Remember the good old days where we had to sign documents, put them into a fax machine and send them to the recipients. Sitting next to the fax machine and awaiting confirmation from the countersigned party required a lot of patients. With a lot of luck, the recipients had a fax machine that could return it in a readable way.

The worst scenario is a fax machine with thermal paper and coming after the weekend back to office, finding a paper showing only a blurred content or a blank paper since the sun bleached out the writing. 

none

These are experiences we wish we didn’t have to face in our life, but thanks to digital signature, there is now an easy way around it.

E-signature is quite a while around and not an invention that surfaced through the COVID-19 pandemic. But we for sure can see it founds its second spring. Eliminating paper saves lives and makes work from home possible, it is the new normal.

While e-signatures and digital signatures are often used interchangeably, there is a significant difference between them. An electronic signature is a digital way of rendering a signature of any kind of technical way used, maybe a handwritten signature captured or another type of biometric signature like a fingerprint. A digital signature is a cryptographic process that requires a certificate, combined with data, which generates a unique hash code and requires authentication of the singing party. But today we don’t want to look into these details.

More important are the reasons why people switch to a digital signature.

Image Credit: Pixabay

1. Faster Transactions

It might be the first and best argument that digital signature processes are faster than any traditional handwritten process. For both senders and recipients, digital signatures offer faster document routing and greater peace of mind.

Let’s take for example customer service. In the global economy, retaining customer satisfaction is a common challenge for all of us. Consumers now expect business to be done faster. Allow your customers to sign electronically agreements and contracts which will boost transparency, time, and satisfaction.

A business transaction is done quickly and conveniently by allowing them to use there mobile phone, laptop, or any other computer-based device. But more than this you get recognized as a helpful partner and they see you understand their hectic life with limited patient span. Empowering your customers with convenience can boost customer retention and satisfaction. Winning new customer relationships will rose due your top-performing service.

2. Reduce Errors

Paper-based workflows are tricky, errors can mean loss of time and loss of money. In contracts and agreements, there is no room for errors, a simple typo can mean back to the beginning or lose in a legal battle, hassles are always coming along with it.

However, automating the contract signing process or implementing forms automation with digital signatures can impact the accuracy and reduce errors from the beginning. You can implement system checks and in case an error is detected the correction can be done quickly without losing a lot of time.

In the end, your company and brand look more professional and the trust of your clients will increase.

3. Built Your Own Process

Not every suit fits every man, the same applies to processes. Every organization has maybe its unique process in place. Digital signature solutions allow the customization of workflows and processes based on your own requirements and not the other way around. Depending on the use case you can design effective and different flows. The flexibility goes so far, that no third party implementation provider or developer needs to be contracted, to change your processes.

Compared to paper-based processes changes can be made quickly and easily without losing time and money.

4. Compliance and Security

Digital Signature matters when it comes to maintaining compliance and it is a secure solution. Nearly every country on the globe has a digital signature law in place, which assists in compliance with many industries. One of the aspects of a digital signature is the actual protocol of a signing process. This can track and prove how and when someone was applying the signature.

Since digitally signed documents are shared between both parties simultaneously it is no more a question when was the valid starting date of a contract.

5. Anytime, Anywhere, On Any Device

Where do you need to go today? When are you free to pay attention to a highly needed signature to avoid business to stop? Having the freedom to sign anytime, anywhere, and even use your mobile phone gives a lot of freedom. So even you are away from the office for lunch or a business meeting, your essential required business processes are no longer delayed. You can view the status instantly even if you are out of the office and this with the highest security provided.

Transparency can be reached by setting reminders and track the status over dashboards which are in most digital signature solutions present.

Conclusion Why Digital Signature Matters

It is the best time to switch to a digital signature yesterday. However, you might want to check your digital signature law of the country you are making business in. It is important to know which type of digital signature is allowed to be used, and which documents you can sign digitally. In most countries, there are exceptions to a couple of documents. In most cases, documents with notary services or witnesses can not be digitally signed.

Adobe Sign is an electronic signature service from Adobe which fulfills all requirements for digital signature and more. From creating a signature, validating, tracking, archiving, using any device, and legal, it is a complete solution offering. A lot of organizations integrate Adobe Sign into their corporate authentication solution (AD Azure), ERP –  CRM solutions like Microsoft Dynamics, and document storage like Sharepoint, Dropbox, or OneDrive. Being a part of the complete business applications brings even more value.

Can you see why Digital Signature matters? Contact Skillz Middle East today and get your digital signature solution in place.