For those customers who have taken the time to tryout our our new version on Preview On Demand, you have probably already experienced the new Workspace. Yes, we did it. We merged the SmartSign Web and Command Center user interfaces into a single application. The “new” Command Center user interface has undergone a significant update, making it much easier for you to locate, manage, and interact with your transactions and documents.

But our engineers were not just satisfied with a simple user interface refresh, they spent a lot of time “under the hood” optimizing the way you can search for documents and transaction, implementing (geek alert) Ajax to enable you to quickly page through large result sets, reorder lists, change the order of table rows in results, and introduced the new Snapshot view. The Snapshot “shows itself” anytime you click on a transaction, giving you a fast-yet-comprehensive view of the transaction. From the Snapshot, you can…

• View all the documents associated with the transaction,
• View the document histories on each document,
• Retrieve a copy of a document,
• Retrieve a Document Activity History Report (PDF),
• and much more…try it out

But one of my favorite features of the new Workspace is Collections. There are two types of collections; transaction and document. To create a collection, simply click Add from the Collections list on the left side of the page. Type in the name of your collection and a new collection is added to your list. Now all you have to do is search for transactions (or documents) using the search feature at the top of the page. Click on the transactions you want and drag them over to the collection. The selected transactions are automatically added as members of the collection.

Once you have created a collection, you can perform all kinds of batch actions on its members. Maybe you need to delete obsolete or incomplete transactions, or transfer control to a partner, or destroy signed Electronic Originals that have passed their retention period. All these actions (and more) are available to you by clicking on the little arrow to the right of the collection name. Of course, all available actions are limited to your permissions in the trusted repository.

So go ahead, log into Preview and create a collection.

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Electronic signatures have many benefits in assisting companies improve their contract signing and workflow processes. From an ROI perspective, one of the most important features is speeding time to money – that is speeding the process by which a customer may securely receive, review, sign and return a set of documents in order to complete a transaction.

It’s been proven that removing paper from business processes has saved a lot of money over traditional costs associated with physically printing, shipping, filing, scanning and manual data entry.  This not only has saved companies money and resources on administrative costs, but has also shortened a company’s Quote to Cash Process, and allowed the electronic signature solution to pay for itself quickly.

But what happens when your documents aren’t signed right away? Is SmartSign still of value?  Is it possible for SmartSign to also be used to improve your internal business processes, help ensure better customer service, and provide your company with tools to manage and monitor change?  You may be surprised to find that the answer is yes.

Better management starts with better insight.  Executives and management are provided visibility over the entire signing process, so you’ll always know where a document is in the workflow process.  As an example, let’s assume that an agreement needs to be signed and or reviewed by 5 people (Sales Rep., Mr. Signer, Mrs. Signer, Department Manager and Service Manager).  If this was a paper process, it would be very difficult for you to accurately track and monitor who had or had not signed the agreement, and on whose desk it currently sits.  In a paper world, when asked for a status update, the sales executive would typically answer “I’m trying to track it down; I’ve left multiple voice mail messages with everyone associated with this transaction and have not heard back from anyone yet.”

Sound familiar?  What a frustrating waste of time and energy!  With eOriginal SmartSign Web®, the system provides complete visibility to the entire signing experience.  Reps know the status of agreements, and management has an accurate view over all transactions that are in-process or completed.

Automated notifications can be set up in SmartSign to proactively alert pertinent parties of significant events in the transaction process.  Examples of notification events can include your customer logging into the SmartSign signing room, signer number 3 of 5 completing the signing process or that a transaction is fully reviewed and signed by all parties.  In addition, how much better would your team’s closing rate improve if they knew when a prospect enters a signing room by a real time notification?  With this information, a rep may choose to call and assure a completed transaction.

Expirations and reminders may also be set to assure deadlines will be met.  From a Sales perspective, the rep now does not need to spend time worrying about remembering to remind someone of a deadline. Reminders would also let customers know how long they have to take advantage of an agreement or of favorable terms.

Insightful reports round out the oversight and provide your sales team, managers, and executives with real-time reporting of business metrics (closed deal, contracts out for signing, etc.)  Reports can be used to help build more complete forecasting and revenue analysis.  They can also be used to measure activity of sales reps, quantities sent, turn-around times for different types of transactions, success or drop-off rates of prospects, and much more.

SmartSign’s key focus is to help businesses grow, and shortening the “time to money”, is just one major benefit of our complete end-to-end solution.  Helping you improve your business is another.  Remember, if it can’t be measured, it can’t be improved.   SmartSign makes monitoring and measuring easy.

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As more businesses leverage online tools and cloud computing capabilities as a means to improve operational efficiencies and reduce or eliminate dependency on paper, there is one overlooked piece of the puzzle…Electronic Signatures. More often than not contracts or agreements are created in a digital format, however once terms or conditions are agreed upon, many businesses rely on resource intensive paper-based processes. The process of printing, shipping, faxing and filing, is resource intensive, expensive and slow.

If most of your operations are already taken online, why not close the loop with electronic signatures. By utilizing an end-to-end electronic signature solution like eOriginal’s SmartSign Web, businesses are able to compliment existing applications to create a completely streamlined process from origination → to signing → to storing and managing documents throughout their entire lifecycle. Electronic signatures really are designed to simplify business operations. Documents are sent out for signature via email, the ID of signers can be validated through multiple layers of verification (if necessary), and documents can be signed through any number of ways including text signatures, signature pads, and using mobile devices (Smart phones, iPads, tablets, etc) for access anytime anywhere.

A few key benefits include:

• Reduce sales-cycles closing more deals faster having documents signed in minutes, not days or weeks.
• Track user activity throughout the entire document management process with automated alerts. Alerts can notify key members of your team for newly closed deals, contract extensions, and who has and hasn’t signed.
• Eliminate errors and missing or incomplete documents. The signing process can not be completed without all proper information being provided.
• Reduce costs associated with printing, faxing, and filing paper documents.
• Go Green — eliminating paper based systems minimizes your organizations impact on the environment.

Electronic signatures may not fit the bill for every organization or for every process and each provider offers a few different options and solutions, so it is important to take a look at what your business is doing. But, if you are looking to close the gap and eliminate the “paper-chase”, electronic signatures are probably your best bet to grow and go paperless.

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As business are becoming more mobile and fluid, employees are relying on smart-phones to do more than coordinate their emails. Smart-phones are a life-line or  hub of information for most businesses today so it only makes sense for the use of SMS (Short Message Service) text message notifications as a means of signer authentication. With eOriginal SmartSign, SMS/text ID verification can be applied in two separate methods for an added level of security:

• sending the signer’s Security Code for login
• a secondary authentication generated by a one-time system generated PIN which provides an additional layer authentication for signers

SmartSign’s flexibility allows businesses to leverage smart-phones to take your business to the next level of efficiency by not only authenticating users but also following through and allowing users to sign agreement using those ever important iPhones, blackberrys, Android, etc.  Please take the time to view the following video which walks the SmartSign administrator through the setup process and how the signer interacts during the SMS text process.

SMS Authentication Process

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Remote signing of transactions can be a challenge, especially when you don’t have an established relationship with the third party.  How do you know they really are who they say they are?  SmartSign offers a variety of authentication options to provide a higher level of confidence that the intended recipient is the actual signer.

• A Security code may be enabled to act as a password on the transaction.  Define a security code for each signer on the transaction.  Communicate the security code to the signer either verbally, via Email, or SMS (a.k.a. text message) notification.  The signer must correctly enter this security code to access the transaction.

• An Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)/Patriot Act compliance check may be enabled for any individual signer, verifying the signer has not been flagged as a risk by OFAC.

• An identity verification exam may be enabled for any individual signer.  The signer will be prompted to answer several “out-of-wallet” questions about himself.  The signer must correctly answer a pre-defined number of questions before gaining access to the transaction.  A report of the questions presented, information provided, and score may be retained.

• A one-time-use PIN may be enabled for any individual signer.  Provide a cell phone number for the signer (or allow the signer to provide it themselves) and the signer will receive text message with a one-time-use PIN.  The signer must correctly enter the PIN to gain access to the transaction.  Use of the one-time-use PIN authentication facilitates two-factor authentication, combining something the signer knows (the link to the signing room) with something they have (the physical device which is assigned to the cell phone number receiving the SMS notification).

The authentication method used to access the transaction is recorded in the sealed audit trail for the transaction documents along with supporting details (e.g. cell phone number, PIN).  These authentication options may be used independently or together, allowing you to define the optimal authentication solution for your organization.

For further information on SmartSign authentication options, please contact eOriginal Customer Support.

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eOriginal clients have the ability to link their Google account to their eOriginal login in order to import Google documents during the transaction creation in SmartSign Web.

Tying these accounts allows you to add a Google document(s) when the document is not part of an existing document type or you don’t have excess to your network. For those times when you are away from the office and you need a document electronically signed,  this is the solution you have been waiting for.

Here are the steps to link your Google account to your eOriginal login (SmartSign Web)

• Login – Administration – User Settings – Google Account – use link to access and grant access
• Google – grant access and create document library

That’s it!  Now you have the choice of accessing those Google documents during the document creation process.

Please take the time to view this short video on granting access to your Google account and how to upload those documents in SmartSign Web.

Google_Docs

The process is seamless and the advantages are endless.

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As a direct auto lender, operational and business goals are typically clear; identify more prospects, qualify more candidates, and close more loans. Meeting these goals brings positive returns, including increased revenue and profitability. A critical element in accomplishing these goals is making the entire lending process easy and fast for the consumer.

Technology has assisted in streamlining the direct lending process. For years, direct lenders have had the ability to qualify consumers in minutes, sometimes within seconds. Origination of the lending package has also been automated through the use of proprietary or third party loan origination systems, or completed through web-based applications. These capabilities have greatly assisted in creating a more efficient lending process, but what is still left is a lengthy, tedious and costly paper trail.

eOriginal’s SmartSign electronic signature and lifecycle management solutions have allowed direct lenders to close this loop, completely streamlining the lending process – from qualification to closing, all in one quick session. SmartSign enables these accelerated processes without compromising the legal or negotiable value of the documents being signed.

• Tightly integrate into existing loan origination systems and web-based applications
• Close more loans, faster, with increased adoption rates
• Reduce operating costs
• Process loans faster while eliminating costly errors
• Maintain legal compliance and secondary market requirements, enabling the ability to electronically sell, collateralize, and securitize your negotiable instruments

eOriginal is the leading technology provider for eContracts securitized in the secondary markets and accepted by rating agencies in the automotive industry for the fulfillment of UCC 9-105 requirements on e-chattel and transferable records. eOriginal’s technology has allowed lenders to electronically originate, sign, and securitize billions of dollars in direct auto loans, removing process and compliance barriers for financial institutions.

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eOriginal clients commonly use the Transaction ID or Status values to search for a transaction(s).  Transaction External References (1-3 ) are fields that can be customized to meet your organization’s business needs.

The benefit of customizing these labels allows your users yet another way to search for or batch processing needs.

Transaction Labels are the headings that appear above the Transaction list to the on the Command Center – Workspace page (see example below).

These same labels are also used to describe transactions in the SmartSign application.

Transaction Labels’ names can be updated in the Command Center Administration area.  (See Settings – Transaction Labels).

Smart Sign Web clients can coordinate the labels values by accessing the Setup Application tab under Administration – System Account.

After the values have been updated there is now an updated tool to meet your business needs.

Take some time to view a brief presentation on how eOriginal’s Transaction Labels can help your organization improve your management of Electronic Original transactions and documents.

Click_Here for Demo_on_Transaction_Labels_Video

After viewing the presentation use the Back Page Icon to return to eOriginal’s Blog Page.

For further information, please watch this quick tutorial or contact eOriginal Support (support@eoriginal.com).

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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).

Retention Policies Tutorial

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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.

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