If your work gets stalled in “hurry up and wait” mode, that ebb in your workflow can be especially frustrating when you have deadlines looming. The good news is, you don’t have to sit idle while you wait for files. Dropbox can help you collect them. Here are three examples of how our file requests feature lets you cast your net and reel in what you need to proceed.
Requesting bids from third parties
Gathering proposals doesn’t have to be a complicated, time-consuming process. When you need to get estimates on an upcoming project, you can create a request, and send out the link to your sources. Then the files will come to you, delivered directly to your Dropbox account. If you’re on a tight timeline, Dropbox Plus and Business customers can set deadlines to spur a faster response to your bid request. Just pick a due date and time to let them know submissions will only be accepted up to that point.
Collecting assignments from students
Between planning the curriculum, grading tests, and reading papers, teachers have enough on their plate without having to monitor who has (or hasn’t) turned in their work. When it’s time to send out an assignment, teachers can simply send a file request to their students. When the students click on the file request link, they can choose files from their computer, enter their name and email, then upload. Sign in isn’t required, so anyone can add files, even if they don’t have a Dropbox account.
Reviewing headshots for models and actors
Marketing and advertising agencies often need to request headshots and demo reels of actors to cast in commercials. For productions that require extras, that can mean a massive amount of files. Collecting and keeping track of every photo can get complicated quickly. But with Dropbox, it’s easy to organize the files you receive. If you’re juggling more than one project, you can set it up so every request gets its own folder where the collected file is stored. There’s no limit on the number of file requests you can create. And if you have a Dropbox Plus or Business account, each submitter can upload files up to 20 GB in size.
To learn more about using file requests to keep your projects moving forward, check out this help center article. To get the most out of our file request feature, sign up for Dropbox Plus or a Dropbox Business account.
