Google Forms is a free, easy way to collect responses — but its default email-only notifications are slow and easy to miss. With PingBell wired in, every submission rings a bell on every team phone and ticks a live counter on whichever screens your team uses.
This guide covers the full flow: PingBell setup, Google Forms connection via Zapier, and customizing the counter display.
What is PingBell?
PingBell is a web and mobile app that lets you create custom notifications for events on websites and apps — including Google Forms. Every event you wire in becomes three simultaneous broadcasts: a push notification, a counter increment, and a graph point.
Step 1: Create a PingBell
Create your account. Visit PingBell.io and sign up. From the dashboard, click the button in the middle of the page to create your first PingBell.
Configure it. Set the title to something like “Google Forms Submission” and the description to “Someone just filled out your survey!” These show up on the notification and on the counter view.
Pick a sound. PingBell’s library has 70+ built-in options — click any of them to preview before choosing. Add email addresses or PingBell usernames for any teammates who should receive the notification.
Editing later. To create a new PingBell, click the bell icon at the bottom right. To edit an existing one, click the three dots next to it and then the pencil icon.
Step 2: Set up the Google Forms trigger via Zapier
PingBell connects to Google Forms through Zapier — a few clicks, no code.
Create a Zap. Sign in to Zapier and click Create Zap.
Pick the trigger. Search for Google Forms and choose an event like New Form Response.
Connect Google. Sign into the Google account that owns the form. Pick the specific form, then test the trigger to confirm Zapier can read responses.
Set the PingBell action. For the Zap’s action, search for PingBell and select Notify PingBell.
Get your API key. In PingBell, click the user icon at the top right, go to Settings, and copy your API key. Paste it into Zapier when prompted.
Pick which PingBell to notify. Select the PingBell you created in Step 1.
That’s it. Submit a test form response and your phone should ring within a few seconds.
Step 3: Customize the counter view
Every PingBell comes with a customizable counter view (sometimes called the celebration page) that you can display on a TV, embed on a website, or use as a live broadcast graphic.
Open the view. From the PingBell dashboard, click the celebration icon next to your PingBell. Hover the right edge of the screen to reveal the settings menu.
Enable the visual counter. Toggle the counter option on.
Pick a message style. Three options:
- Static message — always shows the PingBell title
- Disappearing message — shows briefly when a notification fires, then fades
- Disappearing bubble — same as the disappearing message but with a more visual effect
Customize the look. Set font size and family (any Google Font is available). Set the background, font, counter, and counter-text colors using the color picker. The whole page can be on-brand.
Set the counter baseline. If you want the counter to start at a non-zero number (say, your existing total submissions), set the baseline.
Step 4: View analytics
Click the graph icon next to any PingBell to see how often it fired in the past 24 hours, 7 days, or 30 days. Useful for spotting trends and verifying your form is converting.
Try it
Now you can route Google Forms submissions to your phone, a TV in the office, or a counter embedded on a landing page. Start a free 7-day trial and your next form response will ring a bell.