Arik Hesseldahl at BusinessWeek wrote an interesting article this week which references corporate America’s efforts to eliminate paper and the subsequent progress over the last 30+ years. The following are a few highlights from the article:

“Thirty-three years ago this month the phrase “paperless office” entered the business lexicon in a BusinessWeek article titled “The Office of the Future.” In the article, George Pake, the legendary head of the Xerox (XRX) Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), foresaw technology that by 1995 would let computer users summon on-screen documents “by pressing a button,” eliminating the need for much if not all the printed paper cluttering workspaces…But the dream of a workplace where all that technology would eliminate the need for printed documents remains just that—a dream…

Three decades on, the financial and environmental imperative to reduce paper use is all the more real. Last year, U.S. companies printed 1.5 trillion pages, according to research firm IDC. That’s a 95,000-mile-high stack of paper, or the equivalent of 15 million to 20 million trees. RISI analyst John Maine esimates that companies will spend about $8 billion this year on paper alone; that doesn’t include costs for ink, toner, or running copiers, printers, and fax machines. In the typical office, for every dollar spent on printing documents, companies incur another six dollars in handling and distribution, according to Xerox…

Anyone who’s even come close to buying a house can attest to the mountains of paper amassed by the mortgage industry. Peabody (Mass.)-based 1-800 East West Mortage cut its annual paper use by two-thirds, in part by using a Xerox product that replaces paper with Web-based forms, digital disclosure documents, and electronic signatures, says Gary Roche-Bernard, the company’s director of information technology. Funding turnaround times went from an average of 15 days to 4, storage costs dropped by 75%, and the number of leased copiers went from 12 to 6. “There have been studies that put the paper costs of mortgages at $250 to $300,” says Judson Phillips, a Xerox vice-president. “We can get those costs down in the low teens on a typical mortgage.” (Read more)

Companies of all size and industry are now having a greater understanding regarding the ease and convenience of using Sertifi’s Electronic Signature solution. By having contracts, agreements, etc. signed electronically, clients are able to close deals faster, keep better track of forms/documents, and significantly decrease their fixed costs by limiting paper usage. 

The mortgage industry - for example - is one of many industries that benefits from implementing Sertifi’s Electronic Signature solution into their process since the agreements are multi-paged and require numerous paper based copies of each agreement.

It’s worth noting, Sertifi’s solution can be implemented in various procedures of business operations outside of just sales. Our clients use electronic signatures to manage and track contracts, employee time sheets, even company expenses! 

Find out how electronic signatures how can help your business close deals faster and go paperless today!