We sound like a broken record at this point, but the pandemic truly has changed the way everyone is viewing digital innovation. While many of the transformations have been for the better, the drastic increase in digital involvement has started to take a toll on people across the nation and the world. Digital fatigue is a real thing, and it’s causing people to avoid technology when they can. This phenomenon is most prevalent in the workplace, as many companies made an abrupt switch to remote work and threw the team in headfirst. Two years into it and many companies still rely heavily on technology adopted from the get-go.
What this means for employees is nearly two years of screen time. Two years of working from home, relying on virtual meetings, emails, team chats, and webinars to get their information. If you ask just about any employee who’s still working remotely, we’re sure they’ll say they experience some form of digital fatigue. Luckily, many of the solutions people are tired of are “mainstream.” You can avoid digital fatigue by presenting your company as different with unique options.
Online Dispute Resolution and AI Mediation
As you likely know, many court proceedings went virtual at the start of the pandemic. Even today, two years in, many courts have hybrid options because virtual trials proved to be efficient, convenient, and cost-effective. However, virtual court is essentially a giant video conference. We’ve all had our fair share of virtual meetings or hangouts, and we’re a bit tired of sitting in front of a webcam for hours each day. Resolve Disputes Online (RDO) is a great option for litigators because it combines the best parts of video conferencing with the time-saving capabilities of Artificial Intelligence. An entire settlement can be handled in the RDO platform via video tools, chat options, and AI Mediation!
What is AI Mediation? Essentially, it’s a digital option to allow you to reach a settlement without ever meeting in-person, or online. It’s become one of the most popular Resolve Disputes Online features because it’s significantly faster, more affordable, and less stressful than the traditional mediation process. Considering many mediation cases arise due to high tensions about a situation, many clients have found comfort in not having to be in the same room as the opposing party. The AI Mediator takes in information about the case and automatically creates a suggested solution. Parties can then negotiate in-platform until a compromise is reached. There’s no need for legal fees, travel, days off work, or distress caused by tense situations. AI Mediation is the future of dispute resolution, and it’s much more efficient and interesting than another Zoom meeting.
Digital Evidence Management
I challenge you to find a single person who genuinely enjoys receiving emails. Odds are, most will tell you that they’re a necessary evil. Of course, emails are extremely effective when you want to discuss a lot of information. The receiver can look back to it as needed and respond immediately with questions or comments. That being said, over the past two years, everyone has moved to emails, including the Justice System. Without offices, information is exchanged either via conference call or email. Add that to the massive intake of personal emails and you’re looking at a very full inbox. The issue is, when the inbox belongs to lawyers or detectives working on a case, things can get lost or missed very easily.
When it comes to sharing evidence, email is not the best way to go. Threads can get long, making it nearly impossible to find a file later. More importantly, emails are not very secure, especially if the information being transferred is confidential or sensitive. Luckily, Vault, our Digital Evidence Management system is the perfect solution. With Vault, parties can upload nearly any digital file type from their device, and it’s stored in a centralized database. Vault also allows authorized users to share files securely with encryption measures. Top-tier security on the Microsoft Azure Government Cloud guarantees that evidence stays out of the hands of nefarious individuals. For added protection and accountability, all interactions with a file are automatically documented with Vault’s audit tracker to ensure proper Chain of Custody compliance. Vault places all formats of evidence in a secure and user-friendly setting so that all parties have 24/7 access. The platform is designed for ease of use and comes equipped with communication and notation options to avoid sticky notes piled high on your desk.
Enterprise Content Management Systems
If you’ve ever run a business, or worked on the administrative end, then you understand that there is a lot happening behind the scenes at all times. If we think of it in terms of a machine, the back end is comprised of countless tiny parts that all need to work together perfectly to keep the business running. The hard part is that many back-end processes are handled by a variety of departments or employees. In that case, communication is key. As we’ve already covered, communication is one of the biggest causes for digital fatigue. We don’t want to read through any more emails, nor do we want to get dressed up just to be in a video conference for hours. There is technology available to help departments or teams know what the other is doing, but many employees have even gotten tired of using those. Lives are busy, the means of communicating are not ideal, and we occasionally forget to send out a message because we get wrapped up with something else.
Enterprise Content Management (ECM) systems have been a lifesaver for companies big and small over the past two years. OnBase by Hyland Software is designed to help all the cogs in the machine work together seamlessly. Digital workflows compile tasks into a process, while content management helps to keep the back end organized. With OnBase, teams have access to important information where and when they need it without having to set up a meeting, send an email, make a phone call, or DM someone on Microsoft Teams. The best part about ECM systems is the integration and automation capabilities. You can eliminate several steps from your employees’ daily tasks and let OnBase handle them instead. It should come as no surprise that by lessening the digital workload on your team, you simultaneously lessen the severity of their digital fatigue. And, in general, Enterprise Content Management reduces overall stress, workload, and frustration by handling some of the most time-consuming tasks thus freeing up the team to focus on big projects and other priorities.
Real-Time Digital Signatures
Lastly, we want to mention real-time digital signatures. Electronic signing is not a new concept, but it is certainly helping with digital fatigue. TrueSign (our proprietary eSignature product) offers three ways to sign for your convenience. The signer can receive an email, text, or QR code and sign immediately from their smartphone. Depending on your needs, you can collect signatures in real-time via a call, or send out the request for whenever the signer is available. The process takes just a few seconds, and the signer can move on with their day. TrueSign is helping to battle digital fatigue by offering a near instant opportunity to sign documents. There’s no download needed, so turnaround isn’t bogged down at all. One part of digital fatigue that we have yet to discuss is dealing with new systems. Many of the tools we adopted during the pandemic required a learning curve. By now, people don’t want to spend hours navigating a new tool. To avoid adding to the fatigue, apps like TrueSign are extremely straightforward and relatively self-explanatory. There’s minimal learning curve, so users can jump right in and get what they need done.
We’re hopeful that innovative technology solutions will continue to offer exciting new ways to leverage digital tools. We may feel stuck in a rut at the moment, but we’ll come out on the other side soon enough. If you’re feeling the effects of digital fatigue, it might be time to look into more unique solutions. Email and video conferencing is likely not going anywhere, but they are far from the only forms of communication available to you at the moment. Through out-of-the-box solutions, we can combat digital fatigue for the remote and hybrid workforces!