Electronic and Digital Signatures

The Electronic and Digital Signature Practice in the Enterprise Information Management Solutions Division is in charge of using appropriate tools to provide electronic or digital signature solutions for our customer based on customer’s business requirements.

We supply, implement, train, support, and maintain electronic or digital signature solution for your company as part of your total ECM solution or we can also do this as a standalone ECM tool that may or may not be integrated into a larger ECM solution in the future.

Either way, even when we implement electronic or digital signature solution for your company to be used with the Laserfiche ECM and for automated business process purposes, you are still able to use the solution in standalone mode to sign documents outside of the Laserfiche ECM. It is the standard practice for us to deliver our solutions with enterprise focus.

Electronic signature pads

With the electronic signature (eSignature for short), one uses electronic signature pads to sign documents. Through our OEM, you have more than fifteen different models to choose from. Signature pad products include passive pressure touchpads, rugged signing surfaces with electronic pens, interactive LCD displays included for full-color VGA display, integrated fingerprint sensors, wireless capability, full-size inking clipboards, small footprint and desktop units. Signatures are captured as a series of high-resolution events. From this event data, images can be generated for display purposes or forensic experts can conduct authenticity analysis.

Benefits of eSignatures

eSignatures are not stored to be pre-fetched in any way. It is just like signing paper documents with the important exception that the same document is being signed with actual graphical signature thereby obviating the need to print and then sign. Since the electronic signature, is also used in a manner similar to paper based signature some users may consider it laborious. However, there are several benefits and advantages for using electronic signature over paper based signatures.

The only similarity is that both paper-based and electronic signatures have graphical signatures that may look the same to the eye. However, eSignature has additional properties that improve signer authentication and document integrity. eSignature is invalidated the moment an alteration is made to the document. eSignature can be used on eForms so that they are bound to specific fields on the form. The moment the specific signature has been provided those fields that are governed by that signer would be locked up and no one else can modify the data in those fields. We extensively use this feature when routing documents electronically for approval in the Laserfiche ECM Workflow.

With the digital signature solution, we implement for your company internal Certificate Authority (CA) that allows your organization to issue digital certificates to all stakeholders that may include all employees and external stakeholders such as customers or members of the Board of Directors, or even Suppliers of goods and services. The graphical signature is pre-fetched using electronic signature pads. These are securely stored away on proprietary non-open systems on the company’s computer network. There is possibility for integrating this into the organization’s Active Directory. The Client software on the user’s desktop establishes communication with the CA hosted server. When the user is ready to sign any document the user would be prompted to provide username and password for purposes of authentication. As soon as this is done the user’s previously provided graphical signature together with other digital signature properties will be stamped in the designated position on the document.

Electronic signatures and digital signatures

Electronic signature is significantly different from digital signature. Whether to use only electronic signature, digital signature, or both would depend on a number of factors that may include how open or close the transaction environment is. How feasible is it for the two or more signers on a form to both have access to either electronic signature or digital signature when they have ceremoniously met to sign a document as in the case of a Banking Officer and a Loan applicant? We have found it in our work that it is useful to make provision for both types of signatures on most business e-forms. Internal users and well trusted external users can be assigned digital certificates so that they would be able to locally or remotely append their signature to electronic documents. All other users would then be asked to use the electronic signature method. This is cheaper option and more secure for the organization.

Since most of the paper forms that internal users fill-in or that are filled in by customers are also required to be signed, we offer both electronic and digital signature solutions that could be bundled with your purchase of the e-form solution. This way, we are completely able to replace the use of paper for most processes in your organization. Our e-Forms can allow the signing of the actual graphical signature of the person signing it and it can also include photographs, thumb print, and all relevant demographic data.

Our e-Forms, integrated with electronic or digital signature, can accommodate thousands of users and it can be made available to any user anywhere in the world. When our integrated digital or electronic signature is used, it facilitates speedy processing of customer requests. There is no need for the customer to be physically present in your office before you can receive and verify request for processing. We make it possible for your company to allow the submission of certain forms online, fully signed by the issuer.

Our digital signature solution is easy to use, simple to deploy, and totally paperless. It seals documents and forms, creates and administers non-forgeable signatures, expedites processes, and offers quick return on investment with total cost of ownership. In addition, it is legally compliant and verifiable worldwide. It allows signer authentication, offers data integrity, and supports pdf, Cenerade forms, Microsoft Word, MS Excel, Tiff, etc. It allows users to sign and apply their own graphical signatures as would already be recognized by members in the organization. It allows multiple signatures on the document.

With our digital signature solution, we bring together smart cards, user directory, Administration, certification authority, system integration, help desk, and application support all into one single box that is simple to administer and easy to use. Our digital signature solution integrates with a wide range of business applications including workflow, E-Invoicing, Document security, E-Archiving, and Point of Sale.

With our integrated electronic forms, electronic signature, and digital signature solution your company is now ready to automate any number of business processes to bring major efficiency gains. It is now possible to conduct almost one hundred percent of all internal business without the use of paper. A significant amount of business processes with external customer interfaces can also be supported this way thereby speeding up the delivery of goods and services by your company while reducing cost.