How To Include Electronic Signatures In Business Processes - mersano/Article GitHub Wiki

Businesses can get exhausted when they have to manage the workflow of the documents that include the entire business from creation to demolition. The phases of a document’s lifecycle include creation, storage, categorizing, metadata tagging, sharing or delivery, reporting or reviewing and/or demolition. 

INCORPORATING ELECTRONIC SIGNATURES TO BUSINESS WORKFLOWS:

In this modern world, businesses are incorporating electronic signature into their processes. An electronic signature can enhance document completion for business processes such as insurance businesses and financial institutions. Hence, these electronic signatures are delivering critical business results and are simplifying complex customer journeys. With the help of electronic signatures, customers are able to sign digitally and can eliminate office appointments, printing and scanning.

CUSTOMERS DEMAND DIGITAL AND CONVENIENT:

In today’s world customer expects the entire company interactions to be as free of friction as much as possible. When it comes to document the business workflows, it is very clear that convenience is considered as the top priority. Mostly, businesses work hard to implement these changing customer expectations.

ORGANIZATION NEEDS SIGNATURES:

Signatures are really important in the business process workflows. Each organization needs signatures and each organization wants to optimize those signatures. E-signatures, as electronic signatures are now replacing the need for written signatures. This not just saves money but also saves a large amount of time for every organization. These electronic signatures are more secure and are time stamped. We are using traditional signatures for thousands of years. These are known as ‘wet’ signatures. These wet signatures have distinct forms, including marks, signs, stamps, and seals. This new technology, ‘electronic signatures’ are reshaping the world and these traditional signatures are becoming outdated. The new ways through electronic signatures are simpler and are not time wasting like traditional signatures. Electronic signatures are the future that businesses want, so it is really important to understand how they work.

ELECTRONIC SIGNATURES USED FOR A LAW:

In the United States, electronic signatures can be used for creating a law. Electronic signatures can be provided as evidence to present in the court. Also, a record, document or contract cannot be denied because the signatures are electronic. From a legal standpoint, selecting an electronic signature solution would not harm your organization. Some conditions should be fulfilled by providers for an electronic signature and are should be legally valid.

CONDITIONS FOR AN ELECTRONIC SIGNATURE TO BE LEGALLY VALID:

Indicate the signer had a definite purpose to sign. Hence, a clear option should be provided not to sign. If a customer agrees to the condition of the electronic signature then only a customer can sign the document.

The signer should prove that they are agreed to conduct their business electronically. Mostly, electronic signatures require you give agreement before signing it. Few might provide the information to complete the given form on paper.

The attribute should be clearly stated when doing the signature. It could include an email, IP address, or timestamp. Sometimes, providers have a two-step identification. This creates an extra step for the signer. Hence, it creates a high standard of attribution. Associate means directly attach the signature with the document being signed.

These above conditions might already be incorporated into the provider’s solution. By satisfying these conditions, electronic signatures will be binding legally.

ELECTRONIC SIGNATURES USED IN BUSINESSES:

Contracts, forms, and agreements are needed by all sectors. You can use an electronic signature for starting a company. Also, contractors can be hired on a construction site and can run an employee background check as well. This means electronic signatures are running everywhere. It can fit in almost any business, industry, legal application or government. Electronic signatures not only benefit financial services, but they are also useful in many software organizations. They are now a daily part of many software solutions that includes Adobe products and Microsoft Office.

Hence, a few examples are provided to show that electronic signatures have proven successful.

HEALTHCARE:

Considering a hospital department, time should be reduced and this time could be invested in the other healthcare activities. It takes a large amount of time to get signatures from doctors and patients. The time needed for getting signatures for abdominal examinations dropped from eleven to three days. Also, time invested for signatures related to chest examinations dropped from ten to five days. Electronic signatures can skip the steps in employees’ workflow and shorten the time.

With the use of electronic signatures, the future functions of healthcare and medical e-commerce can be easily achieved.

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS:

With the help of electronic signatures, traditional organizations are becoming more organized. With electronic signatures, one can gather employee information much faster. These electronic signatures link better with other social networks.

These signatures are really helpful for small to medium startups. As these startups need to save a large amount of time and to get rid of handwritten signatures. They should focus on other activities that are essential for their startups. This activity can reduce the use of traditional signatures.

WHY ELECTRONIC SIGNATURES ARE ESSENTIAL?

As our society and technology have shaped society and technologies are increasing rapidly. Our signatures have also changed and are transformed into electronic signatures. Electronic signatures have uncountable advantages over wet i.e. the traditional signatures. These electronic signatures are traceable, cheap, and fast and are environmentally friendly. Electronic signatures also include many uses in everyday life and business. Today, the market for electronic signatures is growing rapidly. The adoption of new technology will impress the staff of your business organization while improving your business. The focus should be on customer convenience as most likely the customers want more control and choices through online services. Also, they also want to save a large amount of time. Electronic signatures not only make your work easier but also make your operations much faster and cheaper.