Paperwork is the bane of the modern office. Today, Adobe says 7 in 10 employees would seek other employment just to be rid of it.
What’s more, the company says its data shows 83 percent of workers believe antiquated paperwork and the processes behind it are slowing them down at work.
Adobe hopes to change that with the introduction of its new Document Cloud service.
In an official announcement introducing the new product March 17, Adobe Senior Vice President of Technology and Corporate Development Bryan Lamkin explains:
“People and businesses are stuck in document-based processes that are slow, wasteful, and fragmented. While most forms of content have successfully made the move to digital (books, movies, music), documents and the process of working with them have not, and that needs to change. Adobe Document Cloud will revolutionize and simplify how people get work done with critical documents.”
In short, the Adobe Document Cloud consists of several new services that will allow your business and your team to create, review, approve, sign, and track documents across any device. The Document Cloud will also be integrated with Adobe’s other cloud-based services, the Creative Cloud and the Marketing Cloud.
There are four new services included with Adobe Document Cloud:
Acrobat DC
This is like the original Adobe Acrobat but better, the company says. Acrobat DC will feature a touch-based interface.
Adobe says that Acrobat DC will use “Photoshop imaging magic” that converts any paper document into a digital and editable file. This file can then be sent to your company’s clients or customers, altered, marked or signed as needed and then shipped back with just a few taps.
eSign Services
This service included with Adobe Document Cloud is actually a re-branded Adobe product originally called EchoSign.
The service allows you to send out a document, like a PDF, to anyone on any device. From there, the recipient can read it, fill out any needed information, and include a signature before it’s sent back to you.
Mobile Link, Mobile Apps
With this brand new feature, there should be no need to tell your clients, “I’ll send you an invoice when I get back to the office.”
Now, you can create, edit, and share a document right from a tablet or smartphone. There are two apps that allow you to do this and they’re included with a Document Cloud subscription: Acrobat Mobile and Fill-and-Sign.
And even if you’ve started a document at the office, the work will follow you to your mobile devices where you can finish it, or vice versa.
Send and Track
Now, there will be no more guessing about whether your client or team received your documents.
Send and Track uses intelligent tracking to let you know when someone has opened a document, their progress with it, and when they’re done too.
If your business is being slowed by old-fashioned paperwork, Adobe Document Cloud surely looks like something to consider.
Managing Partner at CRM Essentials Brent Leary insists Adobe’s ability to create PDF documents quickly and efficiently is among the most exciting features the new product has to offer. In an interview with Small Business Trends, Leary explained “The PDF form is still prevalent. This streamlines the process tremendously.”
Most impressive, Leary insists, is Adobe’s ability to scan a paper document and translate that into a digital PDF. Any blank lines on the paper are rendered into a form field which a recipient can then fill in.
Leary adds, “Being able to have a better process for handling, contracts, invoices, and getting signatures. All these things make you more efficient.”
Image: Adobe
