Time is running out as the deadline for the summer transfer window to football approaches; Weeks of negotiations between English Premier League clubs as they all try to find the next multi-million pound superstar to win them over and lead their team to glory. With endless media coverage of rumors, negotiations and deals, agents talk bluntly about buying clubs, exchanging contracts and bonus clauses to ensure their players' personal terms are correctly sent to the buying club. The life of a football agent is very tense, dramatic and high risk. During busy times, like the end of the transfer window, agents can rest easy knowing they can count on the immediacy of cutting-edge technology like…the fax machine. About the Author Mark Greenaway is Director of Digital Media Enterprise, Adobe (including Adobe Sign). Despite the millions on the table, the soccer industry still relies on outdated processes like pen, paper, fax, and scanners. Can you imagine the stress? Do you have the correct number? Does your machine work? How tall is your fax machine? Are your scanner drivers installed correctly? Intensifying sanctions is very easy compared to that. Whatever your business, soccer, property, or production, the manual processing of paper documents, faxing, scanning, and shipping is fraught with inefficiencies and opportunities for personal gain. Documents can be lost, damaged, intercepted or simply take a long time to arrive. With errors slowing down the process, incorrect fax numbers, and faulty equipment, many have yet to time and adopt more efficient processes.
Electronic signature solutions
The last 18 months have seen unprecedented growth in the use of digital signature technology as businesses of all kinds adapted to overcome bottlenecks and social distancing. Electronic signature solutions allow users to send, sign, track and manage documents digitally in a safe and secure manner. From speeding up processes and freeing up resource allocation for higher value-add work, to improving regulatory compliance, data protection and customer satisfaction, choosing the right technology can deliver benefits that go beyond mere efficiency. The best tools can even be used for broader purposes, such as collecting critical information from internal or web forms. During the pandemic, adoption of electronic signatures increased as industries moved quickly to enable digital solutions, witnessing the benefits firsthand. For example, the TSB has activated e-signature software on 21 self-service forms on its website, for services like address changes, bereavements, and overdraft requests. By reducing time spent, the number of forms required, and the risk of human error, the initiative processed 140.000 forms and saved 15.000 branch visits in just three months. Signatories were able to access the resources they needed, wherever they were, without having to access a physical location.
Environmental benefits
Switching to digital signatures also has many environmental benefits, with savings on shipping, paper, ink, printers, scanners, and faxes. As part of its sustainability efforts, ITV estimates that the use of electronic signature technology on documents for shows like Coronation Street, Emmerdale, Saturday Night Takeaway and Love Island saves them almost €1,5 million sheets of paper. The process is not only considerably more efficient for them, but also translates into a saving of more than 4000 kg of waste, or 600.000 liters of water. Additionally, car dealership Lookers saved 16 million sheets of paper per year by reducing the contract workflow from 17 manual signatures to a single digital exchange. This simple change equates to a saving of 270.700 kg of wood, or 6,5 million liters of water, enough to fill almost three of the swimming pools used at the Paralympic Games in Japan. Switching from outdated paper-based processes to electronic signature solutions offers businesses a number of benefits and efficiencies in terms of speed, security, and certainty, while helping to achieve an organization's sustainability goals. It also means you don't send your team onto the field with laces tied.