We have to do remote access request forms. The form has to be approved by an offsite agency who doesn't have access to our Sharepoint server. I'm trying to figure out the best way to set up an Infopath Form to efficiently do everything. Currently, I have a basic form setup with list boxes, check boxes, etc., then a submit button that emails the form to them and saves the form to our Sharepoint library. We are a Server2008R2 active directory domain, so I keep getting the message about attaching a copy of the template for the other party to properly read it. I'm also not sure if the approving party has Infopath. At the moment, the e-mail form is just the filled in boxes. All that is needed to approve the form is the approving party e-mails us back with the submitted form and they simply type "request approved" in the body of the email. This is for a casino, so I can't setup the router to allow non-employees to access the Sharepoint server (though it is possible from a tech standpoint..policy is another question)
I experimented some with MS Access 2010 and e-mail data connection that would update the database based on a reply of the e-mail that had a unique ID tagged to it. I have Laura Rogers Infopath 2010/Sharepoint 2010 book, but I didn't see any reference about e-mail connections with Infopath.