We hear it all the time: 'What can I do to reduce manual data entry?'

If you're looking to save your teams time on data entry, it's time to explore integrations. Trail works best when it serves as your team's single source of truth for viewing all tasks expected of them and your go-to tool for confirming that everything has been completed. Integrations allow you to connect your teams to the other tools they use and surface the details recorded in those systems within Trail. That means that your teams never need to record the same data in two places, while still allowing you to check one place to sure everything has been actioned accordingly.

Zapier is an automation tool that connects various web applications to streamline workflows and automate repetitive tasks. If that sounds familiar, it's because we share the same aspirations here at Trail!

Zapier allows you to create automated workflows, known as "Zaps," which consist of a trigger (an event that starts the automation) and one or more actions (the tasks performed in response to the trigger). In the context of Trail, Zapier enables:

Let's consider this in terms of saving time on manual data entry. A team member may need to record information in one system, but you’d like to be able to review those entries alongside your other Trail data and surface them on Trail during an inspection. You can use Zapier to connect this platform to Trail, allowing the data they input to populate the Task Description of a new task in Trail. This also enables you to add follow-up tasks for your team based on those entries, whether it’s simply confirming they have reviewed the information or prompting additional actions based on their review. You can then view data from this other system alongside all your other Trail tasks in Task Reports, ensuring that appropriate acknowledgment and action have been taken.

Triggering an action in another system based on the completion of a task in Trail can also cut down on data entry. Let's say that a team member at head office doesn't use Trail, and instead completes their work in a spreadsheet. A Zapier integration here would allow your team to record data on Trail, and have that information automatically populate that spreadsheet.

We're working hard to integrate Trail with other Access solutions, starting with Access Maintain. Customers of both Access Maintain and Trail can now place maintenance callouts directly from Trail. By utilising the ‘Place a callout with Access Maintain’ task, your teams will be guided to your Access Maintain portal where they will be able to place a callout using Access Maintain. Once the Maintenance callout is logged within Access Maintain, your reference number will automatically attached to the task in the comments section. You can use this reference number to search for the specific issue logged in your Access Maintain account and keep an eye on its progress.

You can keep a track of all your Access Maintain callouts from Reporting page by simply searching for the Task name in the Task Reports tab. As with all task reports, you’re also able to export the data into either a PDF or CSV file.

One of the more time-consuming instances of data entry your team will face is the recording of fridge & freezer temperatures. Our partnership with Labl.it takes the manual work work out of this important compliance measure, allowing fridge & freezer temperatures to be automatically recorded on Trail at pre-determined intervals via Labl.it's sensor solution.

Interested? Get in touch with our team! We'd be happy to send over more information on Labl.it.

Access the resources below for guidance on implementing the integrations described above: