Filling in the blanks - forms software

Entrepreneur, April, 1996 by Cheryl J. Goldberg

New software programs let you create and fill out forms in a flash.

Filling out forms--whether they are customer invoices, forms for processing new employees, or forms for paying suppliers--is one of those annoying, tedious little tasks that comes with running any business. Not only does it take time, but the forms can be expensive to print and produce, especially in these days of rising paper costs.

The good news: Specialized software is making the process faster, easier and less wasteful. And with several types of forms software packages out there, you're sure to find one that meets your needs.

You can use simple stand-alone packages to replicate your existing paper forms for easy and inexpensive design and printing on a laser printer. Or try the more complex networked applications, which automate the routing and processing of forms throughout your business, then deposit the finished forms in a central database. These not only save on processing costs but also eliminate space needed for storing paper files.

Stand-Alone Packages

The first type of forms packages to be introduced, and the simplest type available today, stand-alone packages run on a single computer and help you design simple forms you can print on a laser printer and distribute manually.

The advantage of these packages is the cost savings involved in designing the forms. Some of them come with a variety of form templates you can modify, eliminating the need to hire a graphics designer. They also reduce printing costs by allowing you to print out your own forms.

Basic stand-alone forms packages include Forms- on-a-Disk for MS-DOS from Bytech Business Systems. Or, for more complex and professional-looking forms, try a higher-end stand-alone package such as FormTool Gold for Windows, from IMSI.

High-end packages include design tools such as variable fonts and drawing tools; they also allow you to input photos and develop special fields, such as "pick list" fields, that specify several choices for the information to be input.

If your main concern is to cut costs by being able to duplicate any pre-printed forms you've been using rather than purchasing them from an office supply source or having them commercially printed, consider such products as Teleform (Cardiff Software) and OmniForm (Caere Affiliate Publishing). These packages convert paper forms into a digital format using a scanner, then use optical character recognition to translate the resulting data into alphanumeric characters a computer can understand. Most packages also allow you to customize the forms by making text and design changes. Because the conversion process isn't always completely successful, these packages also highlight any entries that don't make sense so you can correct them if necessary.

Networked Programs

The newest forms packages, such as FormFlow (Symantec Delrina Group), InForms (Novell) and Lotus Forms (Lotus Development) add a whole new dimension to stand-alone packages. Not only do these networked packages let you design highly sophisticated forms, but they also simplify the process of filling them in. Users can fill in forms electronically and send the completed versions over local area networks and e-mail systems to other users for further work or for storage in a central database.

Among features to look for in a networked package:

Forms designers: All three of the networked packages mentioned above include highly sophisticated programming modules for designing forms. As a result, you probably need to hire a programmer to set up the system to your requirements, instead of attempting to design your own forms as you might with the stand-alone packages.

Networked forms designers offer a wide range of features for creating customized forms. You can insert fields such as lookup tables (which let users look up pre-specified data from a database while they're using a particular field), command buttons, check boxes, tables similar to minispreadsheets, and graphics. Some packages even support bar-code fields, which are useful for putting ZIP codes on mailing labels or tracking information for parts or packages. Other programs offer auto- increment fields that create a unique number every time you add a record to a database. This is useful for assigning invoice or order numbers.

Filler applications: Once you've completed your forms design with the designer modules, you'll need a filler application to electronically fill out the forms. Look for a package that includes a filler application with the following capabilities:

* Sending forms: Most packages allow you to send forms to other people on the network or to your company's database via e-mail, which helps speed the flow of paper through your company. Sending forms to a central database eliminates the need to re-enter the information from the form into the database for storage and later retrieval.

The packages that support e-mail let you send either forms with data (embedding) or just the data (linking). You would use embedding if the person filling out the form doesn't have access to the database. Embedding allows the user to enter the information; the data can then be transferred from the embedded database back to the master database. You would use linking if the user has direct access to the central database; then you just send the data.