Not a suite of mobile business apps but a cloud-based service for creating and managing your own custom mobile business applications.
Use Formotus to create your own powerful business forms that work offline like apps, collect rich data, and connect directly to your own SharePoint as a mobile back-end.
Create a form once and deploy it to all kinds of devices — iPad, iPhone, Android tablets and smartphones — and later when we roll out Windows 8 support, your forms will ‘just work’ there too.
Mobile business applications without coding
Create custom forms rapidly without coding by using the standard Microsoft Office form-design product InfoPath. Formotus forms support all the best InfoPath features, and we enhance it with custom controls for mobile-specific features such as camera, GPS and touch-screen inking.
Design forms once and deploy them to all kinds of devices. All your forms run inside the Formotus mobile client app, which is available now on iPad, iPhone and Android.
Future-proof your investment. The forms you design today for iOS and Android will ‘just work’ on the new platforms we’ll support tomorrow (coming next: Windows 8).
Collect rich data even while offline
Example: Incident Report form on iPad (click to view larger)
Formotus forms work like apps with sophisticated business logic, complex calculations, data validation rules, and multi-screen navigation — all of which work offline without a data connection. Everything about Formotus is optimized for offline use, with drafts saved locally and forms queued to submit when connected.
Beyond the basic checkboxes and dropdowns you expect from paperless forms, Formotus forms capture the rich data you really want:
- Snap a photo right into the form, and draw on it
- Capture signatures on the touch screen
- Geo-stamp forms with GPS coordinates
- And more: Read more about what Formotus forms can do, or better yet intall the free app now and check out our interactive User Guide.
Connect directly to your data on SharePoint
Formotus doesn’t store your data, so you can keep it anywhere you want and connect your mobile business applications to it directly. We recommend SharePoint as a mobile backend, and we offer built-in support for mobile data connections to SharePoint lists and libraries. Any SharePoint version will do, including Office 365, with no installations or special configurations required. Learn more…
SharePoint is not required to use Formotus forms, and it’s easier than ever to get if you want it. You have three options:
1 Use email instead. This is the simplest option. Formotus forms can be emailed and opened on other devices with the form installed. Some customers begin with a simple email solution and move up to a SharePoint cmobile backend later.
2Get SharePoint. You no longer need to install and maintain a server to use SharePoint, because you can subscribe to SharePoint Online or Office 365 and get it that way.
- Tip#1: Start a 30-day free trial of Office 365 Midsize Business edition at the same time you start your Formotus free trial. You’ll get Office Pro Plus with InfoPath as well as your own SharePoint 2013 site. After the free trial it will cost $15/month per user.
- Tip #2: You may only need one user. You only need one copy of InfoPath for designing forms, and you only need one set of credentials for all your mobile users to connect to the SharePoint site. So as far as your Formotus business applications are concerned, a single user of Office 365 may suffice.
3Use Web services instead. Formotus supports standard SOAP/REST web services, so if you want you can write a Web service to connect your Formotus form to your back-end data system.
Of course, you’re not limited to just one solution. A single form might query a Web service for data, submit to SharePoint, and email a copy as well.
Deployments Screen (click for larger image)
Control mobile business applications from the cloud
You don’t need app stores or management servers and there’s nothing to install or maintain thanks to the Formotus cloud console. Stay in complete control of exactly which users have access to which forms in real time. Deploy new or updated forms instantly with one click, and remotely disable forms or users just as easily.
Tour the Formotus cloud console
Mobile business applications without the headaches
- No coding or compiling, no IDE or SDK, and no app store submissions
- No servers, add-ons, plugins, or anything else to install or maintain
- No access by us to your business data (we don’t host your data)
- No dependency on a mobile browser or a constant data connection
- No risky large up-front investment just to see if it works
- No gambling on the tablet races — design once, run anywhere on all the best devices
- No extra costs for multiple device platforms, unlimited forms, unlimited usage
No Coding: Drag and Drop
The Formotus mobile application platform is built on standards-based XML, but no knowledge of XML or any other code is required to create great business applications. That’s because we take advantage of Microsoft’s powerful and mature Office form design program called InfoPath. Create a form in InfoPath and the Formotus platform converts it to a mobile application and deploys it to the devices of your choice. It’s much easier than software development.
No Install: Manage from the Cloud
All your mobile application management is done by signing in to the secure Formotus Cloud Console, so you have nothing to install or maintain. Here you can create administrators and mobile users, upload your InfoPath forms, deploy custom applications to users and groups, push updates, view usage reports, and remotely disable the Formotus software on a lost or stolen device.
No Data Hosting: Control Your Own Data
Your data is the life blood of your business, and we don’t touch it. The Formotus platform uses the cloud to deploy and manage the software on your mobile devices, but the data connections run directly between your devices and your data storage. Keep your data wherever you choose – on premise, hosted servers, cloud storage – and use the Formotus platform to connect your mobile devices directly to your data. Formotus supports SharePoint connections and standard SOAP/REST Web services.
No Mobile Browser: Rich Native App
Web apps in mobile browsers are no way to do business. Install Formotus Forms Central from your favorite app store and see how it’s optimized for offline productivity. Once your forms are installed, you can locally save multiple drafts of multiple forms in progress. When you submit forms while offline they queue in a forms outbox until connectivity returns. Everything about the Formotus mobile application platform is designed with the expectation of occasionally connected devices.
No Risky Investment: Pay as You Grow
If you create your own custom forms using InfoPath, the only cost involved is a simple monthly subscription based on the number of mobile users and devices you currently have using our client software. Even if you have Formotus or one of our partners create your mobile application for you, the cost of that service compares very favorably to the expensive prospect of custom coding a comparable app or investing in a heavy middleware solution.
No Gambling on the Tablet Races: Future Proof
The enterprise tablet races have just begun. iPad has the early lead, but a pack of Androids are catching up. There are dark horses and late starters that could make their move in the next couple years. Do you really want to place a bet on which will be the best tablet for your business two years from now? With the Formotus platform you don’t need to gamble, because the solution you create today will work on the tablets of tomorrow. The same forms that run on both iPad and Android today will also ‘just work’ on any other platform Formotus supports two years from now. Design once, deploy anywhere!
No Extra Costs: One Simple Subscription
The Formotus mobile business application platform imposes no limits on the creation, deployment, or usage of your custom mobile forms. You can create and deploy as many forms as you want to any of your subscribed devices, and those forms can be used and submitted without limits. Include as many controls in your forms as you need – signature capture, photo annotation, geo-tagging – all included. Deploy to both iPads and Android tablets if you want. There is no server or seat charge for access to the Management Console, and you can create as many administrative seats there as you want.
