DiCAN used to depend on paper-based forms to capture and collect information from their traveling technicians. As technicians were located as far as eight hours away from the office, forms were frequently delayed, leading to an inefficient process for collecting and processing information.
Transitioning to digital forms, DiCAN eliminated their paper-based processes while maintaining the look and feel of their existing forms – resulting in streamlined user adoption, improved communication, and accelerated processing.
Camera System Install Form
GPS Form
DiCAN has been operating out of Ontario, Canada since 2000, offering innovative fleet safety solutions in both the United States and Canada. Their cutting-edge vehicle safety technology is specifically designed for collision avoidance, asset tracking telematics, weather intelligence, safety alarms, and large vehicle component positioning and operational guidance.
Prior to GoFormz, DiCAN relied heavily on paper forms to capture, collect, and process critical information. Due to the nature of their work, technicians were often operating hours away from the office, resulting in delayed paperwork. “Because the guys are traveling sometimes seven, eight hours away from the office, I wouldn't get those forms for a week because they'd be staying away overnight,” explained Lisa Van Tol, Operations and Scheduling Coordinator for DiCAN.
In addition to delayed documentation, there were also challenges in deciphering or identifying handwriting. “We were being very archaic with our process and since we have nine techs, sometimes I don't recognize their handwriting and it looks messy,” noted Van Tol. Thus, DiCAN recognized the need for a more effective and efficient approach and began exploring digital tools.
David Boucher, a Technician for DiCAN, explained why he sought out a tool to replace their paper-based process, “Being a tech, I hate pen and paper, so in my own free time I started looking up different solutions and trying various platforms.”
With set criteria in mind, Boucher navigated through various platforms before discovering GoFormz. “I knew there were certain things that we wanted the digital forms to be able to do. So I tried out maybe three or four different companies prior to landing on GoFormz,” noted Boucher.
As soon as Boucher found GoFormz, he knew he had found the missing component for their process. “When I landed on GoFormz, I knew it would do everything that we needed.” GoFormz was selected by DiCAN primarily because it allowed them to use their existing forms without interrupting their existing processes. “What I like most about GoFormz is we could make it look exactly like our pen and paper forms that we have been using for the last 15 years,” noted Van Tol. “It’s not a huge change for the guys. The layout is the same, everything is the same, it’s just in a digital format.”
“What I like most about GoFormz is we could make it look exactly like our pen and paper forms that we have been using for the last 15 years.”
– Lisa Van Tol, Operations & Scheduling Coordinator, DiCAN, Inc.
After digitizing their two primary documents, a GPS form and a camera install form, DiCAN was able to leverage a variety of new form fields to streamline their data collection and enhance their processes.
“Our GPS form will report what product is being installed, on what vehicle, and track all of the customers' information,” explained Boucher. “We use the barcodes to scan the VINs off of vehicles, which has been a big time saver and a helpful feature, especially if we're doing 10 installs in a day. We don't have to write out a 16-character number 10 times.” The utilization of Barcode Scanning has accelerated data input and improved the quality of collected information simultaneously.
The camera install form is equipped with a variety of form fields that streamline data collection in the field. Form fields can pull information from a Data Source file, which automatically fills in each customer detail directly into the appropriate form field. “That’s another time saver for us in the field, rather than having to write out that same line 10 times a day, it just automatically populates everything just because she types it in one time at the office.”
In an effort to ensure field data is thorough, Boucher also implemented Required Fields in conjunction with Conditional Logic into their digital form fields. Now if a technician attempts to submit a form with an incomplete field, the field will turn red, and submission will not be allowed until the Required Field is completed. This has considerably enhanced the completeness of captured field data.
Van Tol also emphasized the significance of having real-time access to data in case missing or incorrect data needs to be reconciled. By having immediate access to real-time data, DiCAN can address issues promptly instead of waiting for technicians to return to the office.
DiCAN has observed significant time savings throughout their digital transformation journey. “GoFormz saves us a lot of time on the job site,” noted Boucher. “This past week we were doing some very intensive installations that had lots of documentation that we had to put into the form. We were able to just copy and paste because it was the same vehicle over and over and we were installing the same systems so we could copy and paste rather than sitting and writing down what we did on this vehicle for 20 minutes.”
Along with the technicians, the office staff has also experienced considerable time savings. “It's actually saved a lot of time for us as well because the guys would bring back 20 forms a day and I would have to take those and scan every single one, and each one is two pages, and then manually type in the VIN or the unit number of the vehicle to marry it with our pictures,” explained Van Tol. “So there's no longer having to do that.”
“GoFormz saves us a lot of time on the job site.”
– Lisa Van Tol, Operations & Scheduling Coordinator, DiCAN, Inc.
As DiCAN continues to incorporate GoFormz into their business operations, they intend to explore the GoFormz Reporting Tool to evaluate further reporting capabilities.