This project started with Microsoft India team, requirement of this project was for government/ public sectors to save their time and manpower while collecting data and run analyses on top of it. The idea was to develop a solution that could be used for form designing, form download, data collection through the form in offline mode, i.e. absence of network connectivity &data upload to the server.
The client needed an application that had a facility to design a form for data collection (like birth certificate and etc.) and that data can be filled by the operators even in absence of internet connectivity. The major challenge of the project was to make a solution that could design different styles of forms, could help in circulating the form securely, and enable secure upload of the data to the server as and when the network becomes available. Further, there was a need to make the solution which could be easily acceptable. Since the data collection part in villages is generally managed by people who are not versed in high-end platforms, thus Microsoft excel seemed the best option.
We developed an application(Microsoft Excel –Forms) which contained two facilities first was for designing an excel form as per their requirement by using the drag and drop option and the second was offline data collection in Macro enabled Excel Workbook. Microsoft Excel –Forms can later be used by various authenticated users to collect data. The distinctive advantage of E -FORMS is its ability to work in offline mode i.e. in absence of network connectivity. Data could be entered and temporarily saved using the apps for office forms integrated into the macro-enabled excel workbook and could be uploaded to the server as and when the network becomes available. The form provides bi-lingual support as well. E-forms imbibe upgraded features which enable the user not only to design forms but also to download them and operate on them even in absence of a network. SharePoint enables the user management of the application and provides authorization as per the type and needs of the user. Soon after the solution was developed we received encouraging positive feedbacks on the same.