In this article
Note: The Forsta Offline App is an add-on module; commercial conditions will apply.
AskMe is Forsta’s branded version of the Offline App. Both terms are used in documentation.
One of the challenges many companies are now facing is survey apathy; keeping your respondents interested and making surveys engaging is not easy. Adding multimedia such as audio and video to surveys can make surveys more interesting, but increased file sizes mean downloading these files can take time, especially if the connection isn’t good. And this can result in buffering problems and associated frustration. In addition, participants need to be able to take part in surveys when and where it suits them - with mobile devices they could be walking around, sitting on a bus or train, or even on a plane.
The Offline App provides a solution to both these challenges. This app allows respondents to complete Forsta Pluscreated surveys whilst offline. Your respondents are therefore able to complete your surveys in areas with bad or non-existent Internet connectivity, and in addition it guarantees the respondent experience and is ideally suited to surveys displaying or capturing rich media content. The app downloads multimedia files during the initial download of the survey to the app and respondents can then view those files offline, so buffering problems due to slow download or upload speeds are thereby avoided. Data is instantly captured offline, and then synchronized back to the survey when the mobile device is online again. So regardless of whether the respondents have good, patchy or no internet connection, your survey responses won’t be lost.
You create your survey using the Forsta Survey Designer environment, where all of the power of the survey engine is available (the app can also be run in Kiosk mode). A single survey link is sent to your participants via email or SMS, and the participant then chooses whether to open the survey online on their mobile or tablet, or whether they wish to download the app using Smart App Banner. If downloading is selected, the app then runs the survey offline, including any JavaScript customizations, and allows the participant to easily capture photos and GPS data.
Synchronization back to the server is performed only once the interview achieves a specific status, for example “Complete”; partial responses are not synchronized. If the survey has already been closed when the device synchronizes, you can instruct the survey to add the data to the database anyway or you can instruct it to ignore the data being uploaded. The data is then quietly deleted (go to Setting Up the Survey For Offline Capture for more information). Note that quota checks are not performed in offline surveys; the qf() function will always return false when executed in the app.
The Offline App can be branded as your app, with your logo, look-and-feel (this has commercial implications), and it can then be registered in the app stores with your own app name. Survey participants can install the app on as many mobile devices as they wish, at no cost. Forsta has created an "own brand" version that we have called AskMe. For this reason the Offline App may also be referred to as the Forsta AskMe app in the Forsta user documentation.
Important
Use of Forsta Apps may include the use of third party components (“TPC”s), including but not limited to the GoogleTM Firebase range of products. The continued operation of certain features of Apps may depend on the continued proper operation of those TPCs. explicitly disclaims any warranty for or on behalf of TPCs. Certain device information, such as but not limited to operating system and model, may be forwarded to the provider of the TPCs for ensuring proper and efficient wording of the App and in accordance with the TPC’s terms and conditions. For a full list of TPCs for your specific App, please contact privacy@confirmit.com.