5 benefits of digital signatures
It seems to be quick and easy to attach a PDF to an email but it can be a false economy. Here we look at how the combination of digital forms with digital signatures can truly save you valuable time and benefit both you and your clients.
- Reduces the inconvenience for your clients
When you’re constantly working in an office, it can be impossible to imagine never having the convenience of a printer or photocopier on call. But when you’re at home or away, getting a document printed, and then scanned and sent back can be a major pain. Add to it the fact that the document is many pages long and involves something as important as the purchase, sale or renting of your new home, and the stress stakes can skyrocket.
But allowing your clients to sign electronically removes this stress by allowing them to sign the original digital document on their mobile phone or computer and providing them instantly with their copy.
- Allows you to get signatures more quickly
As soon as you have filled in a digital form, clicking ‘send’ shoots the form straight to all parties who need to sign or receive a copy and then tracks the progress of the signatures and alerts you when the document is completed. You don’t need to save the document and then find it to attach to an email. Just send. Boom. It’s done.
Digital signature functionality turns the time it takes to collect signatures from hours and days into just minutes, significantly speeding up your transaction time. Also importantly, it removes the ‘mental load’ of keeping track of a document and remembering to follow up, so no more angry clients wondering why the contract hasn’t been executed yet.
- More secure than a wet signature
A ‘wet’ signature is the terminology for an old fashioned signature on paper. Unlike wet signatures, digital signatures come with an electronic record that serves as an audit trail and proof of the transaction. This includes details of when the document was opened, viewed and signed. It can also show the geolocation of the person signing. Additional details can include timestamps and the signers IP address.
With DocuSign once the signing process is complete, all documents are digitally sealed using Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), an industry-standard technology. This seal indicates the electronic signature is valid and that the document hasn’t been tampered with or altered since the date of signing.
- Allows signing in multiple places at once
The sellers are in lockdown in Melbourne while the purchaser is stuck overseas waiting for a flight home. Getting paperwork signed off by traditional means is a nightmare in these situations and can take weeks of stressful waiting. But digital signatures make it easy as all parties receive the documentation at the same time, and can use their phone or computer to sign and return instantly, regardless of where they are in the world.
- No account or login required
Systems that require your clients to login and set up an account before they can sign anything simply replace the convenience of being able to sign immediately with another layer of annoying bureaucracy.
Forms Live not only comes with a DocuSign licence connected to your account, but it also has the ability to sign on screen, remote signing and sign tabs available across all forms and contracts instantly allowing you to use digital signatures with your forms and making it hassle-free for your clients to sign.