| If your company is typical, paper forms are | | | | documentation. |
| creating a bottleneck as they are time consuming | | | | Electronic Forms Equal Customer Satisfaction |
| and inefficient. They can also wreak havoc when | | | | One more very important consideration is the |
| they’re misdirected, misplaced or buried on | | | | increase in customer satisfaction gained when |
| someone’s desk. With the adoption of | | | | client interaction is documented with electronic |
| electronic forms, paperwork bottlenecks disappear | | | | forms. The roadblocks to great customer service |
| and the paperless office becomes your new | | | | associated with a traditional paper flow include lost |
| reality. | | | | paperwork, slower response times and |
| Electronic Forms – The Basics | | | | miscommunication. |
| Electronic forms, or “e-forms”, serve | | | | What could be more maddening, after all, than |
| exactly the same function as traditional paper | | | | waiting for someone to write point-of-sale |
| forms – they initiate, support and document | | | | information onto a paper form? This also applies |
| mission-critical business processes. In addition, they | | | | to standardized contracts and other transactional |
| can set-off automated workflows with secure, | | | | documents created electronically but printed, |
| up-to-date, automatic routing of forms for | | | | signed and stored as a paper record. |
| immediate approval and processing dependent | | | | E-Forms – The New Standard in Security |
| upon your business guidelines. A web-based | | | | As we’re discussing records safekeeping |
| workflow automation process is accessible by | | | | measures, few business owners would argue that |
| computer to your staff, even in remote locations. | | | | paper forms stored in locked file cabinets present |
| The e-forms can also be exported into a | | | | the potential for compromised security. Fire, theft |
| document management system for automated | | | | and employee misuse are only three of the |
| indexing, storage and retrieval. With the advent | | | | events that threaten the security of your |
| of legally-binding electronic signatures, even legal | | | | firm’s proprietary and client information. |
| documents can now be created and modified | | | | Electronic forms, on the other hand, create a wall |
| within a paperless system. From point-of-entry to | | | | of security around information that must be kept |
| client approval, allowing e-forms to support the | | | | confidential. Strong user authentication, file access |
| underlying structure of your business is a | | | | tracking and 128-bit data encryption are built into |
| necessity in today’s business environment. | | | | today’s web-based e-form software. |
| How E-Forms Transform the Workplace | | | | Combined with legally valid electronic signatures, |
| Consider the efficiencies that can be realized in | | | | the electronic forms utilized for both client |
| your own organization when, rather than writing | | | | interface and internal processes represent a |
| client information onto individual paper forms when | | | | higher standard in document security. |
| transactions take place, customers or employees | | | | The success of workplace automation, built upon |
| access e-forms, enter information once or | | | | a truly paperless environment, is well-documented |
| download stored client information to complete | | | | across many industries. Companies hoping to |
| orders, contracts or applications in a fraction of | | | | leverage e-form technology to increase employee |
| the time. | | | | efficiency, reduce costs, improve client |
| By pushing that initiated form through every | | | | satisfaction and enhance document security should |
| stage of your key business processes via a | | | | first look to their document management |
| workflow automation application, no paper form is | | | | specialists for an integrated electronic forms and |
| ever printed to be lost, damaged or otherwise an | | | | workplace automation solution. By combining a |
| impediment to workplace efficiency. | | | | customized e-forms application with automated |
| Whether they are human resource forms, | | | | document scanning processes, the bottlenecks |
| transactional documentation or legal contracts, | | | | associated with traditional paper forms can finally |
| e-forms improve efficiency, enhance security and | | | | be eliminated. |
| eliminate the need for space to store paper-based | | | | |