Johannesburg, 23 Jun 2015
As organisations of all types and sizes look to improve efficiencies, boost innovation and capitalise on new opportunities, electronic signatures and signature pads are becoming a vital part of the technology mix, particularly technologies used to engage with new customers.
One of these companies is the Virgin Active group of health clubs, which uses electronic signature pads to simplify the sign-up process for new members. Having deployed the ePad-Vision electronic signature pad across all of its clubs nationwide, Virgin Active is now rolling them out in all of its clubs throughout Africa.
With a large, full-colour LCD screen, the ePad-Vision allows Virgin Active to display its logo and welcome messages, while making sign-up quick and easy for new members. Richard Bailey, IT Director at Virgin Active, says the group found that members were often pressed for time, and the use of the electronic signatures has made signing up and signing in much faster. In addition, the use of the ePad-vision allows automated workflow and cost savings.
"The ePad-Vision is simple to deploy, and we are happy with its reliability and durability. We have found that the entire process has become more efficient and we can offer better service to our members as a result of the improved speed and efficiency using electronic signatures allows," Bailey says. "Using electronic signatures helped us make the sign-up and sign-in process easier, which is one of the things we set out to achieve, and we have made it part of our standard process across all of our clubs in Africa."
In addition to the time-saving element, Virgin Active's use of the ePad-Vision has reduced its paper environment, where staff and customers have to handle physical documents, leading to savings on the cost of paper, printer-related items, storage space, filing cabinets and manpower. Similarly, the convenience of an instant electronic sign-in process makes it easy for members to use Virgin Active's facilities while providing the assurance of POPI compliant storage of their information.
Paul Wright, founder of Datafinity, local distributor of the ePad-Vision signature pads, says in today's digital business environment, everything is electronic, and companies can enjoy a dramatic improvement in compliance and efficiency through the use of electronic signatures. "Companies have become used to creating, managing and storing their documents electronically, and the use of digital signatures as part of this process not only makes economic sense, but provides a means to become more efficient."
The benefits that Virgin Active has enjoyed from the deployment of the ePad-Vision signature pads include the reduction in time delays associated with physical signatures as well as improved processes. These, says Wright, are just a few of the advantages offered by electronic signatures. "This technology ensures improved customer service, a reduction in organisational risk, as well as significant cost savings, and we are proud to have been able to assist Virgin Active in achieving this," he concludes.