<p>HelloSign, the web-based electronic signature service covered by BetaKit in August, has teamed up with Google, Fujitsu, Expensify and Manilla to start an initiative to remove all paper-based activities including faxing, expense reporting and note-taking from the office. Since 2010, HelloSign's parent company, HelloFax, has been in the business of helping users fax documents online. Now, HelloSign, which lets users sign documents digitally, plans to help people eliminate the need for fax machines, printers and scanners completely by providing the tools necessary to finally realize the long-held dream of the "paperless office."</p><p>Google also reached out to the Y Combinator incubated signature service, which integrated with Google Drive back in October, requesting that HelloSign build a feature allowing Gmail users to facilitate e-signatures without leaving their inbox. With the integration of HelloSign's technology into Gmail, users will be able to click any document sent by email and sign it instantly.</p><p>In an interview with BetaKit, co-founder and CEO Joseph Walla said that Gmail's new e-signature feature will be available for free. "Out of the gate, it's going to be free and my guess is that we're probably going to keep it permanently free," said Walla. He did add that the company is still open to the possibility of a freemium business model that would cap the number of free uses of the tool and likely charge a monthly subscription for frequent users.</p><p>HelloSign's regular e-sign features include Box and Dropbox integration so users can choose documents, in addition to its option for users to either create or upload a previously saved signature. HelloSign lets users email their documents directly from the page, with the option of adding in a message, creating a relatively seamless process for a formerly paper-based task that would involve printing, signing, scanning, and emailing a document.</p><p><a href="http://betakit.com/2013/01/01/hellosign-partners-with-google-adds-gmail-integration-to-bring-e-sign-to-the-inbox">Keep reading...</a></p>