eOriginal SmartSign® has the most comprehensive digital signing process on the market however there is a great deal more to securing your digitally signed business agreements.

A digital signature can be legally binding but that is only the first component of creating a digital asset whose value must be protected in accordance with business practices and compliance with legal and regulatory statutes appropriate to the industry in which the asset will reside.

The total digital asset consists of the digital signature, the digital document to which it is associated, and how they are bound in combination to certify them as a “unique” electronic original document. Life cycle management processes that dictate their access permission, transfer rights, and a legally admissible audit trail that tracks these processes are all also included in creating a digital asset.

These “back-end” processes have important legal, business continuity and regulatory implications that become critical if the digital asset is to retain its commercial value as an electronic transaction. This is of even greater importance when it will serve as chattel or likely to be transferred on a rights basis or by location.

This is why lightweight offerings, particularly pure-play signing tools, don’t provide the full set of features such as a unique authoritative copy or the back-end functionality for life cycle management and audit trails needed to create a true digital asset. So, the obligations for development, integration, compliance and liability are placed on the client.

This is why eOriginal has placed equal emphasis on perfecting and integrating both the front-end signature process and the back-end life cycle management process. The architectural requirements to seamlessly execute these components, while meeting every regulatory statute that governs these processes, is significant and the basis for many of our patents in this field.

So by its nature, eOriginal’s SmartSign has to be more robust than even comprehensive electronic content management or document management offerings while playing nicely with them by complementing their functionality and compliance to provide a better overall system for digital assets.

eOriginal is the only esignature provider that has been certified by top ratings agencies for securitization. And, while this securitization capability is not necessary for every electronic transaction, the underlying functionality that earned such a rating is very relevant to serious businesses.

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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.

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