Enhanced software for Air Force survey

The 2002 Organization Climate Survey by the Air Force Manpower and Innovation Agency will be conducted on a Web-based platform supported by Raosoft Inc. software.

The survey uses UAdmin, the Web-enabled version of the Seattle-based company's program for local-area networks.

Catherine Rao, chief executive officer of Raosoft Inc., said the company enhanced its software to accommodate the Air Force, which required the survey to run on multiple servers to improve response rates.

The $450,000 project has myriad new features this year, including:

* Users who do not have Web access can participate by taking the survey from a floppy disk with the data stored as a single .exe file that is identical to the Web-based version and is small enough to e-mail.

* General text comments can be pre-categorized as write-ins are made, enabling reports to be generated that quantify respondents' comments.

* Managers have an upload tool for a Web-based backup that generates status reports of their global participation rates based on gender, region, a specific question or other criteria.

* Even if the Save & Exit button is not touched before a person leaves the survey, the data is automatically saved and a user can start and finish the survey at different computers as long as he or she supplies the proper user name and password.

* Commanders at all levels can build reports in real time using a Web interface, with reports in HTML and Microsoft Corp. Word and PowerPoint formats.