We realize that many businesses are just exploring the idea of adding electronic signatures into their business processes. We also realize that many businesses have already considered utilizing electronic signatures as an option and still have a few unanswered questions. To address these questions, we created this guide “Electronic Signatures: Why Your Company Should Move to a Paperless Process,” to provide a deeper look into electronic signatures and how eOriginal can help your company to grow. It will provide you with a detailed walk-through of the advantages and benefits your business will see by implementing an electronic paperless process. As you read through please let us know if you have any questions leave a comment or contact us; we’ll be more than happy to help out.
The benefits of switching to fully electronic agreements are clear – lower document storage costs and ease of searching electronic documents, less time between agreement presentation and full execution, and no overnight or mailing costs. However, some businesses are reluctant to leave the comfort zone of tangible paper and make this switch, no matter how beneficial it can be for their bottom line. With a solid plan in place and the right technology, any business can make this switch easily and ensure that their electronic agreements are as enforceable in court as their former paper counterparts.
No matter whether a business chooses to maintain and execute its agreements in paper hardcopy or fully electronic, the business must always be able to prove (1) that the person who signed the agreement signed it knowingly and intentionally, and (2) that the person named in the agreement is the person who actually signed the agreement. When a business uses paper hardcopy there are time and true tested ways to prove this (handwriting analysis, production of the original “blue-ink” signed agreement, detection of paper text alterations). But businesses choosing to switch to fully electronic agreements need to look at a little more than just the signature and the agreement itself to be sure those agreements are enforceable.
Courts who have evaluated the enforceability of electronically executed and/or maintained documents have provided business guidelines to ensure their electronic agreements are enforceable. Businesses must be sure that the technology and procedures they choose to execute and maintain their electronic agreements can do all five of the following:
(1) Issue user names to authorized persons and require such persons to immediately change the default password upon log in to a unique and confidential password;
(2) Automate log in password change requests such that the password is used and changed only by the person issued the user name associated with that password, and record the date, time and terminal at which each password change request is made;
(3) Present the agreement for review and execution in a manner which allows the person viewing the agreement to easily read the agreement in full, and download it to personal electronic storage and/or print it out, both before and after signing;
(4) Retain the integrity of the agreement that is posted for execution to ensure that no part of the agreement is changed after it is signed by the first party and throughout its lifetime; and
(5) Provide an “audit trail” showing every time the agreement is accessed and/or signed, the date, time and terminal at which agreement is accessed and/or signed, the user names of all persons accessing and/or signing that agreement, any “changes” to the agreement including deletions, copy print outs and electronic file transfers of the agreement, and all other information regarding the execution and maintenance of that agreement.
eOriginal® solutions comply with all five requirements for enforceability. Additionally, eOriginal offers businesses the flexibility and cost-savings of hosted, online document execution and vaulting or, if they prefer, taking the execution and vaulting functions behind the firewall on their own servers with an enterprise license. For more information on eOriginal® solutions and technology, feel free to contact our sales department.
The latest release of our SmartSign Web electronic signature service and eCore® electronic vault focused on simplifying document review and signature capture. Employing electronic signatures must be easier for your customers than the paper process, and release 6 simplifies signature capture into three easy steps, while maintaining compliance with electronic signature requirements and best practices.
Simple 3-Step Electronic Signature Process
We recognize that the electronic signature process will always be compared to the paper-based wet ink signatures. That is why we focused on simplification in this release. Signers are walked through a simple three step process, including disclosure and consent, signature capture, and receiving a copy of the signed documents. At each step, SmartSign ensures compliance with the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA) and federal E-SIGN signature requirements. The signers can pull up context sensitive help at each step in the process, and the entire process can be completed in a few minutes!
Signer Identity Verification
Many organizations are struggling with new government regulations, identity theft, and multi-factor authentication. eOriginal has integrated an electronic identify verification service into the signature experience, which includes a verification against the government OFAC database (i.e. Patriot Act Compliance) and presents signers with out-of-wallet questions from permissible use public databases. The results of the identify verification are recorded in the document audit trail, and you have the option to store the questions, responses and results in an encrypted Verification Report.
Integrate Your Way!
So you want to begin now with electronic signatures, but your IT organization is overloaded with projects? Don’t want to send your customers to a third-party website to sign your documents? Have a high-volume business that does not lend itself to your employees logging into a web site to upload documents and send invitations? Want to have the signing experience branded as your own? SmartSign Web offers zero-integration deployment, embedding the Signature Room right in your website, and automated document upload and signature preparation within your document generation/origination system. Flexibility is key to a successful electronic signature implementation, and eOriginal offers you the most options in the market today.
eCore® 6 simplifies electronic signatures and provides the flexibility you need to successfully deploy a truly paperless transaction environment.
With Labor Day here and schools across the country opening their doors to students, many people have once again begun to concern themselves with what steps they can take to reduce their exposure to the swine flu, or H1N1 virus. So many young people gathered in such cramped quarters for extended periods of time makes school officials understandably nervous about the potential spreading of this virus. Parents too are concerned that their children may be exposed to H1N1 at the same time that the usual flu season is upon us. However, the potential effects of H1N1 are not limited to schools and universities. The office workplace shares many of the same characteristics; people who spend several hours in close proximity to one another who then return home to further close interaction and extended time with their families. In fact, the potential for disruptions in the workplace is actually greater because workers who have school-age children may be forced to stay at home with children who are infected. One report from the state of Florida suggested that businesses would have to find ways to cope with a rise in absenteeism among workers who have children that become infected. Some of the ideas floated were an increased reliance on tele-commuting for those whose primary work is done on a PC, more organized flex-time arrangements to accommodate those whose physical presence is required at their workplace, and the adoption and implementation of paperless business processes wherever possible.
There are two primary reasons for the electronic or paperless initiative. The first dovetails with the increased reliance on tele-commuting; simply stated, that documents that can be securely sent, reviewed and signed regardless of the geographical location of the other entities involved makes it possible for those who are infected with swine flu or have family members that are infected to stay home and still remain productive .It may also serve to keep that worker, who is now at a higher risk of contracting H1N1 themselves, away from the office and to possibly avoid passing the virus on to other co-workers. The second reason is less understood but far more important.
The length of time that the flu can usually survive outside the body on an environmental surface, such as a doorknob or automobile latch can vary widely, but the widely accepted range is from a few minutes to perhaps two full days – depending on the specific strain of virus and the type of surface. Flu viruses tend to live longer on surfaces than standard cold viruses do, and it is generally believed that the H1N1 may mutate, allowing it to live even longer than previously thought. One study suggests that in laboratory conditions, flu virus can survive for up to two weeks or more on paper. Quoting from that article, Dr. Yves Thomas and other colleagues at the Geneva University Hospital in Switzerland dripped multiple strains of flu virus – including some that were circulating during winter 2007 – onto Swiss banknotes and left them at room temperature for varying amounts of time previously testing for live virus. Some strains of flu lasted only two hours, but some lasted up to 72 hours. However, all the strains lasted longer when they were dripped onto the notes along with human nasal mucus. Some lasted as long as 17 days. One strain that lasted only two hours on its own lasted 24 hours in mucus. “I’m surprised the virus persisted so long,” says Graeme Laver, an expert in the spread of bird flu, formerly of the Australian National University in Canberra. But the flu virus likes wet environments – and mucus is ideal because it is designed to retain water.
eOriginal offers improved workflow and security and can eliminate the need for paper processes. The electronic process is completely secure and will help to streamline your business processes. As long as a signer has internet access, your documents can be signed, secured, and managed online allowing you to execute your business transactions from anywhere, anytime. We can also assist in eliminating missing signatures and incomplete documents. Your internal or external customers cannot complete the signing process without documents being properly signed. This can also reduce or eliminate the need to ship or re-ship documents and reduces the need for multiple employees, couriers, and signers to physically handle documents.
eOrignal’s electronic signature solutions can reduce the amount of paper that travels through your office that needs to be physically handled throughout your business process and, as added benefit with the reduction of paper, your employees may remain healthier throughout the flu season. As President Obama said about H1N1 in a recent speech to the National Institutes of Health, “We want to make sure we are not promoting panic. but we are promoting vigilance and preparation.” Good preparation and a willingness to act before a problem strikes are hallmarks of great companies and institutions. Please feel free to contact us to ask how eOriginal can help you with your electronic business initiative.
A direct lender originating loans throughout the nation, Mission Hills Mortgage Bankers is a division of Gateway... Read Our Featured Success Stories ›
Speak to a Sales Associate
Intellectual Property
Integration
Compliance
Security
Professional Services
Securitization
