The Electronic Signature in Global and National Commerce Act, also referred to as simply the E-sign act, became legally effective recently. The legislation was implemented in order to create a means of combining traditional processes for business transactions with the current trends in online business technology. Basically, the ESIGN act supports the progression of e-commerce and allows legal use of e-signatures to remove restrictions online contracts and agreements. The approval of the E-sign act enabled the United States to start more projects that were directed towards e-commerce and transitioning business processes into 100% paperless procedures.

There are a number of new uses for e-signatures that have contributed to speeding up the processing of many business transactions. New features and functions have redefined the value and importance of e-signatures, expanding the potential of this technology to new heights. Since the approval of the legislation, it became obvious to many that e-signatures could be integrated into almost any online trade as a way of managing and verifying transactions and applications a lot faster. Development projects for the use of e-signatures became prevalent everywhere online, as online businesses wanted to see e-signatures used everywhere.

One new function for e-signatures is its integration with various program interfaces. The extension of platform capabilities for e-signatures allows for its use in office systems such as CRM, CMS and ERP. This application of the e-signature has helped a lot of offices in eliminating their paper processes and going green in their operations. This application also reduces office operational costs by saving money on paper supplies. Offices can now have a means of verifying and authenticating documents without having to revert to printing and having documents physically signed.

Another important function that has made e-signatures more useful since the E-sign act is its assimilation into real estate businesses. Some e-signature providers have partnered with the National Association of Realtors to offer realtor branded e-signatures. The amount of time saved for real estate transactions makes this a really worthwhile innovation. Realtors no longer have to track people down to get signatures for approvals and verification. Now, everything is as simple as a few clicks of a mouse button.

E-signatures have also been utilized in mobile devices since the E-sign act. People can now send, track and sign important electronic documents using their Apple iPhone or iPad. Apps have been created by providers to allow the use of these devices to close business deals faster. They can also be used to modify documents for e-signatures and for the downloading and archiving of contracts and other important electronic paperwork. This means that businesses can become more mobile, an advantage which is increasingly becoming more important.

The approval of the E-sign act has really changed the business landscape. The broadened use of e-signatures has helped create a faster, greener, and more logical way of doing business anytime, anywhere. Businesses and organizations now see many possibilities in the near future with the approval of the act, and only time will tell what the next big innovation for e-signatures is going to be.