4 Advantages of E-Signature Services that Boost Your Productivity and make your PDF Contracts More Secure
What’s the best file format for sending important documents? For any experienced professional, this question is a no-brainer: you send important documents as PDFs.
Now, what about the best way to send out contracts that require signatures? This answer is a little more complicated. PDF format is still the most secure way to send the document, but depending on your needs,some methods of sharing PDF contracts are more effective than others.
While most PDF readers include functions that allow you to add signatures, an electronic-signature service offers a level of security and efficiency that businesses — especially those that work remotely and/or with multiple external constituents — crave.
Here are four of the top advantages of e-signature services:
1. E-Signature Services Help Your Team EXCEL in the Mobile Workplace
The increasingly mobile workplace rewards teams that adapt tools that help optimize productivity in and out of the office. E-signature services offer a level of flexibility because of its use of cloud storage for signatures.
Traditional PDF readers will store signatures locally, but you’ll have to create new versions whenever your reinstall the app or switch to a different device. Accessing these signatures on the cloud also adds a level of security, as they require a sign-in to access.
2. Design a Workflow that Keeps the Process Moving Forward
E-signatures and PDF readers both support self-signing, but you start notice the difference between a tool that allows you to add your signature and a service that’s designed to optimize the signature process when you for others to sign as well.
PDF readers require that you import your PDF document…add your signature…export as a new PDF…send in an email to the other signer(s)…and then get the final contract back.
E-signatures trim the unnecessary fat: import the PDF→ assign the signature field(s) → send to all signer(s) + yourself, and that’s it! The service will proceed to collect the signatures and send all parties a signed, final copy of the document.
3. Your Team will Love the Added Security…And so will your Clients!
Some PDF readers lack password protection (ie app lock). That means that a user doesn’t have to validate his or her identity to add their signature. You can easily eliminate the potential risk by using an e-signature service that requires verification through email and/or SMS.
4. Keep a Secure Digital Trail
Being able to produce a well-documented record of a contract’s status is an important, and in many cases, necessary part of the workflow. This helps protect against fraud and proves who had the document and when. Proving the path that a scanned document took can be extremely difficult, and would include tracking down any number of email chains back and forth between the parties involved.
Understanding the Best Option for Your Team
If you’re in a business that typically has fewer contracts to sign, or does not deal with sensitive information (NDAs, agreements, etc.), then a PDF reader with editing functionality could very well be a sufficient option.
If your team does process a number of contracts and/or confidential materials, we invite you to try DottedSign, free for 30 days.
DottedSign is Kdan’s new e-signature service that makes it easier than ever to sign, send, and receive contracts in a safe and secure way. DottedSign is free to download, and offers a 30-day premium trial.
For volume inquiries, contact our sales team today!
Originally published at Kdan Mobile Blog.
