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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Although this is a great tool to prevent fraud, electronic signatures still provide more layers of protection to help you ensure who is really signing a document.

With the ink pen, someone can still forge a name on a contract. There are a number of scenarios and situations that have occured where people do this. So, why not eliminate someone ability to access the document to begin with?

This is a feature of e-signatures that many lawyers, accountants, and other professionals use most. Let’s say I wanted to get you to sign a document. Instead of mailing or faxing and allowing the document to go through “many hands,” I send you an email request to your password protected email account. With an e-signature service like ConXPoint, you will also need a PIN to access the document. That is two layers of security.

After you access and sign the document, the signature is stamped with your IP address, date and time you signed the document, and additional auditing information. Hand written signatures cannot capture information in the same way. Furthermore, the original document is stored by law in a secure location to prevent tampering.

I believe penetrating ink still has it’s place. It’s just that e-signatures are more secure than handwritten signatures, regardless of what kind of ink you use.

Working from home would indeed decrease our national fuel consumption. The problem is that many business owners worry how working from home may reduce accountability and worker efficiency. These are legitimate worries.

Access to files, projects, and communications are all concerns that have been addressed through online programs that enable you to connect to the office, collaborate on documents, and discuss topics face-to-face via video web conferencing.

This technology may sound like a thing of the future, but it is actually very accessible to businesses and workers through any internet connection. The ConXPoint Business Center, for example doesn’t need to be installed on your computer or managed by an IT professional. It is easily accessible via your internet browser.

If you decide to participate in the National Stay at Home Week, but worry how this will affect your work, you may want to consider trying out one of the remote file management and online collaboration services. Most have a free trial. Staying at home for an entire week will give you a good opportunity to try out a new way to work.

There are other user-friendly ways to get your documents signed in a PDF. Web-based e-signature tools convert other file types to PDF for you then you simply drag and drop the signature fields that you need to the location on the document. It is extremely user friendly.

It’s free to try. If you get frustrated figuring out how to set up e-signature fields in Adobe Acrobat, just check out ConXPoint’s Business Center free for a month. You can upload your document, and then request an e-signature.

Currently, 39 states authorize the Electronic Notary Seal (ENS). This is good news for people wanting to use e-signatures to close mortgages, contracts, and any other agreement that needs to be signed. One of the only problems is that many signed documents must be notarized.”The eNotarization Initiative has paved the way for other types of electronic documents to be signed digitally.”

Although the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA) permits eNotarization, the current issue facing the e-notary initiative is many states have dissimilar e-notary security provisions. The Uniform Law Commission (UCL) is meeting October 3-5 to work on its draft of a Uniform Notarial Act that hopefully will establish a security standard for electronic notary seals.

More to come on this topic.

First and foremost, a web-based e-signature service is not just for those with Adobe installed on their computer. Anyone with access to an internet connection can sign documents, regardless of which version of Adobe they have. The free Adobe Reader cannot sign a PDF unless the PDF has added extended usage rights (reader extensions). Without such rights, every signer must have Adobe Acrobat, or the equivalent.

You can’t sign just any PDF. A signable PDF file must include a digital signature field. To create digital signature fields you must have a copy of Adobe Acrobat Standard or Professional and a firm understanding of form fields. Creating a digital ID is a long process (11 steps) and far from intuitive. No one wants to use a difficult technology just to sign their name.

Web-based e-signature services enable you and anyone else who needs to sign your document to sign online without upgrading or buying additional software or learning how to use new software. For instance, if you sign your documents using Adobe Professional, but need your client to sign as well, are you going to request that they install new software or upgrade before they sign? Most web-based e-signature services convert documents to a PDF file. So, you’re still working with the same file format, yet eliminate the need for your clients to have the same software you have.

A web-based esignature service automatically inserts digital signature fields for you. Services such as ConXPoint lets you drag and drop fields to any location on the document in 1 step rather than 11, and even routes the document via email to all signers. You can also manage the signature workflow to see who has and who has not signed the document from an easy to use interface.

Best yet, ConXPoint offers unlimited free esignatures as part of its Business Center suite. You don’t have to pay every time you want to sign your name to a document or be limited by a certain number of signatures allocated to you in a package. If you sign a contract, and your client doesn’t approve of the terms, you can revise the contract and sign again without paying again.

Technology should be inexpensive and easy to use. Just open the “getting started with digital signatures” option in Adobe Standard to be overwhelmed with steps to electronically sign your name. Or, you can try ConXPoint’s service for 30 days for free to see how easy signing your name can be.