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There are many ways to integrate electronic signatures and esignatures into your business process – below is our recommendations for what to look for in an eSignature provider ( we are a little bias! ) . However we would like to share with everyone our experience having worked with customers such as Microsoft, Pitney Bowes, Comcast and many other companies. From our press release:
1.Ease of Use: Look for an esignature solution that makes signing agreements quick and easy.
2. Signer Authentication: Authentication tools ensure the right person is at the other end of the transaction.
3. Security: Find a solution that is as safe as possible; the transaction should be done over a secure network with document encryption when finished.
4. Guided Process: Solutions should guide the signer to each place they are to sign or initial. This ensures they do not miss a signature or sign in the wrong place.
5. Transportability: Documents must be easily adaptable to ensure its compatibility with the software application the signer opens the document in.
6. Multiple Signatures: Users should be able to allow more than one person in more than one place to sign the document.
7. Audit Trails: The solution should give a detailed audit report on signed agreements and it should be able to stand up in court.
8. Analytics: Information about when agreements were sent, signed and the average time it takes the creator to close.
9. Compliance: To be considered legally binding, documents must meet the same strict standards and basic requirements as paper signatures.
10. Reminders: Find a solution that allows creators to set a series of reminders to alert them when someone has or has not signed after a certain length of time.
To learn more please visit our Sertifi website at www.sertifi.com
This is an exciting time for Sertifi as we are are seeing more and more platforms open up with esignature integration capabilities. We have completed a recent MS Dynamics install with the Tribune group and are currently working on many more. The Sertifi eSignature solution can also be found on the new MS Dynamics pinpoint site which list details about our solution.
So why is there so much interest in MS Dynamics 2011? A few reasons we have heard why companies are choosing MS Dynamics over other CRM vendors:
- Save Money – Microsoft offers a significantly lower price than the competition
- Ease of use and integration with other MS technologies
- Dynamics CRM allows you to build more entities and workflows over the competition
In a online environment where transactions between two or more parties take place, the protection of data is crucial for all parties involved. In some cases the actual signing process may be adequate and meet E-Signature requirements, but accessibility could cause problems.
Take the case of Karr vs. Dillard Store Services, where a employee brought a suit claiming race discrimination, and the employer attempted to force a signature of the customer on a required arbitration agreement, via the company’s in-house built technology. Although the actual agreement had the employees signature on it, the employee denied knowingly signing the contract. Later on it was learned that the employer had repeatedly insisted on the employee’s signature. The Electronic Signature process used by the employer was E-Sign compliant, but a case was made since the system was set up in a way where the employees supervisor had access to the employee’s account and could actually log in and sign as the employee. Moreover, the plaintiff claimed that her supervisor signed the arbitration agreement, without the consent of the employee, during a “demonstration” of how the technology works. What the court was deciding on, in essence, was a electronic signature created by someone logged in to the plaintiff’s account. The court declined to attribute the purported electronic signature to the plaintiff and thus the arbitration agreement was unenforceable, reasoned by inadequate procedures to maintain passwords and restrict access to unauthorized parties.
Restricting access to unauthorized user and having a strong security level is becoming increasingly important and in this case we can see that access to users within the system must also be restricted to some extent. With Sertifi you can be assured that all accounts are only accessible only by authorized members since users can only retrieve their own passwords and “Super Administrative” access is limited to files signed and sent by users, not the actual signature. We are constantly increasing our security standards making sure our customers are in the safest environment possible when signing.
Our team is constantly striving to improve the signature experience for users and has just released the ReAssign feature. This feature allows signers to forward a contract that has been sent to them to another signer. So, for example, say a person in sales receives a document for signature but the person who actually needs to sign it is the VP of sales, the person in sales can forward the signature request to the VP securely. This not only saves valuable time when executing a contract but also ensures that the contract is rerouted to the correct person, securely. For more information on how ReAssign works contact us.
In an effort to make the signature process more convenient and customizable for our users, we just released the Approvals Module. Originally created of one of our larger clients, the practicality and effectiveness of it has made it increasingly popular. The Approvals Module can be best explained under a scenario. Lets say that you send receipts and expenses out for approval internally using our electronic signature solution. Up to this point the person approving these expenses would either sign if he approves or not sign if he disapproves. With this new module the signer can now indicate if he approves or disapproves and this will be noted in the signature stamp and also change the color of the signature stamp depending on what he chooses.
This tool can be especially useful if more than one person are needed to approve, since the color coordinated signature stamp is easy to identify and makes the process much quicker and easier.
Contact our sales team for more information on how to integrate the Approvals Module to your account today!
Mike from SnappTraffic Consulting Says…
“As a technology consultant at a firm that helps companies set-up and customize their Salesforce.com account, I recently finished a project with a client that was seeking an electronic signature solution. After considering several vendors, we chose Sertifi’s Esign solution.
Sertifi’s ability to customize the solution to our exact needs was the primary reason we moved forward with their Esign solution. For example, we needed HTML forms so that the signer could input information before signing – Sertifi could do it. We needed seamless integration with Salesforce.com – Sertifi is listed on Salesforce.com’s AppExchange. We needed to send forms that changed based on customer needs – Sertifi could handle it. Best of all, Sertifi’s solution was priced better than the competition.
Working with the Sertifi team was a pleasure. They completed their customizations quickly and were able to meet on our schedule. Sertifi did a great job and provided an excellent solution – I look forward to working with your team in the future!”
The below is a recent customer testimonial from a client that has integrate Sertifi’s Esign solution within their Salesforce.com account.
Sertifi’s seamless integration gives Salesforce.com clients the ability to send contract directly from their Salesforce.com account with a simple click of a button! Sending, signing, tracking, and storing contracts within Salesforce.com has never been easier.
“For over a year CAP has used Sertifi to get approvals for payment requests. The Sertifi functionality offered a great tool for sending items from Region to National Headquarters for payment, but also from National Headquarters to Region for approval.
The benefit of Sertifi over traditional email approvals is that Sertifi gives the administrator a quick view of the items still out for approval and which documents have been viewed. With traditional email approvals, the administrator must track return emails. This can be cumbersome when you have several items out for approval.
Another benefit is the finished document has all of the approvals – with time/date stamps – on one page. With traditional email approvals, one would have to print all of the emails and attach to the invoice. This could entail numerous sheets of paper attached to the invoice, which means your files are enormous.
Using Sertifi’s Electronic Signature Solution has made the process of getting payment requests filled out and returned a lot easier and much less time consuming.”
Sertifi was pleasantly informed this week that our Electronic Signature solution was highlighted in Steve Monas and Richard Hooker’s new book titled “Shoestring Venture – The Startup Bible.”
The book is an excellent toolbox for startups of all shapes and sizes. As the authors state, “Shoestring gives you the tools you need to start your new venture or take your current business several levels higher by exploiting the resources our interconnected world offers you.”
The recurring idea is that you, as a startup, should focus most of your attention on doing what you are good at and outsource available resources to take care of all the other aspects that play a part in your venture. “The more time you spend doing tasks related to what you do best, the more competitive your business will be and the more likely your venture will succeed…Big companies like to concentrate on doing the things that they can do better than anyone else. They find vendors or suppliers to do the rest”.
Sertifi’s Electronic Signature solution frees you from the burden of worrying and/or wasting time in regards to having your contracts, agreements, forms, etc. signed with the a paper based signing process. The signing process via Sertifi’s solution couldn’t be easier. Typically, one would have to wait for a contract to get come via the mail/courier service or sweat over a fax. But, with Sertifi’s paperless signing process, your forms and documents are signed and stored electronically giving you peace of mind and time/cost savings.
In closing, “Shoestring Venture – The Startup Bible” will serve as a excellent guide to anyone who owns a business – whether its a startup or established business – so long as the ultimate goal is to become more efficient and productive by focusing on what you do best by utilizing vendors to do all the legwork that could tie up your busy schedule.
For more information or to pre-order the book please click here
