Partnering with the right online school forms provider can transform your district, bringing more efficiency to your processes while making it easier to achieve 100 percent form compliance and reduce liabilities.
Traditionally, districts have relied on paper-based systems to handle forms. However, this outdated approach created a number of inefficiencies as papers were misplaced and staff needed to spend countless hours entering relevant information by hand. At the same time, printing an endless amount of paper created a lot of waste, driving costs up at the same time. Beyond that, paper-based systems made it difficult to track down the right information the moment you needed it.
Add it all up, and this approach led to decreased compliance and increased liabilities, while putting a damper on student safety.
Online School Forms: The Better Way Forward
In recent years, online forms have changed the game altogether. Thanks to their digital nature, online forms bring more efficiency to the form distribution and collection process—saving districts countless hours while reducing costs considerably. With more time on their hands, IT and staff productivity increases, enabling these workers to focus on more important tasks instead of the minutiae.
Online systems also make it much easier to determine whether students are eligible for athletics, have permission to participate in field trips or clubs, and have turned in their emergency contact and medical information, among other things. These features enable districts to reduce liability and risk, while improving safety and increasing compliance.
Altogether, this translates into improved student, parent, staff, and coach experiences—which strengthens the entire academic ecosystem.
What to Look for in an Online School Forms Provider
Unfortunately, once you’ve decided to move to online forms, you can’t just pick any provider and expect great results. You have to do your due diligence to make sure you pick the solution that delivers the most benefits to your district.
As you begin your search for the best online school forms provider for your needs, here are seven things to look for.
1. Versatile tools that deliver lots of benefits for students, athletes, parents, and staff
The last thing you want to do is invest in a new platform and change all of your processes only to find out that the tool doesn’t give you all the functionality you need.
Look for a powerful and flexible tool that packs a big punch, delivering strong out-of-the-box features for students, athletes, parents, and staff. Leading solutions will also enable you to extend your investments by integrating with other systems your district relies on every day.
2. Strong data security
In the digital age, privacy is becoming more important than ever before. Because of this, you should look for a solution that protects sensitive data. The right provider will use industry-leading security features and standards, and they won’t sell student data to third parties.
At the same time, the right system will ensure that authorized individuals are able to access the information they need at the moment they need it.
3. Built for schools by people who understand schools
All too often in the tech world, solutions emerge that—although designed by talented engineers—don’t support the specific industry’s workflows because those engineers lack the perspective needed to know what the perfect solution should look like.
There’s a simple fix to this problem: Look for solutions that were designed by people who understand schools and high school sports. FinalForms CEO Clay Burnett, for example, uses FinalForms every day as a coach!
Athletic Director Ron Alexander talks about FinalForms leading support and deep understanding of school processes
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4. Leading support
We all know what it’s like to buy something only to find out that the company that sold it to us doesn’t offer post-sale support. Your online school forms solution is a critical part of your district’s operations. You need to look for a provider that offers 24/7/365 support.
At FinalForms, we pride ourselves on our top-notch support, a key differentiator. Our average response time is 2.5 hours, and we often respond in a few minutes.
5. Training services
The right provider will be committed to your district’s success to the point that they will offer in-person and online training services to make sure your users get up to speed on the platform quickly.
6. A tool that’s easy and intuitive
Support and training are nice, but you need a solution that’s easy and intuitive so that users can become immediately productive on the platform.
Look for a solution that allows you to upload forms and update information instantly. Also keep in mind that 60 percent of parents complete online school forms on mobile devices. Leading platforms will have a seamless mobile experience and make it incredibly easy to see where compliance stands at any point in time and—thanks to features like one-click equipment assignment and collection—they simplify the asset tracking process.
7. Positive customer reviews
When shopping for an online school forms provider, you don’t have to go entirely on your own. Do some research to see what other districts are using the platform in question—and what they’re saying about it.
FinalForms: Your Go-To Online School Forms Provider
With best-in-class security, robust training and support services, and more, FinalForms is a feature-filled online school forms solution built for schools by the people who understand them.
Once you see the product in action, you’ll wonder how your district got by without it.
Schedule a demo today to learn more about how FinalForms can bring efficiency and convenience to your district’s form distribution and collection processes. We look forward to hearing from you!
