Electronic signature software promises a host of benefits for your business: contracts signed faster, reduced paper and postage costs, stronger legal defensibility, and satisfied customers. Whether you represent a small proprietorship or a large enterprise, it is important to select the e-signature solution with tools and features that fit the way you do business.
Unlike other business software that your customers may never see, electronic signature software is customer-facing. That is, your customers will interact with the software to fill out and sign documents online. A less-than-stellar platform that is difficult to use will turn off clients and reflect poorly on your company. This is why companies consider usability and design critical criteria in choosing an e-signature provider.
RightSignature offers the leading e-signature solution with an easy-to-use interface and a comprehensive feature set. As you think about how your company will implement online document signing, be sure to select a proven, high-quality e-signature system that offers these must-have features:
Web-Based Cloud Software
Web-based software, also known as cloud software or software-as-a-service (SaaS), makes it possible for users to access the system through any web browser on any computer anywhere in the world. With electronic signature software, this means your business users may upload and send documents, as well as access their secure document archives, from the office or while traveling. Furthermore, recipients should be able to review, fill out, and sign documents online using their choice of browser (IE, Chrome, or Firefox), without any required downloads or plugins. Recipients should not have to install Adobe Reader or Flash in order to sign a document. True web-based, or cloud, software enables your business to get up and running with e-signatures in minutes.
Ease of Use
E-signature platforms should be straightforward, intuitive, and easy for anyone to use. A platform that is difficult to access or requires going through several screens to execute a contract is less likely to be used by signers, which decreases document completion rates and eliminates many of the benefits that electronic document systems are supposed to provide.
Navigational Tools
Ideally, e-signature platforms should walk signers through the steps necessary to fill out and sign the documents they’ve been sent. Since the process of completing electronic documents is still somewhat foreign to many customers, online navigational features should replicate the traditional practice of sitting across a desk from a client and pointing out where to fill out, initial, and sign in a paper document. In order to be effective, e-signature platforms must have real-time navigational tools that communicate to signers what they need to do next and how close they are to completion.
Biometric Signatures
Biometric, or handwritten, signatures are important for any business that may need to prove the validity or authenticity of an electronic contract in court. Using biometric authentication, certain e-signature platforms can identify the unique speed and timing characteristics of a person’s handdrawn signature. This strengthens the defensibility of electronic contracts in court. Older “click-to-sign” and “type-to-sign” systems are not able to capture biometric data.
Mobile Signing
Mobile signing tools are a critical part of any cutting-edge e-signature platform, since more and more business is being done outside of the workplace. Any well-designed platform should accept signatures that are entered on mobile phones, including iPhone, Blackberry, and Android devices. In addition, capturing signatures on the iPad is now a popular use case in field sales and in-person signing situations.
Reusable Templates
Any business that sends the same contract, application, or form to multiple customers would be smart to invest in an e-signature solution that offers reusable templates. This capability enables you to set up a document once and use it repeatedly, speeding up the process of sending and receiving frequently used documents while also decreasing the workload on overburdened staffers who would otherwise have to fax, scan, or print these documents on a regular basis.
Secure Storage
Cloud-based electronic signature platforms offer a security net that desktop software and internal servers cannot match. The business-critical, executed documents that users archive in web-based e-signature systems are stored on remote servers with sophisticated security protocols, backups, and redundancy. This ensures documents remain accessible for future inquiries or disputes, since world-class cloud storage is not subject to the vulnerabilities of local data storage.
Customer Service
The customer service that an e-signature software provider offers should be free, accessible, and helpful. Customer service professionals should be available, either by phone or email, and ready to answer questions that come up from users at all times. This prevents any unnecessary delays in business dealings due to software malfunctions or other technology-related issues.
Culture of Innovation
Electronic signatures are just beginning to achieve widespread adoption, and the cloud-based platforms and mobile signing solutions that are available now are only the beginning. Business owners that do not want to have to switch platforms in the future should think ahead and select a software provider with a demonstrated portfolio of innovative features and a culture of forward-thinking ideas.
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