While Wufoo may be known for easily building interactive forms for one's website, the service can also be used to streamline a company's internal workflow and even eliminate the use of paper-based forms in some cases.

The popular drag-and-drop, embeddable Web-form builder can, of course, be used for front-end things like collecting customer data through surveys, building up email mailing lists and even simple payment forms, thanks to integrations with PayPal, Authorize.net and Google Checkout.

Here are some examples of how Wufoo can be used behind the scenes to help keep your operation running smoothly.

Cross-Department Workflow

Let's say you're a publishing company that sells advertising on your website. After selling an ad, the sales rep needs to put in a production request with the graphics department to have the ad designed and created, and then needs to request that the ad be scheduled by the ad-trafficking specialist, who manages a multitude of campaigns all day long.

In this example, a Web-based form (which might live on your company intranet or a public URL) could be used to do the following:

1. Request the ad from the graphics department, providing essential advertiser info, desired copy, sizes and any other vital info. Since Wufoo enables file uploads, raw creative material could be delivered through the form as well. Once submitted, the form can fire off an email to the graphics team containing all the form data and a link to the uploaded file. This can be configured under "Notifications."
2. Once the ad is produced, a second form can be used to request the ad campaign itself. When should it start and end? How should it be targeted? What ad sizes are included? All of this information can be entered into the Wufoo form, along with the finished ad creative material. Again, the data will be sent via email to the appropriate team member. For time-sensitive requests, Wufoo can also send SMS text notifications when a form is submitted.

Web & IT Support

Wufoo forms can be an easy way for Web designers and IT teams to intake support requests, which can be managed via email or from a third party CRM app like Kayako or Helpstream. (Wufoo does not integrate directly with these services, but any platform that can intake requests via email will work.)

A simple form for reporting issues with a priority rating, description and a file upload field can be whipped together in a minute or two and then embedded on any website or intranet.

While Wufoo probably isn't a complete substitute for CRM or helpdesk support platforms, it can be used to help make intaking requests easier.

Pretty Much Any Other Form

What data or deliverables does your company need to collect and exchange internally? Staff time sheets? Other request forms? Chances are, there's a way to streamline the way some of these things are currently being handled using a Web-based form or two.

The data collected by Wufoo forms is stored in your Wufoo account, which includes a reporting dashboard for analyzing data with colorful charts and graphics. It can also be exported as a CSV, XLS or TXT file. This allows for better tracking and accountability and allows managers to view and sort data about some of their internal operations like never before. If there's a solid programmer within reach, they can use Wufoo's API to pull that data into other applications or mash it up in a variety of useful ways.