PDF E-Signature Services

If you use Adobe Professional to sign your documents, you may ask yourself, “Why use a web-based electronic signature service?”

First and foremost, a web-based e-signature service is not just for those with Adobe installed on their computer. Anyone with access to an internet connection can sign documents, regardless of which version of Adobe they have. The free Adobe Reader cannot sign a PDF unless the PDF has added extended usage rights (reader extensions). Without such rights, every signer must have Adobe Acrobat, or the equivalent.

You can’t sign just any PDF. A signable PDF file must include a digital signature field. To create digital signature fields you must have a copy of Adobe Acrobat Standard or Professional and a firm understanding of form fields. Creating a digital ID is a long process (11 steps) and far from intuitive. No one wants to use a difficult technology just to sign their name.

Web-based e-signature services enable you and anyone else who needs to sign your document to sign online without upgrading or buying additional software or learning how to use new software. For instance, if you sign your documents using Adobe Professional, but need your client to sign as well, are you going to request that they install new software or upgrade before they sign? Most web-based e-signature services convert documents to a PDF file. So, you’re still working with the same file format, yet eliminate the need for your clients to have the same software you have.

A web-based esignature service automatically inserts digital signature fields for you. Services such as ConXPoint lets you drag and drop fields to any location on the document in 1 step rather than 11, and even routes the document via email to all signers. You can also manage the signature workflow to see who has and who has not signed the document from an easy to use interface.

Best yet, ConXPoint offers unlimited free esignatures as part of its Business Center suite. You don’t have to pay every time you want to sign your name to a document or be limited by a certain number of signatures allocated to you in a package. If you sign a contract, and your client doesn’t approve of the terms, you can revise the contract and sign again without paying again.

Technology should be inexpensive and easy to use. Just open the “getting started with digital signatures” option in Adobe Standard to be overwhelmed with steps to electronically sign your name. Or, you can try ConXPoint’s service for 30 days for free to see how easy signing your name can be.

ConXPoint Business Center

The Stroud Group Consulting references the ConXPoint Business Center’s remote collaboration functionality on their website: “Thanks to ConXPoint’s Business Center software, location is not an issue.”

The Stroud Group Consulting is a technical consulting company that provides software installation, upgrade, conversion and project management services to financial institution clients.

Free E-Signatures

I’m constantly asking myself this question: “with all of the benefits associated with using e-signatures, why aren’t more people using this technology?” I found an interesting article from a writer who has been asking himself this same question since 2003. He chalks the delayed acceptance up to psychological factors associated with legality and technology. He says, “the act of signing a document is so simple, and so ingrained in our consciousness, that switching to a new mode that requires not only ‘technology’ but also ‘legislation’ is just too much for us.”

I have to agree that these factors have added a mystique over electronic signatures because many people don’t understand technology and many more don’t understand law. Pen and paper is just much easier for us to understand.

I believe people want to cut costs, save time, and increase document security. All things provided by electronic signatures. Yet, I believe another factor exists that is creating a barrier for the mass acceptance of e-signatures, and that is the cost of esignature software.

Today, I can write my name on a piece of paper 100 times without paying a dime. I may develop carpel tunnel in my wrist, but I don’t have to pay a cent to sign my name to the document. If I wanted to electronically sign my name, most e-signature services offer a limited use or trial use before charging me to sign my name.

Granted, there are a number of reasons why paying this fee will still save me money in the long run. Yet, the psychological factors associated with paying to write may name may pose as a barrier to mass acceptance of e-signatures in the mind of many people.

The environmental aspects alone demand that we do something to reduce the needless use of paper and the carbon emissions associated with paper production and document management. People are slowly becoming more accustomed to doing business online, and the legal questions are fading. Document management suites are even integrating free e-signatures solutions to move us one step closer to a paperless office. Now, if we can get past the relatively cheap cost of using this technology (not much more than the cost of a stamp), then more people will begin to use e-signatures.

Paperless Workflow Needs E-Signatures

A paperless workflow simply cannot be achieved for professionals that deal with contracts and agreements if they do not have electronic signature tools. E-contracts, e-forms, e-files, e-“you name it,” the document workflow cannot be paperless when it comes time to get your client’s signature on an agreement or contract unless you have e-signature tools.

There are a number of companies out there marketing the “paperless office” that are nothing more than electronic file cabinets. An e-file cabinet is just one component of a paperless solution. They either neglect the esignature component or it’s an afterthought of the software development process. Indeed, the e-file cabinet is important, yet when it comes time close a contract or agreement, you will find yourself in a loop of printing, faxing, copying, scanning, before your document is finally converted back to its electronic form.

Paperless workflows have much to be desired. The cost savings and efficiency alone are enough to investigate document management services that integrate e-signature features. You can find online or web-based collaboration suites that provide esignature tools, or e-signature tools that can be integrated as an add-in to your current forms software.

The moral of this story is, however, to be wary of companies that promote themselves as paperless solutions, if they do not provide electronic signature tools.