I have spent a considerable amount of time working with and speaking to Security Alarm companies, Industry Experts and Funders on the benefits, compliance and best practices of electronic signatures. For what is historically a paper-based industry when it comes to handling business processes, contracts, and internal documents, eOriginal has had the opportunity and pleasure to work with a few innovative Security Alarm Companies to help them to streamline their business processes using SmartSign, our electronic signature and life-cycle management solution.
Today, many other Security Alarm Companies have taken the initiative to begin looking into the benefits of electronic signatures. While more and more companies are looking into eSignatures, there seems to be a few common questions and concerns. While most perceived barriers can be easily overcome, security alarm companies and funders should take into consideration a few key points when evaluating and implementing electronic signatures such as:
How to present FTC regulated Consumer Disclosures.
Will your Funders (Banks) approve of the process?
Will going electronic affect your RMR?
Will other companies be able to purchase or acquire my contracts?
These are just a few areas of interest that need to be addressed. Now the benefits are apparent; other than saving time and money, your organization will have a few important advantages over your competition.
Have contracts, lease agreements, installation forms, signed and processed in minutes
Easily facilitate contract renewals, especially in states outlawing the evergreen clause
Reduce labor and material costs associated with printing, faxing, scanning, shipping, and archiving
In just a few short days eOriginal, along with industry leaders, will be addressing the most common questions and concerns in a 60-minute educational webinar. What we hope to accomplish is to simply bring a better understanding to how electronic processes can replace aging paper-based systems. If you are interested, please don’t hesitate to register or contact us to learn more about the webinar or our experience with security alarm companies.
How long do you hang on to your Electronic Original® documents? How long do you need to? Very often we hold on to things a lot longer than necessary, simply because it’s easier than the clean-up process. With our retention policy rules engine it is easier than ever to stay on top of unneeded electronic clutter.
First, you must decide how long you really need to maintain copies of your documents. Consider your internal business rules, compliance/legal requirements, risk management policies, and depending on the nature of your documents consider any third-party needs. You may find that your needs are really quite simple (e.g., we keep everything for 10 years); or perhaps your needs are more complex and change depending on what ‘has happened’ with your documents (e.g., we keep unsigned documents for 30 days, but once they are signed, we keep them for 1 year until they are funded, if they are funded, they are kept for an additional 7 years). Consider whether you can treat your entire transaction as a whole or whether individual documents within your transaction have different retention needs.
Once you have identified your retention requirements, your organization administrator can then define Transaction and Document Retention Policies within the Command Center application. Retention Policies evaluate a transaction or document (“the object”) and automatically flag the object with a scheduled expiration date. The policies dictate how long an object is ‘allowed’ to be in any given status. When the object is created, and each time the object transitions to a new status, the expiration date is calculated and reset. Command Center users can easily locate transactions and documents based on their scheduled expiration and confirm their intended destruction through the initiation of a Destruction Request.
For further information, please watch this quick tutorial or contact eOriginal Support (support@eoriginal.com).
We all know how important it is to make every customer feel like they are your most important customer. One great way to do this is to customize each signers experience so that each signer not only experiences exactly what they need to see and do, but they do and see it in the manor you want them to do it.
No matter how simple or complex your companies workflow (or each signers workflow) is eOriginal SmartSign can easily and effortlessly help you brand each workflow for you businesses’ needs. SmartSign Web has always allowed your organize to brand and customize the signing experience your signers see. Now SmartSign allows you to take it one step further. With eOriginal Transaction Types and eOriginal Role Based branding options, you may simply group like documents for your online repository into one grouping. This grouping allows you to set the default order each document will be shown to your signers, as well as which documents are required or optional by default.
SmartSign then takes this one step further to allow you to customize any and all branding and workflow options to that specific Transaction Type and even each specific signer.
If you want one logo and set of colors for Transaction Type A and another logo and set of colors for Transaction Type B, that is easy as a click of the mouse.
If you have a set of four documents and want to show documents 1 and 2 to Signer A, but documents 2 and 4 to Signer Two, just as easy.
If you want notification emails to go to different distribution lists or want to use SmartSign’s push service to update different system based on the Transaction Type, even easier.
If you want each set of customizable instructions to be different for each signer, because you just customized the documents each signer would see…you guessed it, simple as pie.
With SmartSign’s interactive dashboard you may quickly and easily create a transaction with any of your Transaction Types with just 1 click! If you would like to learn more about the use of SmartSign’s Transaction Types, Role Based Sort Order, and/or any other branding options please contact your customer support representative.
Do you need to send the same document to a large list of recipients and request that each sign his own instance of the document? Do you know that doing so is now easier than ever with eOriginal SmartSign?
Let’s walk through a very simple example for requesting that all 333 employees at Acme Organization sign the new Acme HR Policy Guide. We are going to define a single transaction with a single instance of the Acme HR Policy Guide, and magically, all 333 Acme employees will receive an email requesting they review and sign the guide…
In the SmartSign Setup application, choose to create a New Transaction. Give the transaction a name to be used as the base transaction ID (let’s use “Acme HR Policy Guide”) and fill in the rest of the transaction properties (status, expiration date, etc.) as you normally do. Click on the ‘Additional Information’ link to expand that section. In the ‘Generate Multiple Copies’ field, type “333″.
Now go through the steps to add a document and define the signature template as if you were creating a single transaction for a single employee.
When you get to the role mapping page you will be prompted to upload a .csv file containing the name, email address, and security codes for each employee.
.csv files can be easily generated via various spreadsheet and database applications. The .csv file should not include any column headings and should list each recipient in the following format:
First Name, Middle Name, Last Name, Email Address, Security Code
(note if no Middle Name is available, a place-holder for its value must still be defined.)
Craft your email text and click to ‘Send’…all 333 Acme employees have just received your email with the link to review and sign the new HR Policy Guide. Now wasn’t that easy!
Additional Tips:
The number of entries in the .csv file must match the number of transaction copies requested.
Multiple roles may participate in ‘bulk mail’ transactions. The actual signers playing each role may be defined by either uploading a separate .csv file for each role or by defining a specific individual to play that role across all transactions. When uploading multiple .csv files, be sure the signers are listed in the order they should be ‘paired up’.
Clients that use the SmartSign Web application to create transaction are always looking for a way to cut down the number to steps it takes their employees to create the document(s) for e-signing.
Transaction Types are a great tool in cutting down the time to create a transaction and ensure the right document(s) and signature action are used for each. Transaction Types allow the user to pre-define document packages. Then by choosing the Transaction Type in the SmartSign Web application, the user can create the entire document package in one single step.
The signature action on these documents can vary from needs a signature, must be reviewed, user must attach a document or user must print for wet-ink signature.
How to setup Transaction Types:
Command Center – Administration – Settings
Document Types – create the Document Type and update all necessary field(s)
Note – if a signature template is needed for the Document Type first create the Document Type then in the SmartSign application create the signature template and save it against the Document Type previously created. This also updates the Command Center Document Type with the signature template.
Transaction Types – create the Transaction Type and drag desired Document Types under the ‘Include These Documents’ heading.
To create a transaction using a Transaction Type use the ‘Create a new transaction of type’ dropdown to choose that Transaction Type value.
For more information on eOriginal Command Center and SmartSign Web application please contact us anytime.
In recent years, having documents signed electronically and moving to a fully automated process has not just become extremely popular; it has become a necessity for most businesses to efficiently operate. I have had the privilege of speaking with many businesses, large and small, who are ready to create a simple straight-through process that not only cuts overhead cost, but creates an easy, efficient, user friendly experience. eOriginal SmartSign® not only meets these expectations, it exceeds them, time and time again.
One common misconception that I often run into is once documents have been signed electronically in a secure, legally compliant manner, the process is complete. Well guess what, Ladies and Gentlemen, that’s not exactly correct! I am notoriously known for being short, simple and straight to the point, so here are a few questions to consider when making your decision to go paperless;
Are my electronic documents secured at all times?
Who has access to my documents and personal or proprietary information within?
Will my documents hold up in the court of law?
If my documents are challenged legally, how can I produce legally enforceable and admissible documents that have not been compromised?
If my electronically signed digital assets hold any monetary value, will I be able to offer those documents in the secondary market?
If I am working with a company or an individual who require paper originals, does my system meet all requirements to create an Authoritative Copy?
For fifteen years eOriginal and our eCore® platform have helped businesses to answer these questions, not only through the front-end signing process, but through our trusted repository which allows businesses to securely manage their documents throughout their entire lifecycle. eOriginal’s electronic signatures processes have been tried and tested, taking the burden of trying to answer these questions off of your shoulders.
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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