Tech Profile: e-SignLive

What is e-SignLive, and how did you and your team get started in this field?

e-SignLive is powered by Silanis, which was incorporated in 1992 before any e-signature software was commercially available. In 2011, Silanis publicly introduced e-SignLive, the cloud-based solution that allows e-signing in minutes.

Electronic signature capabilities saw their first wave of fame in 2000, when the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (ESIGN ACT) was signed into legislation, mandating that no electronic signature may be denied validity merely because it’s electronic.

The electronic signature solution’s ongoing history of solving issues and hassles attached to document signing continues — helping business move faster and increasing customer satisfaction across the board.

Today, electronic signatures are moving to the cloud. According to Gartner’s Gregg Kreizman, “Enterprises' and consumers' recognition of the benefits gained from adopting e-signature software and services has led to 48 percent growth in this market in 2011,” and “The ease of implementation of the software as a service delivery model will continue to drive adoption of e-signatures and will establish SaaS as the predominant global e-signature delivery model.”

How can the marketing/advertising industry utilize e-SignLive to increase in-house productivity and create a better client experience? Are there any risks to using this particular process?

Moving all document signing ceremonies online using e-SignLive — the legal, trusted and secure electronic signature solution — improves efficiency and convenience and lowers costs. e-SignLive allows you to invite anyone — a client, consultant, partner, coworker or supplier — to review, accept and electronically sign documents and disclosures from any web-enabled device at any time.

Whether you’re an ad agency, PR firm or marketing company, you can cater to your clients’ needs, schedule and lifestyle. Gaining signatures, approvals and sign-offs for project contracts, retainers, NDAs and non-competes becomes a one-click process.

• With e-SignLive, documents that are born digital stay online to better serve customers and businesses. Because the paperwork never exits the electronic chain, steps to completion do not include the time and cost associated with printing, scanning, delivering or filing contracts, applications or other documents. In addition, e-SignLive’s workflow process minimizes inefficiencies, errors and lost, damaged or incorrectly completed paperwork.
• e-SignLive increases efficiency. Documents are signed in a matter of minutes as opposed to days, or sometimes weeks. There’s no chase to get forms completed, and there are no mistakes when documents are returned the first time. e-SignLive is a great way to increase customer satisfaction.
• Signers no longer need to be sitting in their office to receive a courier delivery. The hassle of scheduled meetings in the office to review and sign documents are no longer required. And, if your signer is traveling on business, it’s no problem to deliver a digital e-SignLive document and keep the signing process moving forward.
• With e-SignLive, businesses are one step closer to becoming paperless environments. In addition, the e-signature solution works flawlessly with the CRM software, provides reusable templates and enables a very quick turnaround for transactions without compromising personal information or processes. Using any web-enabled device, customers and agents are assured that e-SignLive is secure, strong and legal.

Describe the process of using an electronic signature system. How are electronic signatures verified for authenticity to protect users from fraud?

1. Login to your secure e-SignLive account, upload the documents, enter information about the signers including their email addresses and tell e-SignLive who signs where and on which document. e-SignLive automatically sends emails to each signer with a link inviting them to securely log in and sign her/his documents.
2. Each signer securely authenticates her/himself to e-SignLive and then starts the e-signing process. The signer is presented with the ESIGN Consent, when and if required. Upon accepting the ESIGN Consent, the signer can proceed with signing the documents. If the signer does not consent to using e-signatures, he or she can paper sign the documents.
3. Next, the signer is presented with all required documents and legal disclosures to review and sign. The signer indicates acceptance of legal disclosures, if any, and signs documents by clicking on-screen where instructed or by hand-scripting the signature using a mouse, an iPad or other mobile device.
4. Finally the signer is provided a secure, tamper-evident copy of the e-signed documents in electronic format. The signer also has the option to print the e-signed documents on paper.

What features or services does e-SignLive offer that makes the company superior to other electronic signature services such as DocuSign?

• e-SignLive is powered by Silanis, which was incorporated in 1992 before any e-signature software was commercially available.
• e-SignLive offers multi-tiered authentication through challenge questions, login and password, third party solutions and SMS passcodes.
• Our unique and patented Process Reviewer mitigates repudiation, refutability and presents the evidence in a people-friendly format, so you won’t need a technical person to explain the evidence to the judge and jury. Our evidence is so secure that many cases are settled out of court as a result.

There have been some challenges in court to the validity of electronic signatures. How has e-SignLive adapted to comply with additional regulations?

Electronic signatures and digital signaures are often treated as synonyms, but they are not the same. To stand up in court, the electronic signature solution must capture intent and consent and deliver secure, tamper-evident proof for the e-signature.

An electronic signature — like a wet ink signature — is a legal concept. Regardless of whether it is a scripted signature captured on a signature tablet or a button that says “click here to e-sign,” its purpose is the same: to capture the intent and consent of a signer to agree with and adhere to the terms and conditions in a contract. An e-signature must properly capture intent and consent.

The term “digital signature” refers to the encryption technology used in a variety of security, e-business and e-commerce products. When used within an electronic signing application, digital signature encryption secures the e-signed data. This means that if a document is modified or tampered with in any way, digital signature technology will detect it and, as a result, the document will be invalidated.

You want a solution that uses digital signature security and embeds the signature audit trail information in the e-signed document.

Mobility is the future for most businesses. What emerging trends in online transactions are you most excited about? Where do you see the electronic transaction industry heading in terms of growth and innovation for the next three to five years? What will e-SignLive do to keep up with these changes?

• As noted above, Gartner sees SaaS to be the emerging trend. Silanis is already ahead of the curve with e-SignLive.
• We anticipate Microsoft’s Windows 8 will positively influence those who have not yet embraced e-signatures. While the methods to e-sign a document with e-SignLive are the same as before the Microsoft announcement, users could not use their finger or a stylus to hand script a signature. This capability was available primarily only to iPad users. Now the 1.3 billion Windows users around the worldwill have the same option with Windows 8 and the Microsoft Surface tablet.

Melanie Attia is the director of SaaS marketing for e-SignLive, the signature technology used when security, legal evidence, auditability and trust matter. For more information, download the Beginners Guide to e-Signatures. If you’re interested in trying out the e-signature solution, e-SignLive offers a free plan for those who need to e-sign up to five documents per month.