I just returned from The 2012 ESI Forum and ESA Leadership Summit in Irving, TX, which was a wonderful event on many different levels. The networking opportunities, meetings and sessions all contributed to make this a great way to kick off the New Year. I attended this event with an open mind, my focus was to participate in meetings and sessions that reflect on what happened in the industry in 2011 and discover some of the key trends, and obstacles coming into 2012. Not to my surprise, there was a strong vibe on implementing new technology across the board.
My particular interest was centered around optimizing business process and workflows by implementing new technology. Some of the contributing factors for a need to utilize emerging technologies include:
the growth of the competitive landscape in the electronic security industry
the time consumed by inefficient processes for techs out in the field
further demand for more personal and fast customer service
equipping the sales/retention teams with the right tools to get the job done quicker and more intuitively.
Forefront in the technology discussions was the use of mobile applications and tablets- I’ll give the iPad a shout-out since it was most frequently discussed. Utilizing tablets (iPads) for techs in the field, or sales representatives to further streamline their processes. Removing the old paper trail by digitizing much of the documentation. As you could imagine, I was delighted to see that eContracting was mentioned during one of the sessions that I attended. Although I was happy to hear all of the excitement and ideas floating around the conference, now it’s time to actually execute on the ideas. I think 2012 is going to be a great year for eContracting in the industry, as further optimizing the customer contracting, installation, and on-boarding process is going to assist many alarm companies in recognizing their goals, and increasing their RMR.
With these ideas and more, I think the security alarm industry is poised to grow over the next few years. With many of these advancements, we are all merely scratching the surface of what’s to come.
I often speak with security alarm companies on the benefits of eOrignal’s SmartSign- electronic signature solutions. You may or may not be surprised by the various departments, processes and workflows where SmartSigning has proven to be beneficial in the Alarm industry; including contracting new clients through inside and outside sales, HR/ employee onboarding, and customer retention/ renewals, just to name a few.
One particular area that I have found to require a large amount of company resources and focus has been client retention and customer renewals. Which in most cases bring with it a cumbersome paper process, customer inconvenience and unfortunately customer drop off. How you re-contract today will have direct influence on your companies RMR tomorrow- whether it be negative or positive; of course the goal would be the later.
As old contracts begin to expire, eOriginal’s SmartSign provides Alarm companies the advantage of re-contracting with only the click of a button. Most importantly, it provides a faster, friendlier and more convenient customer experience. Some of the immediate benefits include,
Increased employee productivity- now sales and retention departments can complete these tasks in half the time.
Decreased mailing, paper, shipping, and postage cost
Improved customer experience and relations
Ability to have same day, even same hour client renewals
How this works:
eOriginal can tie into your existing CRM; with the click of a button we will automatically pull client information from your CRM, add it to the new contract in the appropriate fields, and send your customer an invitation to sign. Your customer then is guided through an easy and intuitive eSigning contract renewal process by eOriginal’s SmartSign.
You can see how this process works by going to eOriginal’s Security Alarm demonstration page by clicking here.
I have spent a considerable amount of time working with and speaking to Security Alarm companies, Industry Experts and Funders on the benefits, compliance and best practices of electronic signatures. For what is historically a paper-based industry when it comes to handling business processes, contracts, and internal documents, eOriginal has had the opportunity and pleasure to work with a few innovative Security Alarm Companies to help them to streamline their business processes using SmartSign, our electronic signature and life-cycle management solution.
Today, many other Security Alarm Companies have taken the initiative to begin looking into the benefits of electronic signatures. While more and more companies are looking into eSignatures, there seems to be a few common questions and concerns. While most perceived barriers can be easily overcome, security alarm companies and funders should take into consideration a few key points when evaluating and implementing electronic signatures such as:
How to present FTC regulated Consumer Disclosures.
Will your Funders (Banks) approve of the process?
Will going electronic affect your RMR?
Will other companies be able to purchase or acquire my contracts?
These are just a few areas of interest that need to be addressed. Now the benefits are apparent; other than saving time and money, your organization will have a few important advantages over your competition.
Have contracts, lease agreements, installation forms, signed and processed in minutes
Easily facilitate contract renewals, especially in states outlawing the evergreen clause
Reduce labor and material costs associated with printing, faxing, scanning, shipping, and archiving
In just a few short days eOriginal, along with industry leaders, will be addressing the most common questions and concerns in a 60-minute educational webinar. What we hope to accomplish is to simply bring a better understanding to how electronic processes can replace aging paper-based systems. If you are interested, please don’t hesitate to register or contact us to learn more about the webinar or our experience with security alarm companies.
As a direct auto lender, operational and business goals are typically clear; identify more prospects, qualify more candidates, and close more loans. Meeting these goals brings positive returns, including increased revenue and profitability. A critical element in accomplishing these goals is making the entire lending process easy and fast for the consumer.
Technology has assisted in streamlining the direct lending process. For years, direct lenders have had the ability to qualify consumers in minutes, sometimes within seconds. Origination of the lending package has also been automated through the use of proprietary or third party loan origination systems, or completed through web-based applications. These capabilities have greatly assisted in creating a more efficient lending process, but what is still left is a lengthy, tedious and costly paper trail.
eOriginal’s SmartSign electronic signature and lifecycle management solutions have allowed direct lenders to close this loop, completely streamlining the lending process – from qualification to closing, all in one quick session. SmartSign enables these accelerated processes without compromising the legal or negotiable value of the documents being signed.
Tightly integrate into existing loan origination systems and web-based applications
Close more loans, faster, with increased adoption rates
Reduce operating costs
Process loans faster while eliminating costly errors
Maintain legal compliance and secondary market requirements, enabling the ability to electronically sell, collateralize, and securitize your negotiable instruments
eOriginal is the leading technology provider for eContracts securitized in the secondary markets and accepted by rating agencies in the automotive industry for the fulfillment of UCC 9-105 requirements on e-chattel and transferable records. eOriginal’s technology has allowed lenders to electronically originate, sign, and securitize billions of dollars in direct auto loans, removing process and compliance barriers for financial institutions.
With the use of electronic signatures becoming more prevalent in today’s office atmosphere, businesses are quickly recognizing the value and benefits that come along with adopting electronic processes. I spend a considerable amount of my time speaking with these businesses, and discussing the best ways to incorporate eOriginal’s SmartSign electronic signature solution into their workflow. A common question that I am frequently asked is “what is the difference between Electronic and Digital signatures”?
U.S. legislation (ESIGN/UETA) defines an electronic signature as “an electronic sound, symbol, or process, attached to or logically associated with a contract or other record and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the record”. One of the most commonly used Electronic Signatures today is the Text Typed signature; text typed meaning that one has used a keyboard to type their name, with the intent to sign “something”. Although this is the most common, electronic signatures are not limited to this method. SmartSign allows businesses to have documents e-signed using other accepted methods such as voice, mouse, signature pads, iPad/iPhone (with your finger or stylus), smart-phones and the list goes on. What is important to note; an electronic signature can be applied almost by any means, but it is just the first step in a fully secure and compliant electronic signature process.
Digital signatures require the use of a digital certificate, essentially a type of key or code that utilizes cryptographic algorithms to assure the integrity and authenticity of electronic media, and the information within. Put simply, the application uses an algorithm to generate a unique code by processing the source file. That unique code, think of it as a document’s fingerprint, is then encrypted using the private key stored in the digital certificate. The result of all this processing is a secure document that is tamper evident. If any value in the source document is corrupted or maliciously altered, it can be easily detected by verifying the original signature.
Secure solutions like eOriginal’s SmartSign utilize a combination of electronic and digital signatures. After the electronic signature has been captured and applied to the document, SmartSign then binds the electronic signature and the document content with a second digital signature. This allows SmartSign to lock down the document, adding further assurance that the information in the document has not changed since the electronic signature was applied. This process allows businesses to take advantage of technology, removing paper from the workflow, saving time, money, and helping to increase revenue, all while maintaining the legal integrity, admissibly and enforceability of your important documents.
I recently had the opportunity to attend the 2011 National Automobile Dealers Association EXPO in San Francisco, CA. I used my time to speak with auto dealers, lenders, as well as service providers. You can imagine the joy I felt as I learned, across the board, that business process optimization, including the use of electronic signatures, has become a key focus in the future of the industry. One of the consistent topics of my discussions was how to create a faster more efficient process that saves money, resources and time, increasing revenue!
This got me to thinking about how eOriginal and electronic signatures have evolved since the signing of the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA) in 1999 and the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (ESIGN) in 2000. More so than ever before, businesses are recognizing the value of streamlining costly business processes, creating friendlier client and employee experiences. eOriginal SmartSign has since processed millions of e-signature events each year, streamlining a variety of business processes, some of which we didn’t think about. Our innovative clients helped to provide the vision- What are some of the processes it is used for today?
And just about any other Document-Oriented Transaction requiring a signature
My list could continue, but my point here is, don’t take anything off the table. Look at your business from the outside in. Find the areas that have proven to be costly and ask yourself – Why? Some of the unfailing answers that you may come across are almost always related to the process in which one’s job is executed. This process often includes the scanning, faxing, copying, printing, filing, finding, mailing and shipping of documents, many of which require some sort of signature.
For more than 15 years, eOriginal has assisted corporations in streamlining various types of business processes using our SmartSign electronic signature and lifecycle management solutions. SmartSign has a proven ROI, whether used for HR documents or negotiable instruments. eOriginal is able to save your company time and money without compromising the legal integrity of your documents.
A few days ago I came across an interesting post on Elliot’s Blog about the simplicity and usefulness of electronic signatures reducing the need to print, sign, and ship contracts and other documents, but what was really great about the post, was the conversation it prompted through the comments that were posted.
As an active participant in this conversation dealing with questions and concerns about the validity of eSignatures, I wanted to highlight and address a few of the common concerns that were brought up.
Legal Enforceability and Admissibility and Doc Security: Depending on your individual business needs, a pure signing tool may be all you need. However, if your business needs to protect your digital documents, a more robust solution is necessary. We provide advanced ID verification tools to ensure the correct person(s) are signing along with a detailed audit trail, we encrypt and digitally tamper seal each document and file associated with your transactions, and we also provide transaction management services that allow organizations to meet all compliance, regulatory, and workflow requirements that limit your company’s legal exposure and protect the value of your documents.
Customization: eOriginal’s solutions were designed to be flexible, allowing us to conform to your business needs. That is why we offer multiple integration and deployment methods and an extensive library of web-service calls/APIs. We take into consideration business workflow processes, transaction management needs, and budget to find the best solution to fit each individual business needs.
Costs: Many customers, especially Small Business owners, believe that the products and technology needed to provide the security and workflow options to fit their business needs are too expensive, when in turn, many providers including eOriginal have electronic signature packages designed not only for large enterprise clients but also for small businesses.
If you have any additional questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact me directly at 410-625-5149 or just post your questions on our comments section and I’ll be sure to provide answers to your questions.
In recent years, having documents signed electronically and moving to a fully automated process has not just become extremely popular; it has become a necessity for most businesses to efficiently operate. I have had the privilege of speaking with many businesses, large and small, who are ready to create a simple straight-through process that not only cuts overhead cost, but creates an easy, efficient, user friendly experience. eOriginal SmartSign® not only meets these expectations, it exceeds them, time and time again.
One common misconception that I often run into is once documents have been signed electronically in a secure, legally compliant manner, the process is complete. Well guess what, Ladies and Gentlemen, that’s not exactly correct! I am notoriously known for being short, simple and straight to the point, so here are a few questions to consider when making your decision to go paperless;
Are my electronic documents secured at all times?
Who has access to my documents and personal or proprietary information within?
Will my documents hold up in the court of law?
If my documents are challenged legally, how can I produce legally enforceable and admissible documents that have not been compromised?
If my electronically signed digital assets hold any monetary value, will I be able to offer those documents in the secondary market?
If I am working with a company or an individual who require paper originals, does my system meet all requirements to create an Authoritative Copy?
For fifteen years eOriginal and our eCore® platform have helped businesses to answer these questions, not only through the front-end signing process, but through our trusted repository which allows businesses to securely manage their documents throughout their entire lifecycle. eOriginal’s electronic signatures processes have been tried and tested, taking the burden of trying to answer these questions off of your shoulders.
What makes a successful business in today’s world? I have spent countless nights asking myself this very question. From front-line salespeople to high-level executives, businesses around the world are actively trying to embrace new technology in hopes that they can streamline their processes and become more efficient using fewer resources.
Using electronic signatures and eOriginal’s Smartsign solutions; businesses are able to simplify, speed up and streamline their entire business process enabling straight-through processing that saves time and money. Simplicity is the key to quickly implementing electronic signing into your current process enabling your organization to see the benefits and savings right away. This is how it works;
Step 2: Your Customers eSign (electronically signing your documents is a simple, fast and EASY process for your client/signer)
Step 3: Receive a signed, legally enforceable document within minutes (that’s right-it’s DONE!)
eOriginal Smartsign® Web simplifies electronic signatures, providing a fast and easy way to decrease closing time and increase revenue. Many businesses are already taking advantage of this unique, competitive advantage by completing processes in minutes that would normally take days or even weeks. If that’s not convincing enough for you, by the time you have finished reading this article, eOriginal could have already assisted you in having dozens of documents signed, sealed and delivered. For more information please contact us.
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