Electronic Forms

E-Forms are digital versions of your standard forms (e.g. Orders, Expense Reports, Purchase Orders, etc.). You can print the digital versions for manual entry or complete them on your computer. E-Forms provide a cost-saving alternative to traditional paper-based forms. When organizations adopt e-forms they derive substantial benefits from increased process quality and reduced costs including:

• Employees always use the current version
• Employees never run out of forms
• Printing and management costs are virtually eliminated
• Completion and processing errors are virtually eliminated with data collector and online forms Storage and retrieval costs are virtually eliminated

Altair's web-based software allows an organization to easily manage versions and access standard forms. Forms are maintained in one of three formats:

Print Masters

Adobe Acrobat quickly converts your forms into Print Masters using the standard .PDF format. PDFs are created by either scanning paper masters or converting the Word or Excel form masters. Once a form is in .PDF format it enjoys almost universal access through the free Acrobat Reader and always prints correctly.

Data Collectors

Data Collector e-forms are forms that are developed using Microsoft Office/Outlook or similar PC applications. Once developed, a user fills out a the form on the computer and then prints the completed form. Properly designed data collectors eliminate the need for re-keying of form information and can be scanned for management in full compliance with federal and state records management regulations.

Online Forms

Online e-forms provide a dynamic connection to an organization's databases. User input is validated as it is entered. When the user submits the form the appropriate databases are updated and the processing department is notified of receipt. In a growing number of cases our clients are also implementing rules-based approval that allow the computer to automatically approve requests that meet pre-defined rules.

Electronic Reports

E-Reports are digital versions of your existing reports. Reports created by Windows or UNIX applications can be easily converted into digital images. Distribution for e-Reports can be via:

• e-Mail to recipients
• CD-ROM for very large reports
• Web-based access to authorized personnel
• Print to paper as needed

Once a report is in digital format access, distribution, version control and retention are easier. E-Reports are a better solution to meeting regulatory records management requirements than the typical stacks of records boxes in storage warehouses. It is much easier to handle 250,000 computer report pages on one CD-ROM than the corresponding 50 paper storage boxes. E-Reports offer the ability to create central repositories for reports. Authorized users can easily search through large reports (or sets of reports).

Electronic Publications

E-Pubs are the digital counterparts of paper-based documentation.

• Corporate Policy
• Price Lists
• Web-based Manuals
• Safety Manuals

When documents are published to the Internet/Intranet the organization saves thousands of dollars in printing and distribution costs but, more importantly, users gain access to the latest information. Managing documents in electronic format allows for version and distribution control. Altair designs electronic versions of key documents to achieve substantial savings in maintenance, printing and distribution costs.