Data entry is always an area that technology benefits. That is because it is a precise operation, where a mistake is always costly.
When applications began flooding the market a few years back, several of them began appearing to help with data entry. There are many such apps around today, but some stand head and shoulders above the others.
Let’s look at some of the best data entry apps to consider if this is your profession or you do data tabulation as part of your job.
CommCare
The CommCare app for Android is in the areas of both data replication and transformation. You can consider it to be a world-class data collection platform. Dimagi developed it.
Several international organizations use it, including:
- USAID
- International Rescue Committee (IRC)
- Partners in Health
This app is mostly for medical and humanitarian data gathering and entry. It collects both longitudinal and cross-sectional data. It has comprehensive onboarding so that you can master its most vital aspects.
It has a drag-and-drop web interface to design your own mobile forms if that appeals to you. It is for Android devices and web use.
Survey CTO
Survey CTO is another Android data entry app. It is secure, reliable, and scalable. Researchers and professionals both use it for mobile data collection and sorting.
With it, you can:
- Pre-load and stream data between subsets
- Design many different survey forms in drag-and-drop format or as an intuitive spreadsheet
- Access the SurveyCTO Android app to collect the data offline
You can keep the data you collect and sort secured through redundancy and multiple encryption layers. If you are working on a project or you’re in a profession where there is any espionage possibility, then this will come as good news to you.
As a researcher or professional, you can monitor any incoming data using corrections and review workflows. The app even has data classification systems and automated quality checks.
Jotforms Mobile
The Jotforms mobile app is for both Android and iOS devices. It is a simple online form builder that is useful for data collection and entry.
With it, you can collect voice recordings, geolocations, barcodes, and electronic signatures. Then, you organize, view, sort, access, and share it, all in a single place.
You aren’t likely to find a better mobile data recording app. It can both function offline and use iOS and Android push notifications to alert the user when there is a new data change. You can also download and share PDF submitted information copies to your superiors or coworkers.
Team members can collaborate with this tool in unique ways as the manufacturers develop new app versions. For instance, you can create and assign mobile forms to individual researchers, and they, rather than the whole team, will be the only ones with access.
Once the respondent has filled in the form, you can view the data and act immediately on it if it reveals something vital to an ongoing project.
Magpi
Magpi works with both Android and iOS as well. It is a mobile data recording application. You can use it to create custom forms both online and off.
You can use it in the industry sector, and also agriculture, health, and the environment. Since all those are areas where data is critical, you should find plenty of uses for this app.
The idea behind this app is that rapid, low-cost conduction of mobile surveys enable straightforward, scalable research. It’s hard to argue with that. You can use it for automatic uploads, photos, offline entries, and GPS stamping, among other options.
There are several other data entry and calculation apps that might interest you, depending on what features you need most.
You might look into REDcap, for Android and iOS. It is for managing databases and building electronic case form reports. More than 3,600 institutions use it, and it has a foothold in over 130 countries.
Then there is Kobo Toolbox for Android. This is an open-source, free tool that you can use for mobile data gathering. The Harvard Humanitarian Initiative developed it.
It is for data entry in humanitarian endeavors. Many reputable organizations use it, including Save the Children, The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and the International Rescue Committee, or IRC.
As you choose from among these excellent choices, look at the particular field in which you work, and make your decision based on that and the app features that most appeal to you.
