eSignature Vendor or Electronic Original Vendor?

Val Daly

Director of Customer Services

If you are reading this article, you are probably looking to improve workflow, increase productivity and cut costs.  Most likely, you are evaluating electronic signature products as one means to achieve this goal.  With the plethora of electronic signing vendors available, how do you know which one is right for you?  Most importantly, how do you know when you need more than just an eSignature?

Let’s start with a simple definition of an eSignatures.  An electronic signature, by definition of the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA), is any “electronic sound, symbol, or process attached to or logically associated with a record and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the record.”  That’s a broad definition, leading to a wide variety of electronic signature solutions ranging from clicking an ‘I Agree’ button, embedding an image or text that describes the signer, to embedding a digitized version of a hand-written signature (often referred to as a biometric signature) and anything in between.

Each of these eSignature approaches are valid methods of electronic signing.  Which approach is right for you depends on a variety of factors:

•  How closely do you need or want to mirror the paper signing process (very often a comfort factor for your signers)?
•  Do you need to capture signatures on specific areas within your documents?
•  Will your signers be signing at a point of presence facility or will they need to sign remotely anywhere, anytime?

Once you have identified the eSigning approach that meets your needs, you need to ask yourself one more question – is eSigning enough?

Sometimes an esignature alone is ample; however, very often, it is not.  An eSignature process alone will not protect against scenarios in which signers may execute multiple versions of the same document or generate multiple, indistinguishable copies creating confusion as to which one is the original opening the door for possible fraud.  An eSignature process does not address the management and control of the electronically signed document throughout its lifecycle nor will it address the ability to electronically securitize or assign the document if necessary…but an Electronic Original^® process will.

An Electronic Original process not only offers full electronic signing capabilities, but it also manages the electronically signed document in a secure repository, or electronic vault, establishing control and uniqueness of the electronically signed document.  To further secure the document, it is digitally sealed, making content and signature revisions readily identifiable.  Access to the vaulted document is controlled and all activities are recorded in a sealed audit trail.  Furthermore, Electronic Original documents may represent electronic chattel and are rated the same as paper chattel and may be electronically securitized or assigned.

To learn more about the Electronic Original process and whether it is right for you, check out The Electronic Original Company^®, our knowledgeable staff can help you determine if you need more than eSigning.

Categories: Customer Service, Electronic Signatures
Tagged: electronic original, electronic signature solutions, eSignatures, eVault

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1. What is A Digital Signature? - eOriginal® Electronic Signature Blog - February 25th, 2010 at 4:00 pm

   [...] of eOriginal SmartSign®. SmartSign ensures your organization can easily and rapidly conform to the UETA and ESIGN legislation to make all of your electronic signing processes legal and [...]