The dramatic influx of remote work in 2020 brought about tons of new collaboration tools. But sometimes, the simplest functions, like signing documents, are those that can seem most difficult for businesses to overcome. That’s exactly the function that Zoho Sign aims to help with.
The tool actually launched years before the pandemic. But the past year brought about tons of new users — and thus some new features to serve them more effectively.
In addition to simply signing documents, Zoho Sign aims to provide a secure platform that helps teams automate certain functions. And through its many features and integrations, it can be a major time saver for both remote and traditional teams.
Zoho Sign
Zoho Sign originally launched back in July 2017 to facilitate digital document signing and automation. It’s available on the web, mobile apps, and as a desktop application for Mac devices. And as with many Zoho platforms, it automatically integrates with a variety of other tools in the Zoho One ecosystem.
The tool works in multiple directions. You can digitally sign documents yourself and email signed copies to employees or clients. Or you can send documents to others to request signatures, or even get documents signed on the spot.
Multiple plans are available, ranging from free to $20 per month for an enterprise plan. For teams that need to send and sign many digital documents, the enterprise plan is one of few in the industry that offers unlimited document signing. However, more affordable options are available for those that have fewer digital signature needs.
Easy Signatures
Facilitating digital signatures is the most basic function of Zoho Sign. Here’s how it works. If you need a signature from someone, simply upload the document and add the person’s contact information. Zoho will send it to them, give them everything they need to sign, and update you when it’s done. You can even send reminders right from your dashboard.
On the other end of the process, you can also use it to sign documents yourself. On your dashboard, there’s a section of documents waiting for your signature so you can review and sign them all quickly. To start signing, just enter your name, role, and email. You can also create a personal profile that includes your digital signature to make signing easy. Then you can also view analytics about your completed documents, as well as those that have been declined or are in-progress.
Zoho Sign also includes some advanced features like the ability to customize documents and requests. For example, you can add your logo and create document templates. And you can even create signing processes like approvals for docs and signatures.
Security
Some of the documents that you need to sign or have signed may include sensitive information. So it’s important that your document signing software has sufficient security features.
Zoho Sign includes military-grade encryption and blockchain technology to keep documents and workflows secure. You can also have documents and signatures authenticated to ensure your processes are followed. The tool also complies with e-signature laws like ESIGN and eIDAS.
Chandramouli Dorai, Product Marketer for Zoho Sign & Vault said in a phone interview with Small Business Trends, “A lot of small businesses don’t know the difference between an e-signature and a digital signature. An e-signature is basically just an image of your signature added to a document. It’s still legally valid, but can easily be forged. A digital signature cannot be tampered with, so it provides more security. And Zoho Sign is a digital signature platform.”
Integrations
Zoho Sign integrates with more than a dozen platforms in the Zoho ecosystem and beyond to make digital signatures even easier. Within Zoho tools like Zoho CRM, you can easily request document signatures in the same dashboard. This can be a powerful automation and time saving effort for sales, onboarding, or customer service teams.
Dorai explains, “If you get a new lead coming into Zoho CRM, you can automatically send an NDA to them as part of your normal workflow without leaving the original application.”
But there are also integrations with other platforms like Microsoft Teams, Gmail, and Zapier. So even if you or your team members or clients work from these other platforms, completing digital signatures should be relatively straightforward.
Remote Work Updates
Starting in March 2020, Zoho Sign began to see a major spike in signups. In fact, users increased by about three times the normal rate. And that usership grew on a global scale, from Asia to Latin America. So one of the first updates Zoho prioritized was enhancing the ability for the tool to operate around the world.
Dorai says, “To cater to this new audience, we started rolling out Zoho Sign in more regional languages. So now the entire document signing process is available in 12 languages. And we have plans to increase that to 24 languages by the end of 2021.”
However, this was just one of the many updates that Zoho Sign added throughout the past year to meet this new demand. Others include:
- Releasing the new Mac and iPad apps
- Increasing upload limits from 25 documents to 40 at once
- Adding more integrations within the Zoho ecosystem
- Adding extra integrations with third-party tools like Microsoft Teams
- Enhancing the mobile platforms
- Introducing cloud backup options
- Allowing full customization of email templates
Zoho is constantly working to improve its full array of products to meet the demands of today’s businesses. The past year has changed so much about how businesses operate. And Zoho Sign provides a simple yet sophisticated solution to a common problem. So along with its integrations with other Zoho One platforms, this tool has and will likely continue to be a big part of supporting remote operations.
