As a business owner, I find myself signing documents on a regular basis. It may seem like a simple process, but signing and returning documents is often a pretty big hassle. Here are the typical steps involved in signing a contract.

1. Receive the contract as an email attachment
2. Read through the contract
3. Print the document
4. Sign the document and fill in other required information
5. Scan the signed document
6. Save the document as a PDF with Adobe Acrobat
7. Email the signed contract back to the sender

As you can see, simply signing a contract is anything but simple. If the other party needs to countersign the document, they need to go through the same process all over again. Sometimes when I receive countersigned documents, the text is hardly legible since it's been scanned multiple times. It's ridiculous.

For many years, I've thought there has to be an easier way to complete this process. I've also tried to make my business completely paperless, so I get frustrated each time I have to print, sign, and scan a contract. It wastes paper and time.

Thank goodness for Adobe EchoSign. I used EchoSign for the first time this past week and it was awesome. I received a link to the contract, which I reviewed in my web browser. The required fields were highlighted, so I just tabbed through them and filled in the necessary information. I signed my name in the signature box using my mouse (though of course you can also use a touchscreen).

Once I filled in all the required fields and signed the document, EchoSign notified me that I was ready to transmit the signed contract. When I clicked Submit, the contract was transmitted securely through the EchoSign website. This is another huge benefit, since I didn't have to password-protect the document or transmit sensitive information over email.

With EchoSign, both parties receive a signed contract that retains 100% of the quality of the original version since it hasn't been physically printed and scanned. This signature field makes the document legally valid in countries around the world, so it's just like signing and scanning a paper document, without the hassle.

EchoSign uses Adobe's PDF technology, but unlike Acrobat, the interface is intuitive and easy to use. While I haven't been thrilled with some of Adobe's recent products, EchoSign is a notable exception. It's simply the most efficient document signing process I've ever seen.