With more than seven billion mobile devices in the world and cyber-threats at an all-time high, demand has surged for simple and secure ways to sign and manage documents on smartphones and tablets. At the same time, new electronic signature regulations, like eIDAS in the European Union, have paved the way for electronic signatures to be adopted globally.
Building on the work of the Cloud Signature Consortium, announced last June, Adobe has unveiled the first cloud-based digital signatures built on an open standard.
Adobe Document Cloud and Adobe Sign will enable digital signatures, the most advanced and secure type of electronic signatures used for things like healthcare forms or mortgage applications, in any browser or on any mobile device. The Adobe Sign preview release will be available to customers in the coming weeks.
In addition, Adobe also unveiled new functionality in Adobe Sign that enables users to create end-to-end business workflows that go beyond signing and approvals.
Adobe Sign now streamlines the flow of documents and tasks across entire teams with solutions that are mobile, customizable and easy-to-use. And, Adobe Sign works where you do, integrating with the systems, processes, and applications you already use today. Now anyone can quickly and easily convert paper to digital with a smartphone ‘scan’, route documents for collaboration or certified electronic delivery, and connect into popular systems like Microsoft SharePoint.
Mobile scan and sign
Using the Adobe Sign mobile app, users can quickly scan printed pages and send for signature or sign from their smartphone or tablet, wherever they are. A PDF document is automatically cropped, corrected and ready-to-sign with crisp text that anyone can read, all powered by advanced image processing in Adobe Sensei, a set of intelligent services that leverage machine learning, artificial intelligence (AI) and deep learning capabilities.
The Adobe Sign mobile app on iOS also lets you pinch or double-tap to change text size and reflow with five different zoom levels.
There is also a new tracking widget that lets you track and manage signatures in real-time from your home screen, without opening the Adobe Sign mobile app.
You can also go beyond signing and approvals with advanced document routing. Now, you can ask recipients to fill out a simple form that doesn't need a signature, like a facilities request at work or a patient intake form at the doctor. Notify recipients about important terms and conditions or policy updates. Or, send for 'certified delivery' when you need clear proof that your recipient both viewed and acknowledged a document such as a legal notification or change of terms (available within 30 days).
Complete online processes
Completing complex workflows, like new bank account enrollment, loan applications or managing HR benefits, often requires many steps and many people to get the job done. With Adobe Sign, you can now kick off and manage these processes digitally from start to finish. Automatically generate, send and route specific documents for each unique situation and keep track of everything with a custom dashboard that gives you real-time visibility along the way.
Work directly within SharePoint
Adobe Sign now helps Microsoft SharePoint’s 160 million users automate their signing processes. Add Adobe Sign to SharePoint Workflows for a stand-out digital experience that makes it easy to request signatures from others, track your progress, and archive documents securely – without ever leaving SharePoint.
“With so many of today’s critical business processes moving to cloud based solutions, it’s imperative that people trust the information they are interacting with,” said Alan Lepofsky, VP and principal analyst at Constellation Research. “Digital signatures play a vital role in that trust, but for them to be successful they must be a frictionless part of the process. Building signatures on an open standard that works across browsers and mobile devices creates the seamless experience that people expect.”