Making Life A Little Easier
As Thanksgiving is now fast approaching upon us, probably the one thing that comes to our mind on that particular day is pure gluttony by devouring on the turkey, and of course, being with family and friends. But don’t also forget Black Friday, where supposedly, we can get some of the cheapest deals on the planet. While this traditionally starts at around 4 am or so on Friday, many retail outfits are now even opening their stores late Thursday night, like around 11 PM. I think that’s unfair, as everybody should have this day off. But if you are one of those who plans to brave the crowds on Black Friday morning, you will probably want to get out of the stores as quickly as possible.
One way to do this is to pay with the easiest way you can: with cash, or credit card. Forget bringing a check with you, you are just going to hold up lines as you attempt to fill it out, and sign your name. And believe me, people in line, especially during this very hurried time, will hate you for the delay. But, if you absolutely have to use a check, what other options does one have to help ensure that a check signing process goes through quicker? Well, believe it or not, Biometrics can come into play here, in particular, Signature Recognition. And in fact, a Biometrics Vendor known as “Wacom” has just announced it is using for retail facing applications, to help alleviate the problem of the above scenario.
Here we go: “Wacom announces sign&save, a plug-and-play signature capture solution for small to medium size businesses that are seeking to implement or improve customer-facing digital transaction processes. The sign&save solution, available in two versions, combines a Wacom signature tablet with the company's newly designed software, called sign | pro PDF, to deliver an affordable and efficient way to integrate electronic handwritten signatures into a business's daily workflow. Both versions are easy to connect to Windows-based personal computers. Additionally, each signature tablet is able to capture the static and biometric signals of individual signatures, providing an effective defense against fraud . . . The sign&save solution provides an immediate ROI by modernizing the signature capture process, making it easy for businesses to add legally-binding electronic signatures to any PDF document . . . Ultimately, sign&save is offering businesses a more efficient way to execute contracts and authorize agreements. By eliminating the need to print, scan and store documents, sign&save produces tangible results in terms of time and cost savings, not to mention the ease-of-use, security and speedy performance benefits it gives to both employees and customers.” (SOURCE: http://www.findbiometrics.com/industry-news/i/9385/).
My Take
Really, there is nothing new about Signature Recognition. It has been around, and in fact, I have been published a number of times about this subject matter. Really, it is one of those Biometric Technologies which is what I call a “silent” one. You don’t hear about it too often, but it makes its presence known. The benefits are obvious, including:
*No need for actual, raw signatures. Now, with this, electronic signatures can are now accepted very easily as legally binding;
*This is a much easier and more common sense way to protect against Identity theft;
*The technology is now pretty much plug and play, when compared to other legacy Biometric Systems;
*There is no need to fax or snail mail legal documents any more, everything can be done via e-mail, thus saving great amounts of time, and making business deals close much faster;
*A very quick ROI (again, when compared to other Biometric Technologies);
*This solution is perfect for the SME, who hires a lot of road warrior employees. Now, with Signature Recognition, business contracts can be signed off with customers in just a matter of seconds and approved by the home office very quickly;
*With this Biometric Technology, e-signatures can be merged very quickly with PDF documents. Remember, PDF’s are basically images, thus it can be very difficult to store or save copies of documents;
*Best of all, the price is very affordable to SME’s: Anywhere from $200-$300. And yet once again, when compared to the other Biometric Technologies, it is very, very affordable.
So, when you shop on Black Friday, try to take notice if there are any Signature Recognition devices out there, by the POS terminals. They are easy believe me. And remember, pay with credit card and cash!!! Forget the checks!!! Save time with Signature Recognition, and enjoy the much earned holiday!!!
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