Hi Callum. Chiming in here with a fellow user's perspective. David's suggestions are exactly right (as usual). We utilize both the data source method and the dispatch data destination functionality he mentioned. Here is a little detail on how we use each method in case it helps you decide which path might be optimal for your situation:
- We use data sources to auto-fill forms for our users in a variety of settings. The best one I have seen is a company of ours who takes a file from their customers that has information about jobs by location. In that example it is data about utility meter, customer, service type, etc. Once our field technician selects the address (first field in the data source file) from a dropdown list, the applicable answers are auto-filled. This greatly reduces time spent for the technician on the administrative paperwork and it guarantees accuracy of the entries since they are pulled directly from our utility customer's provided file. This is a great application when the technician has a known address or location.
- The other method we use is the dispatch data destination. This comes in handy for crew timesheets where the crew does similar work every day with the same people and equipment. These crews of lineman don't necessarily work at an address and they often work multiple locations in one day. We found that it was easiest for them if we could dispatch answers from today's timesheet to another copy of the timesheet for him to start with tomorrow. The dispatch goes to his inbox and gives our foreman the ability to start his crew timesheet tomorrow with information about employees, equipment, customer and a few other fields already completed.
With both methods, one thing we have had to do is actually limit how many answers we auto-fill for our users. We found that by completing too much of the information for field users we created the temptation for them to submit forms without fully reviewing for changes between job locations or daily operations. ProntoForms making things too easy is the kind of problem we want. Submission quality is definitely something to monitor if you make a change like this.
Welcome to the community and good luck!
------------------------------
Matt Lambert
Vice President of Operations
PrimeLine Utility Services
WA
mlambert@primelineus.com------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: 09-20-2023 16:07
From: David Casal Del Castillo
Subject: Copying forms on Mobile app
Hey Callum,
Great question! I believe there are a number of options to consider. I will list the main three that come to mind for your consideration and also including links to articles in our documentation which will describe some of the topics in much more detail. The rest of the community members can also share their thoughts afterward.
- Using a Data Source you can minimize the amount of data entry for your end users. You can connect the form to a database, so based upon a selection of a field, other questions in the form can be automatically populated. E.g. select the location from a list of options and then automatically populate the customer name, equipment currently present on site, notes, contact information etc.
- Dispatching forms to a user can also be a helpful way to reduce the amount of data they will have to enter in order to complete the form, allowing them to focus on those areas that need to be dynamic and unique for each form submission. You can dispatch forms directly from our administrative portal or through the API
- Dispatch Data Destination would allow your end user to fill out all the details once and then decide whether they wish to send the details from that submission back to themselves (or somebody else) so they can submit a brand new data record with minimal effort; the dispatch data destination can be configured to include/exclude certain fields from the original form submission to allow the type of variability you described. Something to keep in mind here is that a dispatch data record is assigned to a specific user, but we can get around this limitation by implemented other pieces of functionality alongside the dispatching workflow, like data record editing and Teamwork
Hope this helps and let us know if you have further questions!
------------------------------
David Casal Del Castillo
Manager, Customer Success
ProntoForms
Original Message:
Sent: 09-20-2023 15:16
From: Callum O'Boyle
Subject: Copying forms on Mobile app
Good Afternoon,
Is there any possibility of being able to "copy" a form that I have already filled in. Sometimes we may have 100 forms which are all the same apart from the location. Is there anyway you can do this on the mobile app or is it not a possibility?
------------------------------
Callum O'Boyle
Electrical inspector
Guardian Electrical
------------------------------