E-Signature Software Comparison

If you are researching an e-signature software solution, you may have narrowed your search to a few well known esignature vendors. Most vendors, including ConXPoint, provide their esignature services on a subscription basis.

Cost of E-Signature Tools

You may find yourself over analyzing the cost trying to justify the monthly fee, just to get documents signed. Us true believers in the technology understand the cost of doing business without e-signature technology.

The monthly cost of e-signature tools pales in comparison to the inefficient habits of our past. One of President Obama’s, like him or not,  agenda items is to move our medical system off of inefficient paper records and on to electronic management systems.

As I have said before, there is no paperless system possible when signatures are required without an esignature solution.

The Right eSignature Software

You may need just quick one off signatures, and there are tools out there for that. Again, most of these tools have a monthly fee. So, plan to do a lot of business each month just to justify the cost of the software.

Another alternative is to use a service that integrates e-signature software for around the same price that you would pay for a “one-trick-pony” software that only offers an e-signature service.

The right e-signature software may be different for everyone, but the service offered by ConXPoint isn’t just an e-signature tool.

ConXPoint built its system for professionals wanting a paperless office. It’s a tool that once your documents are uploaded, you’ll never have to print, scan, upload again – unless you just enjoy doing that and want to print them.

Of course I am biased, but as you research the best e-signature software for your business, think of software services that combine many of the tools you need into a monthly subscription that can be as low as $10 a month.

• Document collaboration (internal/external)
• Version control / revision history retention
• Intranet access / customer portal/ remote access
• Project management
• Video conferencing
• Security (roles/permissions) management

Try the ConXPoint system free for a month and comment here to let others know what you think. I would love to hear your opinion as well as others here looking for the best e-signature solution for their business.

Large Businesses Still Resist E-Signatures

I do my best to write articles about e-signatures on this blog that will inspire business owners to begin using them to make their paper workflows more efficient. But, every now and then, and maybe more so lately, I get a bit perturbed when companies that I do business with continue to delay my business due to a signature on a document requirement.

I’m certainly not saying that signing my intent to do business is not important. My frustration comes when I encounter a grossly inefficient process that makes doing business with  particular company more difficult and ultimately delays my business activity.

Case in point. Almost 2 weeks ago I registered online with my bank to start doing online banking. I know, for someone complaining about efficiency, you’d think I had been banking online for years.

Anyway, I gave the bank my information and was told someone would contact me in 2 business days. I then received an email saying they are “snail mailing” me a document to sign confirming my intent to enter the program, and that I’d be able to log in 3 business days after they receive the signed document.

Due to the bank’s inefficient process, they are basically saying, “thank you for signing up for electronic banking to reduce the cost of paying bills and make bill paying more efficient. We see you are a progressive type that is unafraid of technology and instead use it to make your life easier. However, we are not. You must first wait for us to complete our inefficient process because we still do things the old way, a way that is much more costly and cumbersome to our employees and patrons. We’d prefer to delay your progress by collecting a handwritten signature, then file it away in our massive document storage room instead of taking advantage of e-signature so we can begin doing business right away.”

I sent an email to the person who sent me the document to sign letting her know by simply using electronic signatures, she could save both of us time, and save her bank money by eliminating needless tasks, postage, and paperwork, but she never replied to my email.

Update – Jan 15, 2008:

I received a call today from my bank’s Executive VP of Retail thanking me for this blog article. He informed me that they are indeed in the process of implementing e-signature technology within their bank to make their customer’s experience more efficient. I know for sure that once they implement e-signatures and adjust to the new workflow they will be rewarded with greater customer satisfaction and cost reduction. Congratulations!

If you are a small business that cannot afford to hire a full-time IT staff to implement e-signature technology in your own business, give us a call and we can provide you a cost affective e-signature solution.

Electronic File Management & Document Storage

Many business owners feel perfectly fine with filing papers in locked file cabinets and drawers, giving the key to those needing access. Others who have moved to electronic document storage have documents stored on secure servers with the ability to limit access to those files by password. Although for those not so technically inclined, setting up servers and security can be an overwhelming, time-consuming, and a costly task for small business owners wanting to shift to an electronic file management process.

One reason business owners may want to convert to an electronic document/file management process is because we live in an increasingly mobile society, and remote access to documents is not only more safe, but much more convenient than paper. Gone are the days of having to drive in to the office to grab a file or to the post office to mail it. Electronic file storage makes documents accessible from anywhere in the world.

This isn’t a new concept. Large enterprises have been using secure servers to store files for at least a decade. But, only over the last five or so years has this technology become affordable for small businesses and firms. Before, small businesses had to hire or outsource an IT staff to setup and maintain a server in house. Now, there are a number of online services that will let you create secure remote file repositories. Some services, such as ours, offers the ability to share documents and collaborate on documents with other users. Our service also lets you set permissions for each user to prevent them from accessing or even knowing that the document exists.

But there are things you should definitely consider before you choose an online file management service such as price of course, reputation, availability of support, and security. If you are a contract worker, or if you regularly request signatures, then you should seek a tool that provides a built in e-signature tool, as this is the only way you can truly go paperless and maintain an electronic file management workflow.

I’d like to hear of other features that are necessary for small businesses to further enhance the evolution of this technology. If there is a specific feature or need you have, I’d like to hear about it.

E-Signature Integrity & Document Security

I’ve written a lot about e-signatures and the benefits of e-signature over more inefficient processes, but document security and electronic access to signed documents play an important role in the overall integrity of the electronic signature.

A comment on a recent article I wrote raised a very important point about the integrity of the originally signed document. He is absolutely correct that the authenticity of an electronically signed document must be able to be verified. One example to this point may be a document that must be signed by more than one person. Say a husband, wife, a lawyer, and a notary have to sign one particular document. By law, one person cannot electronically sign the document, print it out, then have the remaining signers sign by hand.

As such, it is important to use a reputable e-signature vendor that provides both long-term storage of the original document and a sequential e-signature feature that enables mutliple signers to electronically sign the document in a specific predetermined order.

A reputable e-signature vendor will enable sequential signing, carbon copies of signed documents for all signers, and store the original document in a secure environment in order for the carbon copies to be authenticated for years to come.

Signature Fraud Prevention

I stumbled on a website today that discusses how to handle documents that are suspected to be forged, and I wanted to bring it to the attention of readers here.

This website talks a lot about cases and scenarios in which signatures were forged and how people have had to go to court or hire a forgery forensics specialist to determine if the signature is indeed a fake. This site also has Forgery Prevention Tips for people to avoid having a document forged or their signature forged, and possibly their identity stolen.

Nowhere on the Forgery Prevention Tips page did this person recommend using electronic signatures to prevent signature fraud. I’m not that surprised since it is a signature forgery expert advertising for business.

Nothing against this signature forensics expert; I’m sure they are very good at what they do. But, if you are really concerned about signature fraud, then you should begin using electronic signature tools. E-signature have a higher level of protection because not just anyone can get access to the document; only the person you give electronic access to he document can sign it.

The E-signature tool offered by ConXPoint also requires authorization in the form of a PIN or password in order to sign after you have gained access to the document. This is yet another layer of security.

If two layers of security isn’t enough, an e-signature tool retains user information when the document was signed, such as date/timestamp, IP address, and length of time the document was reviewed before signing the document.

The ConXPoint system retains the original signed document in a secure environment for at least 7 years. Copies of the signed document can be compared to this electronic version to ensure nothing has changed or the document has been tampered with.

I can now see why this website doesn’t recommend the use of e-signatures in it’s Document Forgery Prevention Tips. If you want to avoid ever having to use the services of a document forensics specialist, you may want to check out the e-signature features in ConXPoint’s Business Center.