SmashingApps first noticed Zapproved last September in its list of the “17 Online Free Web Based Applications That You Probably Love to Use!” when it was still in beta.  Last month the site officially launched with more features and people in a wide range of companies are already using the system.

Zapproved is the first web-based tool to manage business approvals and decision making.  It offers companies a way to instantly improve accountability and transparency in corporate decision-making.

How It Works

Zapproved’s simplicity is the key to its success because it is designed for instant adoption within businesses.  To get started, click on the “Create Proposal” button and screen opens that looks similar to an email.  Enter the recipients’ email addresses, set a due date and priority, type a message, add an attachment and hit “Send”.

The recipients will each receive an email that is formatted to indicate that their action is required.  Within the body of the email, there are embedded HTML buttons for “Approve” or “Deny.”  The person selects their option, confirms their decision in a browser and adds any comments and that’s it.

Everyone can see what others have decided and any comments that they may have added.  If there is a laggard in the group, it becomes apparent and that person will get reminders to submit a reply.

What Makes Zapproved Better

In today’s companies, almost every decision is being made through emails. This is tremendously inefficient and results in dozens of messages and the discussion is muddled through a chain of replies and cc’s.  In the end, it is difficult to determine if and when consensus is achieved and no record of the decision is made.

Zapproved keeps the decision-making “conversation” in a single place, making it easier to track each approval and eliminating the confusing web of inconclusive messages that often results from trying to make decisions solely via email.  Zapproved also works securely across firewalls, so it can be used with customers, vendors, or anyone within another company.

Zapproved has been adopted by many businesses as an easy-to-use tool for managing approvals and business processes.  Busy executives are finding it useful for handling dozens of in-bound requests as well as administrators and consultants who want to stay on top of numerous tasks when collaborating with colleagues. (See examples of how others are using Zapproved at www.zapproved.com/CaseStudies.)

Zapproved Premium Adds More Benefits

With the official launch, Zapproved added a new premium level service that offers subscribers the ability to add their own corporate logo to proposals as well as extended storage and larger attachment size.  The upgraded service will help power users more fully incorporate Zapproved into their daily workflow and help build branding through the system.

To sign up, visit www.zapproved.com.