed. Teamwork is also easy despite being physically distant because employees in the team know each other’s progress.
How about sending a request that immediately creates a purchase order? Awesome, right? That’s what mobile forms do! They help employees send requests for purchases in a jiffy regardless of where they are. The accounts team then has to approve and it can be done within minutes. It also ensures that no receipts are lost because employees can instantly upload photos of the receipts. No need to scan!
What’s more, the accounts team can match the bill with the purchase order later and ensure that only authorized items have been purchased.
Prospective clients can receive job proposals in an instant through modern and professional templates. The mobile form is easily capable of doing this. It also ensures secure authorization through digital signatures.
Mobile forms can help track timesheets during payroll processing. HR and accounting just need to go through the data at the end of the month and dispatch payments. These forms can clock in overtime, the number of hours worked, leaves, etc., and allow dynamic fields where necessary.
Whether it is about damages or an incident in the workplace, reporting it instantly along with the required details is crucial. It can help the team address it immediately and ensure timely action. Paper forms delay the process because images need to be printed and everything needs to be filled manually. On a mobile form, things can be instant.
Also read: 20 reasons why going paperless and shift to digital forms will be a major trend in near future
From employee evaluation to materials log and everything in between, mobile forms can completely replace paper forms. They can help in every aspect, making the whole process of running a business more seamless.
Mobile forms are here to stay. Even after everyone goes back to work, they will have a significant impact because they shower so many benefits on their users.
Quixy is a leading no-code platform that lets you build your own mobile form apps and customize them based on your company’s needs. For more information, please feel free to speak to us or sign up for a free trial, and don’t forget to follow-us on LinkedIn and other social media handles.