Video Guide: Creating & Using Custom Excel Templates

Device Magic offers the ability to create and upload customized Excel report templates when selected as the submission format for available destinations. Once you get all of your form placeholders into the Excel spreadsheet, you can leverage Excel functions to manipulate submitted form data and incorporate calculations, formulas, charts, pivot tables, the list continues. And we’ll show you how to do it! Check out the video below for an introduction to Excel templates and how to create custom reports within our platform. 

So what are the benefits of custom Excel templates?

The simple answer can be summed up with the “three C’s”:

• Expanded customization
• Enhanced calculations
• Data charting

However, Excel templates were actually introduced to facilitate some of the more complex use cases and needs of our users. This feature supports integrations with native Excel analysis and calculation tools, giving users the ability to incorporate advanced data organization into their reports. Here are a few use case examples:

• Timesheets: A trucking services company wanted to start leveraging Device Magic for employee timesheets. However, they weren’t just logging employee hours. They needed to replicate a multifaceted grid of information, including trip destinations, number of loads and oil volume, which wouldn’t be possible with Word’s limited charting capabilities. Recreating their timesheets in a custom Excel template was the solution they needed to streamline this daily process.
• Safety reports: A field service management software company needed to recreate a complex fire safety form that covered everything from pump manufacturer information to discharge, suction and net pressure readings. A critical component of the report was a pressure (Psi) to gallons per minute comparison graph. Now they are able to easily incorporate the charted data in the report outputs by leveraging the Excel templates feature.
• Quality analysis: An environmental testing provider for the oil and gas sector uses Device Magic to record, access and analyze soil samples from one place. Due to the highly intricate nature of the collected testing data, they need enhanced charting and calculation capabilities to compile executive reports. Excel templates deliver this functionality.

How to Get Started

The custom Excel templates feature is available for Device Magic’s Enterprise Plan level. If you’re not already a customer, not to worry! You can test out the full functionality in our free trial. Once you’ve signed up for the trial, you’ll have the option to create and upload customized Excel templates when selected as the submission format for email, Box, Dropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, Amazon S3, HTTP(S), ShareFile, SFTP, Slack and Evernote destination types.

The post How to Generate Custom Reports using Microsoft Excel Templates appeared first on Device Magic.

It’s important to find a solution that allows you to create and upload custom templates to generate reports in the formats in which you need them. Fortunately, Device Magic offers the ability to customize a PDF or Word version of your submission data. In this article, we’ll show you how to get started with a step-by-step video tutorial and helpful feedback from Device Magic users.

Video Guide: Creating Custom Templates to Generate Word or PDF Reports

This feature can be helpful in many situations. Perhaps you need to replicate report formats that your clients are accustomed to receiving. Or maybe you want to give your existing forms and reports a more professional look. You can do it all within the Device Magic platform. Watch the video below for an introduction on how to make the layout of your Word or PDF report match your original form or create something completely new.

Custom Templates Deliver Big Value

The ability to format submission data with custom templates and generate Word or PDF reports exactly how they want them has been a huge benefit for many Device Magic users. Below are just a few examples of how our customers have found this feature useful in their everyday operations.

BriggsAmasco

“When we started the Device Magic trial I saw that it interfaced with our existing Microsoft Word forms through a simple mail merge. This was great because users were seeing the same forms they were used to—we were off to a good start.” – James Wood, IT Manager

BriggsAmasco is a UK-based commercial roofing and waterproofing company. They partnered with Device Magic to help streamline company-wide safety protocols and their repair maintenance division operations. For both use cases, the customization capabilities were crucial to meet the compliance and client demands.

Farmers National Company

“Device Magic’s ability to deliver reports in both PDF and Word formats allowed us to have the flexibility that we needed to deliver the product our clients wanted. And that’s something the competitive options we researched did not offer.” – Matt Gunderson, VP of sales and marketing

Farmers National Company needed a mobile data collection tool to help facilitate and scale their new collateral inspections business line. With several moving parts and inspectors flying across the country to perform the inspections, they needed the ability to easily go into a report, make edits or fill-in missing items and resubmit. The ability to do this and produce custom Word and PDF reports was a major reason Farmers National ultimately chose to partner with Device Magic.

Additional Customer Feedback

“The fact that Device Magic just worked out of the box, and for the most part I have good user control to customize things makes it very useful.” – Starr Livingstone, general manager, Channel Jets

“It facilitates the creation of forms and adapting the existing forms for new uses that are sent both to our customers or partners of our company. This saves us a lot of time in our daily activities and has a nice design.” – Johnny G., small business administrator, G2 Review

Next Tutorial: Microsoft Excel Templates

Eager to create your own custom Word or PDF templates with Device Magic? You can get started by signing up for a free 14-day trial. Before you dive into the trial, we also encourage you to check out our blog on generating reports using Microsoft Excel templates. Device Magic users now have the option to create and upload customized Excel report templates when selected as the submission format for available destinations.

Read the blog: How to Generate Custom Reports Using Microsoft Excel Templates

The post How to Generate Custom Microsoft Word or PDF Reports with Device Magic appeared first on Device Magic.

For many businesses, barcode technology plays a crucial role in the deliverability of goods and services. Whether you’re performing a facility inspection, a safety equipment check, merchandising product, or tracking shipments—barcodes provide a database worth of information on a single item. When leveraging barcode scanning capabilities with mobile forms, one scan can dramatically transform the way your team collects information.

Using your Mobile Device as a Barcode Scanner

The Barcode Field, in its simplest form, allows users to scan an item’s barcode (using the built-in camera on their mobile device) and extract the information into text format in a form field. The field will then display the corresponding numeric combination associated with the item, saving users time spent entering lengthy characters and human error associated with manual data entry.

The real magic of the barcode feature occurs when users reference preexisting data from an Excel sheet, Google sheet, or other database resources. When uploading an exhaustive list of assets, inventory, or product information to your Resource files, you simultaneously equip your team with the same access, right at their fingertips. When you give your users access to pick-lists of information, they can narrow down selections and expedite form completion while you receive more accurate data in return.

By using the lookup function of a resource with the barcode field, scanning a single barcode can automatically pre-populates fields with corresponding cells. No more missing line items or re-entering information before submitting forms.

You can easily recreate, upload, or delete data when scanning existing barcode labels. Users can scan barcodes and quickly determine when the next time an equipment asset needs to be serviced or replaced, or what aspect requires further inspection.

Because digital forms are inherently smarter than paper-based alternatives, they can be formatted with conditional logic specific to an asset, so users are answering the right questions about the correct item, every time. With barcode scanning, your team can significantly reduce time spent filling out form fields.

Check out more reasons why you should implement barcode scanning in your mobile forms below.

Benefits of Barcode Scanning and Mobile Forms

• All-in-one solution. Mobile Forms and Barcode Scanning exist in the same application meaning no additional third-party scanners are required. Users can scan directly from their mobile device and finance teams can reallocate funds for other projects. Because the application exists across iOS and Android platforms, employees can leverage their personal devices, saving more time and investment.
• IT team not required. Administrators logged into the Management Console can setup barcode workflows with ease using the drag-and-drop form builder. Device Magic’s intuitive user interface makes it possible to seamlessly create workflows and connect your existing tools, without an IT expert.
• Auto-Fill, all the way. When a tech needs to go back out to a job or do a task again because it was incomplete or incorrect the first time, it costs your business time and money. Preventing errors and finding ways to reduce reworks will keep projects moving forward on schedule and allow you to get more done.

Each mobile form feature offers its own unique approach to transforming how you collect data. Consider how using the barcode scanning feature in your data collection process can streamline work for your team.

See why administrators and mobile users alike choose Device Magic for their teams. Create your free account today to test the power of barcode scanning and digital forms.

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