Benefits of Allowing Outside Parties Access to Your Documents as External Users

Whether your business is small or enterprise the need to collaborate with outside parties as external users is important for efficient operations. Including external users as a feature of your document management business process allows secure sharing of information electronically in minutes.

This feature in a business process management software provides convenience, accuracy, and security that other traditional business process management systems often do not offer. Determining to allow external users can immediately benefit your business in these four ways:

• Reduced Loss of Documents
  External users can have access to specified documents for reviewing, amending, editing, or signing. The complications of waiting long periods of time for long distance communication, risking the loss of paper documents, or clogging email are eliminated because external users conveniently log in from their location to access the necessary document(s) to easily collaborate.
• Reduced Searching
  Searching will become obsolete because external users are given a direct link to the designated document(s). A direct link allows more time for reviewing, editing, amending, and signing because the necessary information can be found in a few clicks. Allowing external users will do away with the wait often produced by transporting paper documents.
• Prevent Email Risks
  • The direct link also offers more security. While your email may remain open on your or their desktop all day, the direct link for external users requires a separate login and password. The link will only grant access to specified contracts or documents and will allow limited abilities, i.e., view, edit, sign, etc. This ensures a controlled environment where external users have limited access and confidential information remains secure.
  • Another benefit of allowing external users as part of your document management software is avoiding the potential overload of your email. Sending large attachments is time consuming as well as depleting to the space in your inbox. By having an external user link you avoid email congestion along with potentially deleting or losing a document in a mass of other emails.
• Electronic Signature
  Getting a signature was often the hardest step of finalizing a contract or document because it required a physical signing that involved pen, paper, and a face to face meeting. External user access along with electronic signature makes getting final execution secure and easy. With electronic signature, you can legally sign documents to forward or finalize agreements from anywhere in minutes.

The capability of allowing external users is a benefit that one should consider to add value to your business. In addition to the convenience of having one place for viewing and collaboration, the benefits promote prompt communications, no lost documents, time and costs savings, and makes completing documents easy and more efficient.