Signing documents can be a tedious task, which is exactly why you need to find the best electronic signature software that fits your business.
It takes time to ensure that documents are signed by the right parties in the right place and then stored securely. Add to that the proliferation of electronic contracts, an increase in the number of people working remotely, and a global pandemic disrupting in-person business—a strong electronic signature strategy becomes a necessity.
Most businesses rely on signed documents that identify expectations at the start of every relationship and ensure that there is clarity with both your suppliers and your clients.
Whether you have to sign proposals, quotes, contracts, or HR documents, we can help you find the best electronic signature software for your needs.
What is an Electronic Signature?
An electronic signature is simply a way for an individual or organization to consent to any documents that require agreement. There are many benefits to using electronic signatures:
- Multiple users can sign multiple documents with just a few clicks.
- Documents are sent directly to those who need them, without a time lag.
- Documents can be tracked and stored online.
- Electronically signed documents are considered as secure—if not more secure—than handwritten signatures or stamped seals.
Sounds great, doesn’t it? Well, it can be, with an intuitive software solution that matches your usage patterns, which we’ll get to in a moment. An Electronic Signature is simply an electronic method for an individual or organization to consent to any documents that require consent or agreement. At a few clicks of a button, multiple users can sign multiple documents and reach the individuals who need them - without a time lag.
Sounds great, doesn’t it?
Well, it can be, with an intuitive software solution that matches your usage patterns, which we’ll get to in a moment.
Electronic signatures ARE NOT digital signatures
There is a difference between electronic signatures and digital signatures, even though they sound interchangeable.
Digital signature software creates a condensed document (known as a hash) that is then encrypted into a notarised certificate. The encrypted hash is the signature and can be validated once it is decrypted and compared to its original document.
Electronic signatures can be encrypted but are not condensed into their own certificate, nor do they need to be decrypted to be seen. Generally, this makes electronic signatures faster and easier to use.
When do you need electronic signature software?
Not every business or everyone needs a full electronic signature solution.
Most individuals can get along just fine with basic PDF software. Some people never need to create their own signatures and simply work with the business’s existing software. Small operations, too, may not require their own software solution.
However, there are many instances when electronic signature software is a must-have. If you answer yes to any of the questions below, you might want to look into the software.
Are you going paperless?
If you’ve already said farewell to physical filing cabinets and sent your fax machine to the recycling center, then electronic signature software is the obvious next step in ensuring an efficient, paper-free office environment.
Believe it or not, electronic signature software came to the marketplace over 20 years ago, yet it’s only in the last few years that it has really taken off.
Electronic signatures are now being used across industries, from regulatory filing channels to online commerce. It is a much more efficient way to do business, because you no longer need to print and scan documents that require a signature or wait for documents to arrive via snail mail.
Are you signing legal contracts?
Electronic signatures are legally binding. As with the handwritten method, as long as you can prove consent and intent, electronic signatures are legally binding in almost all cases. We have a convenient list you can check to see whether your country has passed laws favoring electronic signatures.
Electronic signatures are highly secure, which is obviously important for maintaining confidentiality in any online legal documents, and if you use a trusted software provider like Signeasy, you are able to validate all critical and personal data with authentication and a clear audit trail.
This audit trail includes the signer email address, device IP, document fingerprint, and time stamp, making it very difficult (if not impossible) to counterfeit. The electronic signature software you choose must offer this audit trail.
Defining the best electronic signature software
Every electronic signature solution has its own unique set of features, functionality, and service. The software that is best is the one that solves the problems you have in your day-to-day work.
Below, we go through some of the most common business challenges, and we discuss how electronic signature software could be part of the solution.
Efficiency and Ease of Use
By using an electronic signature solution, you will save both time and hundreds of dollars in printing, paper, postage, and administration fees.
Choose an electronic signature software with a minimal user interface that’s super easy to use.
New users can benefit from the simple help function that will allow you to navigate the dashboard quickly and efficiently. You must also be able to create a set of templates that can be quickly modified with custom fields while you are on the move.
Whether you need signatures in-person or remotely, or you need to self-sign a document, your electronic signature software should cover you.
Ideally, the software allows you to either upload your signature or easily draw signatures online using a smooth signature interface that will capture your handwritten signature. You should also be able to add check boxes, images, text, and annotations to your document and highlight the fields you need to be signed if you are sending documents to another party.
What’s more, if you haven’t finished your document, the software must be able to save it as a draft so you can come back to it later and access it offline.
App Integration
The biggest reason software additions fail is because they haven’t put the user at the heart of their design. Regardless of whether you need one signature from one person or a dozen signatures from multiple people, the process shouldn’t be a pain.
That’s where inherent app integration comes in.
Need to sign a Microsoft Word or Excel document, a PDF, or a Google Doc? What about in formats such as JPG or PNG? No problem. Hopefully, all of these file types would be covered by your electronic signature software.
Import or export your documents from your email, the cloud, or many other applications. You can import documents within Signeasy’s own platforms or with its drag-and-drop functionality through a whole host of third-party integrations.
Your eSignature solution ought to make your life as easy as possible and integrate with the most popular third-party office tools around. Whether it’s CRM systems such as Zoho CRM or file storage such as Dropbox, G Suite, Google Drive, Evernote, Box, or Gmail, your electronic signature software should have your back.
Platform Agnostic
Consider where you most frequently collect electronic signatures from. Will your provider have the ability to collect signatures offline, remotely, and in-person no matter the device? The best electronic signature solution needs to be available to you regardless of the smartphone, tablet, or desktop you use.
Whether you prefer signing on a desktop, in person, on a smartphone or tablet, with Android, Apple, or both, it shouldn’t matter to your eSignature software.
When it comes to all of these mobile phone apps, your electronic eSignature software solution should always be up to date with the latest releases to ensure that you have a seamless and quick experience even if you upgrade your device.
Reasonable Price
Where pricing is concerned, flexibility and relevance to your operation are paramount.
The developer’s pricing plan should be considerate to the size of your organization and your needs. This also means the ability to easily add on users to the pricing plan and scale up as your business grows.
If you require a personalized solution, an ideal electronic signature developer would also have an API developer option that you could discuss and customize.
Reliable Security
Your electronic signature solution provider must be reliable, with the relevant global compliance. After all, you are trusting them with your most crucial data. Documents need to be stored securely and accessed easily.
Your electronic signature software must include cloud-based storage and ensure that all documents are sent and stored using SSL encryption. They must also be compliant with the ESIGN Act and eIDAS and be recognized globally.
For extra protection, passcode and fingerprint authentication are important.
You should be able to choose who has access to which documents, ensuring that highly confidential data is shared with only the appropriate individuals.
Strong Customer Relations
In a perfect business world, there are neither problems nor questions. But life isn’t perfect. When you’re seeking the best electronic signature software for your business, check reviews to see whether the company is answering its customers’ concerns.
What you’re looking for is a customer relations team that can professionally and efficiently deliver, regardless of what time zone you are on. Look for reviews that contain words like “help,” “support,” “customer,” and “email,” and see what customers had to say about their experiences seeking out support.
Best Electronic Signature Software: Signeasy
Signeasy consistently receives positive reviews on technology sites, reviews that highlight affordability and ease of use.
Like we said: always check independent customer reviews before you proceed any further with your electronic signature software of choice.
Already Trusted by 5 Million Users
Since Signeasy began, we’ve become the best electronic signature solution for small and large organizations alike, and we have over 5 million users from 150 countries worldwide. Our users come from an array of industries, from real estate, legal, sales, and finance to human resources, logistics, education, and health care.
Happy customers include Berkshire Partners, Urban Decay, Discovery Communications, Cleartrip, and TH Foods.
With Signeasy, paperwork that took 12-24 hours now takes 2-4 minutes. That means, what earlier took an entire workday is now completed in a tea break. Efficiency is up by 99.7%. Deals are saved because they can be secured in real time.
— Robert Couture, Managing Partner, S&C Homebuyers
Signeasy is also in partnership with WeWork so that the best electronic signature solution is brought to global coworking and office spaces.
We are recommended by some of the biggest names in business media, including Forbes, Inc. and TWN. Apple even voted Signeasy the Best Business App.
Available in 21 Languages
Woah! Signeasy really is a truly global electronic signature solution, with its ability to communicate in English, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Swedish, Tagalog, and Thai.
If we don’t offer documents and support in the language you need, ask us—it might be coming!Access management
You can choose who has access to which documents to ensure highly confidential data is shared with only the appropriate individuals.
Free Trial Period
Did we mention that you can sign up for Signeasy today for a a free 14-day trial?
When the trial is over, share your experience with us. The Signeasy team would love to hear how you get on with your free trial.
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