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Nov 17, 2023 04:55 PM
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In this interview, Ravi K. Udeshi, Election Manager at the Fairfax County Office of Elections, shares how Fillavo forms help the county increase operational efficiencies. Fairfax County is Virginia's most populous jurisdiction and has been a Fillavo customer since September of 2023.
Background and Motivation
What challenges did you encounter with data intake before using Fillavo?
We previously used Jotform, but it did not integrate very well with Airtable and led to data issues. Then we used native Airtable forms, but it was very limited in the way we could format questions, perform data validation, or add additional contextual information before or after questions.
Did you explore or use any other form builder solutions before deciding on Fillavo?
Over the past few years, we have used SurveyMonkey, Jotform, and Airtable forms. None of them has excited me as much as Fillavo has, nor given me the flexibility to structure my form and have it feed into Airtable as well as Fillavo has.
Deciding on Fillavo
How did you first hear about Fillavo?
I read about Fillavo on the /r/airtable subreddit. In fact, I saw Fillavo mentioned so many times there that I was surprised I had not heard of it otherwise.
What specific features or benefits of Fillavo were most compelling for your needs?
We love being able to add and format paragraph information before our questions and being able to perform data validation on questions. In general, Fillavo feels like Airtable forms on steroids, which is exactly what we were looking for!
Implementation and Use
How was the implementation process for Fillavo? Were there any challenges?
It was very easy to start using Fillavo and we are now porting all our forms over to it.
Who are the primary users of Fillavo within your organization?
Our operations staff.
Can you share an example of a form you've deployed with Fillavo?
We recently created a new application process for election officers (poll workers), using Fillavo. Fillavo is much more robust than any past option we’ve used before. Now, a lot of the work we used to do by hand, like checking if applicants meet our requirements and sending out emails automatically when someone applies, is done for us. This has really helped us save time and resources.
Have you used advanced features in Fillavo and if so, which ones?
Yes! I feel like we use every feature Fillavo has to offer. I really like the address autocomplete feature – it makes it SO much easier to know we are receiving properly formatted addresses and it saves time for our users too. We are also now using the signature field to streamline the process of collecting required oaths from officers.
Fillavo + Airtable Integration
How do you use the integration between Fillavo and Airtable?
We use it constantly. All our forms feed data into Airtable.
What was the integration process like?
Very easy! Once I created a service account in Airtable, it’s been seamless to add access to more bases or tables in Airtable.
How has this feature impacted Fairfax County?
Fillavo is saving us time and money. As a government agency, it’s important that we be efficient in our resources and Fillavo is helping us do exactly that, while also providing more features than previous products we tried.
Results and Metrics
What benefit have you noticed since implementing Fillavo?
We definitely have noticed an increase in operational efficiencies. Using Fillavo, which automates many actions we used to do manually, means we save significant staff time.
Are there specific metrics or KPIs that have improved since you started using Fillavo?
Staff happiness 😊
How much time or resources would you estimate you've saved by using Fillavo?
It’s hard to say exactly, but it’s meaningful. For example, we used to have a person manually reviewing each new election officer application and sending them an email; now that is automated.
Future Plans and Recommendations
Are there any new ways you're planning to use Fillavo in the near future?
We are using Fillavo to replace paper forms we previously used.
Would you recommend Fillavo to other organizations facing similar challenges? Why or why not?
Absolutely. Fillavo has been a great service and I especially appreciate the support. I think the longest it’s taken to get a response from support staff has been 5 minutes, which is remarkably efficient!
