Microsoft InfoPath 2007

Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007is an information-gathering program included in the 2007 release of the Microsoft Office system. With Office InfoPath 2007, you can create and deploy electronic forms solutions to gather information efficiently and reliably. You can also use the InfoPath Forms Services capabilities in Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 to extend your business processes beyond your corporate firewall, delivering forms as Microsoft Office Outlook e-mail messages, Web browser forms, or forms for mobile devices.

Top 10 benefits: Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007

With Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007, you can create rich, dynamic forms that teams and organizations can use to gather, share, reuse, and manage information — improving collaboration and decision-making throughout your organization. Office InfoPath 2007 can help you gather information more effectively. Here are the top 10 ways Office InfoPath 2007 can help you extend the effectiveness of your business processes.

Deploy InfoPath forms as Microsoft Office Outlook e-mail messages

With Office InfoPath 2007, you can deploy forms as Outlook e-mail messages, so colleagues can complete forms without leaving the familiar Outlook environment. After you’ve collected the information in Office Outlook 2007, you can export it to a Microsoft Office Excel spreadsheet or merge the data back to a single InfoPath form.

Extend business processes beyond the firewall

Office InfoPath 2007 and InfoPath Forms Services make it easy to extend forms solutions beyond your firewall because you can complete forms using many different Web browsers and mobile devices.

Easily convert Microsoft Office Word documents and Excel spreadsheets to InfoPath forms

By converting Word documents and Excel spreadsheets to InfoPath form templates, you can build data integrity, improve version control, and add structure to information gathering by converting legacy documents to rich InfoPath form templates.

Make complex form design easier

Office InfoPath 2007 helps people build forms with a simple drag-and-drop interface and provides support for prebuilt template parts and shared data connections.

Create PDF or XPS records of your form data

With the addition of a free plug-in, you can create a Portable Document Format file (PDF) or XML Paper Specification (XPS) version of your completed InfoPath form for archival and records management.*

* You can save as a PDF or XPS file from a 2007 Microsoft Office system program only after you install an add-in. For more information, see Install and use a PDF or XPS add-in.

Master your forms workflow using Office InfoPath 2007 and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007

Use the integrated workflow management tools in Office SharePoint Server 2007 to drive information-gathering processes efficiently.

Design a single form for Web browsers and Office InfoPath 2007 clients

Office InfoPath 2007 includes a design checker to help ensure consistency for forms deployed to InfoPath Forms Services.

Enhance protection of important information in InfoPath form templates

Office InfoPath 2007 includes support for information rights management to help protect forms from inappropriate usage and distribution.

Centralize forms management for the entire organization

InfoPath Forms Services of Office SharePoint Server 2007 enables organizations to centrally manage electronic forms by providing access to only those users who have a secure connection.

Develop advanced forms solutions with Office InfoPath 2007 and Microsoft Visual Studio 2005

Build InfoPath forms solutions by creating InfoPath projects hosted within Visual Studio 2005, so developers can build solutions using managed code and the Microsoft .NET Framework.
 

Gather information efficiently and reliably

Office InfoPath 2007 makes information gathering more efficient by delivering electronic forms that reach the necessary participants easily, reduce redundant data entry, and improve the quality of the data collected.

InfoPath forms solutions help you reach more users by providing an easy form fill-in experience across Web browsers, e-mail messages, or mobile devices.
 

InfoPath forms can be distributed as e-mail messages to speed form fill-in. View a larger image
 

Office InfoPath 2007 helps you get the right information — the first time — by providing real-time validation, pre-populated fields, and connections to important sources of information.

Office InfoPath 2007 solutions are fully integrated with the Microsoft Office system to deliver powerful electronic forms capabilities in a familiar package.

InfoPath forms can be deployed to many Web browsers for fill-in, including Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape, Mozilla, Safari, and others. View a larger image
 

Centralize forms management and control

Office InfoPath 2007 and Office SharePoint Server 2007 combine to centralize the deployment and management of forms throughout your organization.

InfoPath Forms Services of Office SharePoint Server 2007 help you get control over your forms solutions by providing centralized management of electronic forms for the entire organization.

Office SharePoint Server 2007 provides a unified portal and a forms and content management solution for your enterprise to help you manage electronic forms in the same context as other critical business functions.

InfoPath Forms Services helps minimize solution downtime by providing easy upgrades, version management, and monitoring tools.

InfoPath Forms Services is fully integrated with Office SharePoint Server 2007 to help ensure organizations can centrally manage and deploy electronic forms. View a larger image
 

Streamline forms-driven business processes

Office InfoPath 2007 integrates easily with your current business applications and systems using industry standards so you can automate existing business processes without having to reinvent them.

InfoPath form solutions provide an easy way for your organization to gather and present information from your existing line-of-business systems using the familiar Office interface.

Office InfoPath 2007, Office SharePoint Server 2007, and Microsoft BizTalk Server 2006 combine to deliver a comprehensive solution for optimizing business processes.

Advanced form design and development tools enable Office InfoPath 2007 to streamline complex processes using dynamic, interactive forms that connect users to the right data.

The advanced integration capabilities of Office InfoPath 2007 and the Microsoft Office system enable InfoPath to extend into other programs to improve information gathering for databases, documents, and more. View a larger image