Offline Data Collection in Google Forms - Free Alternative in 2024

Google Forms is a great tool to collect information via surveys. Sometimes, you just want to quickly conduct a survey or a quiz to gather some information from your customers or team members. That is where google forms come in. Along with that, businesses use Google Forms to capture marketing leads, carry out event registrations, conduct polls, send out invitations, and other form-based landing pages for such use cases.

‍However, Google Forms are available only when online and it is not possible to collect data when offline. Therefore the search for Google Forms alternatives for offline Google Forms by users is unavoidable. Clappia is an alternative to Google Forms where you can create form-based apps that can be used to collect data forms offline as well. Business processes such as factory inspections, site audits, inventory operations, vendor management, etc. can be carried out without worrying about the internet.

Using Clappia Apps as Offline Forms

Click here to know how to add offline access to forms.

In this article, we will show you how to replicate Google Forms using Clappia and build a better version that you can use for offline data collection.

Form-Based Apps Similar To Offline Google Forms

To start building your app in Clappia, all you need to do is to Sign Up on Clappia for free and create your custom workplace. Now you can create your own apps just by using drag-and-drop blocks, without coding a single line.These are the data blocks available in Clappia at your behest in the form of drag-and-drop blocks.

Use Case 1: Conduction of Factory Inspection

Industries conduct audits and inspections frequently to check the status of machinery, facilities inside the factory, and other such metrics to determine and assess the overall productivity of the processes in factories for improvement.

The problem with Google Forms here is that you need to have an internet connection to carry out the factory inspection. This is where Clappia helps to surpass the obstacle. You can record all the details and submit the information in your Clappia app without an internet connection. Later, when your app is connected to the internet, the submitted data of factory inspection will be synced automatically. This is how capable  Clappia apps are in the form of offline Google Forms.

An interesting and helpful feature of the GPS Location block in Clappia is the Geofencing feature. This feature will allow the inspector to carry out the inspection if and only if they are in the specified location. This makes the process of factory inspection to be transparent and data to be efficient.

The Factory Inspection app consists of 2 sections namely: Inspector Details and Inspection Checklist

Inspector Details: This section of the app contains the details to be recorded about the factory and the inspector visiting the factory for inspection.

Inspection Checklist: This section of the app contains all the details to be checked out for in the factory inspection process.

Factory inspection was carried out and data was submitted in offline mode. Additionally, users can generate PDF reports of offline forms using Clappia.

When the device is connected to the internet the data sync happens automatically.

Use Case 2: Incident Reporting solution

Even after taking all measures and equipping factories with necessary appliances, unforeseen incidents still occur. In such cases, apart from providing first aid, the incidents have to be recorded and reported to the concerned authority.

In this scenario too the use of Google Forms becomes dubious if there is no internet connection. The date, timing, and magnitude of the incident are crucial information to be reported. Incidents can be reported when they happen even without connecting to the internet and the data gets synced automatically when the app is connected to the internet.

The Camera block in Clappia is super useful in such scenarios. You can set up the camera block to forcefully click the picture of the incident instead of uploading an image from the gallery. This will ensure efficient reporting of incidents and addressing them accordingly.

The Incident Reporting app consists of 2 sections namely: Incident Details and Issue Details.

Incident Details: This section of the app contains the details of the incident to be recorded along with the details pertaining to the same.

Issue Details: This section of the app consists of details regarding the status of the issue.

Use Case 3: Sales Tracker for Field Force

Employees tasked with field sales have to visit the customer location and take their orders. Customer location falling in remote areas usually have poor to zero internet connectivity where the use of Google Forms become obsolete for such business processes.

Field employees, with the use of Clappia apps like Sales Tracker, can record the orders of customers without worrying about the internet connection.

E-Signatures of the field employee and the customer, confirming the order, can be easily recorded in Clappia apps using the Signature block. Upon submitting the data, a workflow can also be easily set up where the customer will receive the particulars of the order in a .pdf format.

The Sales Tracker app consists of 3 sections namely: Customer Details, Order Details, and Total.

Customer Details: This section of the app contains the details of the customer to be recorded.

Order Details: This section of the app contains the details of the customer’s order to be recorded.

Total: This section of the app contains the details of the total amount of the order placed by the customer.

Offline Data Collection Through Clappia Apps

No matter the complexity of the use case, you can carry out the process of collecting data in offline mode. The data gets recorded and automatically gets synced later when it is connected to the internet.

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To Summarize

Along with the above-mentioned use cases, you can use your Clappia apps for other business processes such as GPS-based attendance, QR Code or Barcode based attendance, Vendor onboarding, Employee expense report, Asset allocation, Inventory Stock-in and Stock-out, Billing and Distribution, etc. and for many other business process management solutions.

You do not have to worry about connecting to the internet anymore. You can carry out business processes efficiently offline too. Clappia is one of the best alternatives to offline Google Forms. Start building your apps for your business processes just by using simple drag-and-drop blocks and without coding a single line.

‍Sign Up to create your free Clappia account and start building your offline forms today!