Working remotely has been made easier and more accessible because of the digital advances we have today. In fact, many individuals are now embracing remote work.
The digital nomads, for instance, are people who work remotely, telecommuting rather than being physically confined in a four-cornered space of an office. These employees are location-independent and they use technology to perform their job.
Freelancers are self-employed individuals who work with different organizations and professionals, but are not tied to an office. They work wherever and whenever they want.
While freelancers work outside the office, there are white-collar professionals who go on business trips for meetings, conferences, or corporate events where their presence is needed. When traveling for business, they are asked to report what has happened during their business trip which will require them to work remotely.
While there are employees who prefer working on-site, there are instances where they still have to work away from work, such as during a holiday rush, when they would need to complete and sign important and urgent documents.
What all these professionals have in common is the ability to carry out their tasks remotely while traveling. This is where the convenience of using e-signature applications comes in.
An e-signature, also known as an electronic signature, is a digital representation of a person’s consent, agreeing to the contents of a document by signing it. Like its handwritten equivalent in the offline world, an e-signature is a tool that captures the signatory’s intent to be bound by the conditions of his or her signed documents. Any method, sound, or symbol associated with the record used to e-sign a document is considered an electronic signature.
E-signatures are legally binding in most parts of the world. According to U.S. law, they can’t be denied legal effectiveness or enforceability solely because it’s in electronic form. In the United States, e-signatures are legal under the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (ESIGN Act). When it comes to digital transactions, e-signatures are covered by the ESIGN Act.
For freelancers and digital nomads, using e-signature applications while working remotely has been very convenient, making it easy to live the lifestyle they want. For companies with a dispersed workforce, remote authentication and online collaboration on documents have been made possible with electronic signatures, making it a far more convenient solution than mailing, printing, or scanning documents. Moreover, the use of e-signature software is more convenient compared to manual paperwork.
5 Advantages of Using E-Signatures
Let’s take a look at five advantages of using e-signature when working while traveling:
Easy to Use
The most significant and prominent advantage of e-signature is it’s simple and easy to use. With e-signature software, you can upload a document, assign signatories, and deliver a secure link to them. The signatories then e-signs the document, after which the process is complete. It’s as simple as that. As long as you can open a link and click a button, you can easily learn how to use electronic signatures. With a number of different online solutions available on the internet, you can e-sign documents smoothly wherever you are in the world, as long as you have devices capable of accessing e-signature applications and a secure internet connection.
Strengthened Collaboration
Collaborating with clients and coworkers has been made easier thanks to today’s technology.
Now, it’s easy to communicate via online phone systems, communication applications, and email, no matter where you are. When it comes to collaborating on documents, the process is frequently disconnected and fragmented, making collaboration much more challenging. This is where e-signatures can help.
E-signature applications with document management solutions have made collaborating with coworkers easier. You can conveniently collect signatures from coworkers from different departments within your organization. The simple and streamlined electronic signing process will increase collaboration as the fast collecting of signatures will prevent projects and deals from stagnating, which will boost the progress of your project.
Collaboration doesn’t only happen inside the company, businesses need the ability to collaborate with people outside their organization. This is where e-signatures make it easy to share documents and collect signatures from clients or partners. With e-signature, anyone can receive and sign documents making transactions as simple and as fast as possible.
Faster Turnaround
E-signature technology eliminates manual tasks that may be better performed electronically. With just a few clicks you can track your workflows and check the status of your documents. You can easily track who has opened, signed, or approved a document, and who is holding you up. You’ll have a complete paper trail of who viewed the document and when, even without the actual paper, allowing you to focus your time on more complex and urgent tasks.
Because electronic signatures are so convenient, they allow for a considerably faster turnaround. Rather than sending physical documents to another party, which involves printing, scanning, and mailing them, e-signatures allow professionals to sign off documents in minutes. In time-sensitive circumstances, faster document workflows give organizations more flexibility. Sending documents electronically extends your reach by allowing you to send them any time, anywhere. Additionally, obtaining and signing documents on mobile devices improves turnaround time and provides great convenience to your customers.
Enhanced Security
Electronic signatures increase security and reduce risks because of the following reasons:
- They are legally enforceable and harder to falsify, making them more secure than handwritten signatures.
- They usually come with a digital audit trail, making them easy to validate.
- They can detect even minor alterations and adjustments, making them safer than traditional wet-ink signatures that are easily tampered with.
- They can make sure that no required signatures are missing.
- They can ensure that no unauthorized third parties have access to electronic documents.
- They can be protected with encryption, biometric authentication methods, and passcodes for additional security.
With electronic signatures, problems such as damaged, lost, or stolen paper documents can be prevented. In addition, electronically signed documents are tagged with information like the signer’s identity, the signer’s location, and the time of the signing. All these constitute a high level of security where you can be confident that your documents are safe and secure and in the hands of the right people.
Cost-Efficient
All these benefits add up to one big advantage: cost-saving. Electronic signatures are less expensive than traditional pen-and-paper signatures in the long run. You save money not only on paper but also on postage, mailing supplies, and time (which is money). Automated electronic signing processes can lessen the financial impact of human error, such as signing mistakes, which can hold down the process or cause costly problems if they go undetected. Electronic signing technology can help reduce risks by alerting users about suspicious activities or contract compliance difficulties. Electronic signatures guarantee that everything is in order, saving money on problems that could be avoided.
Working while traveling is challenging but with the help of online software tools, such as e-signatures, working remotely can be the next big step in your career. The benefits of e-signature can help anyone excel in a remote working environment. Digital nomads can continue living their nomadic lifestyles without having to worry about their work. Freelancers can carry on with working mainly at home utilizing e-signatures to benefit from the above-mentioned advantages. Professionals with a dispersed work setup can achieve better workflow convenience, in turn providing a better experience both for their employees and clients.
E-signatures have become an important part of paperwork, especially now that more and more people are embracing remote work. In this digital age where technology plays an integral role in almost everything that we do, particularly in our careers, it’s wise to take advantage of the digital advancements allowing us to live a balanced life.