Adobe Sign to give paper-less customer experiences

According to IDC InfoBrief, sponsored by Adobe, Transformation Through Smarter Document Workflows, released earlier this month, 72 per cent of businesses believe that improving document processes increase customer satisfaction, however 80 per cent of the document processes still rely on paper. With the accelerating pace of digital transformation, companies that rely on experiences are unfortunately getting involved in document processes that are inefficient and their customers are wanting a better way out.

Taking that thought forward, Adobe has unveiled the first integration between Adobe Sign formerly known as Document Cloud eSign services and Adobe Marketing Cloud that eliminates the cost and process of manual paper-based enrollment, onboarding and servicing across the consumer journey. Adobe Sign features an upgraded and modernized mobile app experience, and works seamlessly with Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) Forms which is a key part of Adobe Marketing Cloud helping organizations to go completely digital with anything from credit card applications to government benefit forms or medical forms.

This news comes with Adobe announcing its Document Cloud storage integrations with Box and Microsoft OneDrive, which make it easier to access and work on PDF files from anywhere, as well as new features for Adobe Acrobat DC subscribers, delivering on the promise of ongoing innovation and value through Document Cloud.

“Every company and organization should be laser-focused on delivering the best customer experience possible, and the best experience does not involve paper. Today we further strengthen the value that Adobe Document Cloud and Adobe Sign bring to our global customers as the only complete solution that transforms paper-based transactions into 100 percent digital workflows,” says Bryan Lamkin, executive Vice President and General Manager, Digital Media, Adobe.

At the heart of Document Cloud is Acrobat DC the widely used PDF solution and Adobe Sign e-signature solution that allows anyone to electronically sign and send documents from any device and powerful companion mobile apps. The company claims that 6 billion plus digital and electronic signature transactions are processed through Document Cloud each year, including global businesses like Verizon, AmerisourceBergen, The Royal Bank of Scotland, MasterCard that use Document Cloud and Adobe Sign for quick and safe mobile e-signatures.

Ankit Chhajer, Digital Lead, Customer Experience and Sales Innovation, Royal Bank of Scotland, says, “At Royal Bank of Scotland, we put our customers’ experience first when rolling out new services to make their lives a little easier. Building on our broad adoption of Adobe Marketing Cloud, we are now turning to Adobe Document Cloud and Adobe Sign to create an elegant, hassle free customer experience that rivals none other.”

Powerful capabilities

Adobe Sign is claimed to be easy, safe and quick method to bring trusted e-signatures to every organization and department including HR, sales, IT, legal and procurement, with the integration the new functionalities will:

• Transform digital experiences – The integration between Adobe Sign and Experience Manager Forms turns complex, form-based processes into simple, engaging, mobile-optimized digital experiences across the entire customer journey. This includes how a person discovers the right form that they need, fills it out easily and successfully on any device, electronically signs it, and gets status updates once it is submitted. Using the integration between Adobe Sign and Adobe Marketing Cloud, organizations can provide responsive, adaptive experiences, enable personalization to continually improve the user experience with Adobe Target, and analyze and optimize performance with Adobe Analytics. Government, financial services and healthcare are just a few of the industries that will benefit from this service.

• Encourage global e-signature and digital signature adoption – Building on widespread adoption in Europe, and as part of a global rollout, new data centers are now live in the EU. With a secure, standards-based approach, Adobe Sign meets the most stringent legal requirements so European organizations can go digital in compliance with eIDAS, the new EU signature regulation set to take effect in July 2016.

• Deliver enhanced mobile signing – Sending, tracking and managing documents on tablets and smartphones is now easier than ever with the Adobe Sign app for iOS and Android. An updated dashboard and improved send for signature workflow enable users to be even more productive on any device.

Integration with partners

The Document Cloud is currently offering integrations with Apttus, Dropbox, Salesforce and Workday, among others, but its integration with Box and Microsoft, along with new and expanded Adobe Sign integrations will be expanding business solutions and workflows.

Here is how:

• With Box the new offerings will integrate Acrobat DC, Acrobat Reader and Adobe Sign simplifying document workflows, as well as e-signature processes for enterprises. Whether users start from Box or Adobe, with just a few clicks they will be able to view and edit PDFs without any downloading, and ensure that the latest version is automatically secured in Box. Additionally, users can open Box files directly in Adobe Sign to provide an electronic signature on important contracts and paperwork, centralizing all updates in Box and streamlining the approval process.

• With Microsoft OneDrive the integration will allow organizations to access and work on PDF files stored in OneDrive directly from within the Adobe apps. With a few clicks in Acrobat on the desktop, users can view and work on PDF files stored in OneDrive while ensuring documents always remain synced. In addition, iOS users can access PDFs in OneDrive from the Acrobat Reader mobile app via the universal document picker, enabling them to work with PDF files anywhere.

• With Salesforce the latest release of Adobe Sign has improved the user experience. Though the Beta version is going to be available in May, the update features the enhanced Salesforce Lightning user experience across any device, plus support for customizing the app with the drag-and-drop interface of Salesforce Lightning Component, while also providing compelling new features like signing groups and hybrid signing order. SteelBrick, recently acquired by Salesforce, also has an existing integration with Adobe Sign for helping speed the Configure Price Quote (CPQ) process.

Many new and updated integrations significantly expand the Adobe Sign ecosystem across common enterprise solutions—such as business process automation, contract lifecycle management and enterprise resource planning and include Advanced Software Concepts (ASC), Buildium, McKesson Contract Manager, Namely, Oracle, SciQuest, SpringCM, and ThinkSmart.

Good news for subscribers

According to Adobe, subscription to Acrobat DC will deliver instant access to new features and enhancements as soon as they’re available. Adobe has already introduced:

• Updated tools for everyday use – Modernized commenting and annotation tools are now fully updated with an intuitive, touch-friendly interface that makes it easier than ever to give and get fast, clear feedback; a highlighter pen can now markup scanned documents without the need for optical character recognition (OCR); and paper-to-digital workflows like scanning are now optimized to deliver the best results.

• Accessibility – Adobe is adding critical menu and dialog updates to enhance the experience for users with visual impairments who rely on Acrobat DC to work with PDFs. The Home view and Save As options can now be read aloud by screen readers for greater accessibility.

• Streamlined deployment – Adobe team and enterprise customers can now deploy and update Acrobat DC with Creative Cloud apps using the Adobe Creative Cloud packager.