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In this interview, Ravi K. Udeshi, Election Manager at the Fairfax County Office of Elections, shares how Fillout forms help the county increase operational efficiencies. Fairfax County is Virginia's most populous jurisdiction and has been a Fillout customer since September of 2023.
Background and Motivation
What challenges did you encounter with data intake before using Fillout?
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 Fillout?
Over the past few years, we have used SurveyMonkey, Jotform, and Airtable forms. None of them has excited me as much as Fillout has, nor given me the flexibility to structure my form and have it feed into Airtable as well as Fillout has.
Deciding on Fillout
How did you first hear about Fillout?
I read about Fillout on the /r/airtable subreddit. In fact, I saw Fillout mentioned so many times there that I was surprised I had not heard of it otherwise.
What specific features or benefits of Fillout 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, Fillout feels like Airtable forms on steroids, which is exactly what we were looking for!
Implementation and Use
How was the implementation process for Fillout? Were there any challenges?
It was very easy to start using Fillout and we are now porting all our forms over to it.
Who are the primary users of Fillout within your organization?
Our operations staff.
Can you share an example of a form you've deployed with Fillout?
We recently created a new application process for election officers (poll workers), using Fillout. Fillout 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 Fillout and if so, which ones?
Yes! I feel like we use every feature Fillout 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.
Fillout + Airtable Integration
How do you use the integration between Fillout 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?
Fillout is saving us time and money. As a government agency, it’s important that we be efficient in our resources and Fillout 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 Fillout?
We definitely have noticed an increase in operational efficiencies. Using Fillout, 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 Fillout?
Staff happiness 😊
How much time or resources would you estimate you've saved by using Fillout?
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 Fillout in the near future?
We are using Fillout to replace paper forms we previously used.
Would you recommend Fillout to other organizations facing similar challenges? Why or why not?
Absolutely. Fillout 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!
