This week, Citrix, a cloud company that enables users to securely access Apps and data on any mobile device, announced Citrix Worx Mobile Apps built for business. In addition to being listed as an official Citrix partner App, the ProntoForms product will now incorporate Citrix MDX container technology within its platform and application.

According to the May 22 Citrix release, this MDX technology offers high level security features such as data encryption and password authentication.

The ProntoForms team is proud to be joining the Citrix Ready Worx Verified Program, and to offer the best of the Citrix powered security features within our platform and application.

“The key is that this Citrix technology expands our security features for business customers that are looking to deploy the ProntoForms solution in an MDM (mobile device management) based environment. Generally, these business customers are of the enterprise variety,” explained Alvaro Pombo, our Founder and CEO.

“This technology also simplifies initial ProntoForms rollout and subsequent updates of the mobile App to the enterprise mobile workforce,” added Glenn Chenier, our VP of Research and Development.

As the leading mobile form solution on the market, ProntoForms helps businesses go paperless by leveraging the advanced capabilities of today’s smartphones and tablets, for the purposes of sending, collecting and submitting data to and from the field.

Got an opinion or a suggestion? Email blog@prontoforms.com.

Today, we proudly issued a press release in regards to how one of our customers is saving 40 hours of labor costs a week! Providing plumbing and HVAC services to Vermont customers, Avonda Air Systems, Inc. was able to significantly reduce weekly costs due to its deployment of the ProntoForms solution. The firm created HVAC mobile forms to deploy with its over 30 field technicians.

“We’ve essentially made available the time equivalent of another employee at 1/10th the typical burdened administrative labor cost. This fact makes ProntoForms an incredible value,” explained Jim Becker, VP of Operations for Avonda Air Systems, Inc.

This quantitative anecdote is an impactful example of why businesses shouldn’t delay in taking their business processes paperless.

“Avonda Air Systems typifies the real efficiency and productivity results that come along with the deployment of the ProntoForms mobile solution. We’re pleased to be a contributing factor to its continued growth,” said Alvaro Pombo, TrueContext Founder and CEO.

The simplicity of collecting data on smartphones and tablets in the field, and instantly connecting it with any back office system has forever changed the way business is done.

Gone are the days of driving back stacks of paper field reports to the office, only to then have to spend many hours transcribing them into the company system.

It’s stories like these that are convincing SMB to enterprise organizations to go paperless and get in on the savings.

“Much like a printer or copier at Avonda Air Systems, Inc., the ProntoForms product has become an essential part of our business toolset. We rely upon the timely delivery and construct we receive through the tool. I would and have recommended the ProntoForms solution to other businesses with field-deployed employees needing a reliable and easy-to-manage data collection tool.”

Got an opinion or a suggestion? Email blog@prontoforms.com.

In the old days, field workers would fill out paper forms and separately take photos with a digital camera or smartphone. Today, ProntoForms allow users to accomplish these two tasks as one, by streamlining data collection and picture-taking with one mobile form.

But, just how many images can be added to a single mobile form, you ask?

The answer is simple. Essentially, it boils down to how the form questions (or fields) are set up. One ProntoForms mobile form question can have up to ten integrated photos. There can be as many form questions as you like for each mobile form that you create.

For example, if you’re an insurance inspector on a job site, and your duties require that you take numerous pictures of a structure, the ProntoForms mobile forms application will be able to incorporate all of these images into one digital form.

We encourage the worker in the field, in this case an insurance inspector, to take as many pictures as required, and to save the mobile form as a draft. This way, the inspector can then review all of the images and remove any that may be deemed redundant, thus submitting a form that contains only the most valuable visual information.

For more on including photos in a mobile form, visit the ProntoForms Support article on the topic.

Huberto Garza is a ProntoForms Account Development Manager who has given countless webinars and presentations on how to use and optimize the mobile form application and platform solution.

Got an opinion or suggestion? Email blog@prontoforms.com.

Essentially, BYOD is the popular trend of employees bringing their personal devices to the workplace, to perform tasks on their preferred smartphones or tablets rather than on work devices. The trend began gaining workplace traction with the release of the iPhone, and continues to be a strong employee preference.

1. BYOD – threat or opportunity?

The first thing that business executives must realize is that employees aren’t going to stop bringing their personal devices to work. IT departments shouldn’t view BYOD as a threat, but rather as an opportunity.

Businesses can benefit greatly from BYOD in a variety of ways.

First, BYOD immediately cuts down on the maintenance and support costs associated with company devices. Employees are bringing sophisticated smartphones and tablets to work and are already proficient on their own devices. Thus, less training and support bandwidth required. And, obviously, BYOD also means a significant reduction in company device purchasing.

Next, employees practicing BYOD have their devices with them nearly 24/7. As a result, they’re virtually always plugged-in and reachable, leading to higher worker and company productivity.

2. BYOD Business Apps must be carrier and device agnostic

Let’s say a business decides to embrace BYOD. Great. Now what? They have 100 employees who are all using their own smartphones and tablets for work tasks, with different types of devices, operating systems and wireless carriers.

How does he keep them all on the same page?

The answer is to deploy business App solutions that are smart and powerful, and that are also device and carrier agnostic. ProntoForms is an application that works with multiple mobile device operating systems, making it easy to deploy within organizations practicing BYOD.

With ProntoForms, you build the workflow and forms once, to work on all networks and devices. There’s no need to create custom workflows for different devices types (such as for smartphones or tablets). All ProntoForms mobile forms automatically adjust to the device screen size and capabilities.

Whether it’s an iOS, Android, Blackberry or Windows Phone mobile device operating system, workers can still collect, receive and submit data in real time.

Unlike rudimentary consumer Apps, the robust ProntoForms portal allows companies to better stay on top of everything happening out in the field.

In addition to mobile form features such as signature, photo and barcode captures, as well as credit card processing and access to back office data tables, ProntoForms mobile forms also have the ability to generate geo and time stamps. Simply put, these form stamps deliver irrefutable proof-of-delivery or proof-of-work details to management, providing invaluable reporting data.

3. Harness BYOD with the right admin portal

Taking the example a step further, the ProntoForms mobile form solution can also help company IT departments reign in mobile workers and keep them on point. This is accomplished with the ProntoForms Web Management Portal, an online platform that helps decision-makers institute and manage a precise and efficient mobile business process – right from the office.

The ProntoForms Web Management Portal allows management to:

• Build and customize unlimited forms
• Set user preferences and settings
• Monitor all field activity
• Export data and schedule automated reporting

Furthermore, if certain workflow tasks have specific compliance requirements, this sophisticated ProntoForms platform allows management to track which device is being used in the field by which worker.

4. Connect BYOD data to the office or to the cloud

BYODs are now able to perform all of these smart tasks – but where does the data go and how can the field worker easily direct it to different locations?

ProntoForms connects to a secure server or cloud service, without requiring the field user to adjust settings or manually direct the data record (or form).

Moreover, since many businesses utilize a cloud service to store, share and collaborate, the ProntoForms solution is all-the-more ideal since it can send collected data to popular destinations like SharePoint, Dropbox, Box, Google Drive and more.

ProntoForms connectivity goes both ways. Data in the office can also be made available in the field. For example, an on-site service technician may need to access the most up-to-date price list. A pricing table updated in the cloud can automatically update forms in the field, regardless of the type of smartphone or tablet the employee is using

Finally, custom connectivity can also be automated with the ProntoForms REST API. Through a simple integration process, the REST API can provide businesses with a convenient way to schedule and connect data between the back office system and the field. For example, automating daily job dispatching for field workers helps to ensure speedier and more efficient business in the field.

In short…

An organization that champions the BYOD phenomenon is an organization that empowers its staff – while at the same time improving business processes without giving up control. The ProntoForms mobile business solution is the ideal BYOD business tool to raise efficiency and productivity, at the same time allowing companies to set the rules.

If a business is still dissuading employees from using their own devices for work related activities, they’re missing out on a golden opportunity of increased productivity.

Mark Scott is the VP of Marketing for the ProntoForms mobile form solution.
Got an opinion or a suggestion? Email blog@prontoForms.com.

Recently launched, the Samsung Galaxy Camera combines with ProntoForms to become the ideal mobile solution for on-the-go professionals in need of high-res, detailed image documentation on job sites.

Scenario 1

A building inspector takes the camera into the field to assess a structure for safety purposes. Upon finding a potential hazard, the inspector snaps a photo of the area, annotates on top of the image for further reporting, and has the visual automatically integrated into the ProntoForms mobile form on the camera for immediate inspection submission.

Scenario 2

A security guard responds to a shopping mall incident in which a customer is injured. This accident report requires a visual account of the customer’s injuries, necessitating a sophisticated camera to capture accurate photos. The security guard takes the injured party’s statement and several photos of the incident area, as well as photos of the customer. All data, visual and otherwise, are entered on the camera into the ProntoForms mobile form and sent off in real time.

Scenario 3

A landscaping firm sends out its workers to a customer’s property to plant several flowers and scrubs. Both the customer and the landscaping firm’s management team require detailed photos of the completed work to satisfy all parties. Thus, the field workers fill out the mobile form work order on the camera, and include several detailed visuals of the finished work into the mobile form, for data instant data submission to the head office and the customer.

Powered by Android, the Samsung Galaxy Camera features and capabilities include:

• 4″ 308ppi display
• A 16–megapixel rear-facing camera with 1080p HD video
• A 23mm wide angle lens
• WIFI and radio capabilities so users can work remotely
• 21x with Smart Zoom Control
• Live video capture and playback

Got an opinion or a suggestion? Email blog@prontoforms.com.

As such, ProntoForms and AT&T have launched a mobile form introductory video titled What is ProntoForms? Mobile Forms on your Smartphone or Tablet, by AT&T.

The roughly 90-second production simplifies and explains how the ProntoForms mobile business solution can save organizations time and money.

Mobile form features like credit card processing, signature/photo/barcode captures, geo and time stamps and sketch pad (annotating on an image and integrating the photo into a mobile form) are highlighted in the video and shown in action.

Check out the video below and share it with your colleagues:

Got a opinion or suggestion? Email blog@prontoforms.com.

Seeking a transportation mobile solution, Andrew and his team successfully deployed transportation forms into the field with multiple users.

Andrew and his organization are proof that you can be up and running with ProntoForms in little time.

Each month, one ProntoForms business customer who reaches expert status in the free trial is selected as our monthly tablet winner.

No matter the industry type, all new trial users are eligible for the mobile device prize. Sign up now and try ProntoForms for yourself.

Also, check out this transportation client video and see how effective the ProntoForms mobile solution can be for your organization.

Got an opinion or a suggestion? Email blog@prontoforms.com.

With paper forms, it isn’t always easy to find a fax machine on a farm or agronomy site. Moreover, the alternative is to drive the collected paper form data all the way to the appropriate office.

Using ProntoForms mobile forms, farmers and inspectors can collect data and instantly send it to the destination of their choice, including popular cloud services. No more faxing or driving forms to a destination. No more transcribing paper form data on to the server.

Best of all, the Forms Library has sample agriculture forms that can help get new customers up and running in no time. Sample agriculture forms include:

• Harvest form
• Safety inspection form
• Soil test report form
• And more…

Carrying around a smartphone or tablet, inspectors and farmers can collect all required information they need in no time, including high level info such as geo and time form stamps, as well as signature, photo and barcode captures.

When every seed, plant and livestock must be accounted for, only the most accurate and swift results will do.

Got an opinion or a suggestion? Email blog@prontoforms.com.

Once compiled using paper forms, these results would then have to be manually tabulated and transcribed into an electronic format – a laborious process to say the least.

Today, the ProntoForms mobile form solution is allowing organizations to dramatically speed up survey processes.

No matter the industry, customizable mobile form surveys can be created using the sophisticated ProntoForms form builder. From a simple five-question survey, to a more comprehensive five-page survey, organizations can take advantage of ProntoForms features to ensure that they collect the most detailed and pertinent data possible.

In addition, since ProntoForms is fully integratable with any back office system, all collected and submitted data is instantly available on an organization’s servers.

While customizing a survey is the recommended route, the ProntoForms product also includes several mobile survey forms in the Forms Library. These sample mobile forms can be immediately imported and deployed for optimal survey use.

With gains in time and cost savings, it’s expected that mobile form survey adoption will continue to grow exponentially.

Got an opinion or a suggestion? Email blog@prontoforms.com.

For many, TweetDeck has been an absolute necessity in monitoring multiple Twitter accounts. No matter the operating system it is used with, be it iPhone, Android or even on a desktop, TweetDeck helps to simplify the task of updating and interacting on Twitter. Unfortunately for those that rely on it, its days are numbered.

As reported by the Mac Observer today, last week, it was announced that TweetDeck applications and functionality will cease to operate on May 7th, mere weeks away. The reasoning appears to be that Twitter wants to bring these capabilities to its own Web-based platform.

In the meantime, throngs of marketers are left wondering what similar tool to utilize for Twitter account management. Services such as Hootsuite stand to gain in the short term.

Originally independent of Twitter, TweetDeck was purchased by Twitter in 2011, seemingly cementing its future as a viable Twitter account management portal.

Got an opinion or a suggestion? Email blog@prontoforms.com.