Why Every Construction Company Should Be Using Mobile Forms
This blog was written by Monique van Zuylen, Digital Marketing Manager at GoFormz.
If you’re unfamiliar with mobile forms they are digital forms that can be filled out on tablets and phones. These mobile forms, which can look identical to your existing paper construction documents, help teams work safer and more efficiently.
When mobile forms are paired with a content platform like Egnyte, field teams can collect highly accurate project data and instantly route completed documents (and information) to their entire team - no matter their location. This means that completed forms are immediately available to the back-office for review, which helps expedite data processing and reduces administrative demands (like scanning, filing, etc.).
Here are a few more reasons every construction company should be using mobile forms:
Streamline field data capture
Using mobile forms in the field provides new opportunities to expedite and simplify data collection. Mobile forms can be filled out and submitted directly from a user’s phone or tablet, even offline. This means field teams no longer need to worry about manual paperwork tools (like paper forms, pens, and clipboards) or locating a cell signal to complete documents – they can be instantly submitted from mobile devices, no matter how remote the location. Any form changes and submissions you make while offline are uploaded as soon as you reach a signal. Once uploaded, forms and data are instantly available to the back-office for processing and review.
Improve data quality
Digital forms can also contain conditional logic and workflow rules, both of which significantly elevate the quality of collected data and enforce document sharing procedures and rules. For example, a form can require a signature before it can be submitted, enforcing proper procedures and eliminating the submission of incomplete forms. Mobile forms can also host database fields, like drop-down menus and barcode scanning, which pull from collections of your business data to populate relevant fields with highly accurate information, instantly.
Finally, data accuracy can be further improved with automatic calculations, which eliminates the need for problematic manual math. For example, automatic calculations could instantly sum line items, total labor expenses and more.
Leverage new data types
Mobile forms can also host a variety of data types that paper forms simply cannot handle. Visual data types like images, sketches, and maps help illustrate captured data, onsite hazards and project progress. These new data types not only help to articulate project details but also increase job site transparency. With increased insight into job site activity, back-office personnel and management can better oversee the productivity, safety, and progress of their teams.
Store and organize collected data and documents in Egnyte
Finally, connecting your mobile forms to Egnyte will automatically and instantaneously enrich your account with timely documents and new types of visual information that would otherwise be cumbersome to collect. Mobile forms can even be routed to specific Egnyte folders based on data entered into specific form fields (e.g. a customer’s name). Leveraging Egnyte’s search capabilities, forms are easy to locate and reference whenever you need.
Digitizing your forms collection
Digitizing your construction forms (with platforms like GoFormz) results in more efficient data collection and richer, more accurate data. You can convert your existing paper forms to identical digital versions by using your phone or tablet to collect data on the go, and automatically push the completed forms to your Egnyte account. To learn more about digitizing your construction forms with GoFormz, check out the GoFormz – Egnyte integration.
