Date: 2006-05-30
The qualities of the PDF format can aid in business processes and information management where recording and communicating transactions of customers is primary. Using the PDF format now means providing better service.
If, for example, hotels were to convert their reservation systems into one that integrated PDF formats, electronically pre-filled forms might be better suited for convenience. The PDF speaks for itself when it helps to manage an organization’s relationships with its customers.
For the vendor’s business workflow, PDFs reduce mailing costs and the amount of paper printed. Because there can be d ifferent forms of paper work—invoices, data analysis, and purchasing transactions, the PDF becomes even more versatile because it can be converted from one format into another electronically.
Just as it is with banks, a key concern among consumer groups is the potential for fraud. Small businesses need security not only for transmitting their clients' personal data across the Internet, but also to keep it secure in their hard drives for record-keeping. Business organizations can easily prevent any mishandling of data, unauthorized record changes or fraudulent account information. Digital signatures and signing capabilities with PDFs are much more effective at the document level. Security doesn’t have to come with a big 24 hour monitoring company—it can come in the form of the PDF.
The benefit is a win-win situation: saving resources at the vendor end and for the client who can
easily create PDF and who now doesn’t have to deal with frustrated workers and loose paper forms.