How to Sign Documents on the Electronic Signature Platform

By Kevin Peterson

Signatures play an important role in the various types of business transactions. Most businesses in the world require signatures to process documents and to close a deal successfully. Even in olden days, businesses still used signatures to sign a business document and to carry out the business transactions smoothly. However, the process of signing was completely different.

In the past, businesses used pen and paper or the wet-inked methodology for signing business documents. But, this was not an easy task. It involved several steps. At first, the businesses have to take the print-outs of the documents, place those copies in an order, scan and send those copies to the client or concerned person for signatures through regular mail or fax and then wait until the documents are returned safely and securely. In the cases where some of the signatures are missing or if the document has become damaged through the process, then the entire process of printing, scanning, and mailing has to be repeated again. This consumes a lot of valuable work time, which diminishes employee productivity, and as a result decreases the business ROI.

However, electronic signatures have eliminated the tasks of printing, scanning, and mailing of those scanned copies. Now, businesses can obtain signatures in a matter of seconds through the effective utilization of the e-signature technology.

The process of obtaining signatures on an e-signature platform differs substantially from the traditional method. It involves creating a signature request, uploading the document, and entering the recipients email addresses. You can send the same document to multiple recipients by adding their email addresses. Also, you can use the tool bar present in the e-signature solution to place the signature points and initials wherever required on the document, and send those document copies to your respective client.

Additionally, you can schedule the document’s timeframe, create reminder alerts, and automatically send them to your client on a regular basis. You can even track the status of your sent document. This can provide information on whether your client has opened the document, whether they have signed it, etc.

In addition to this, e-signatures provide businesses with the different types of signatures for a secured signing process. The varying styles of the signatures offered by electronic signatures are:

1.      Static Signatures:  This is an image-based signature; a user needs to upload a scanned image copy of his/her signature. Take into example, if the user uses static signatures for the first very time, then it will ask you to register with the solution. However, for the registration purpose, the user must provide the copies of the sample signature, including signatures and initials. At the time of registration, the system collects all the signatures and stores them as templates in the database. When a user uploads the current signatures, then the system will cross-check the current user’s signatures with the already stored templates and, based on a pre-defined threshold value, the user’s current signature will be verified.

2.      Dynamic Signatures: This is a real-time handwritten signature. The user must sign their signature on a touchpad, or on a smart phone device. However, this application works only on mobile devices. In dynamic signatures, the user must register with the system by providing five sample specimen signatures. The system stores the sample signatures as templates in the database.

When a user keeps the current signature, the dynamic solution then verifies the current signature of the user with the stored templates and, based on the matching similarities, the user is authenticated or rejected.

The dynamic signature system uses the gradual enrollment process in which the best scored of the users’ signatures are added to the database based on a pre-defined threshold value.

3.      System Generated Signatures: In this method, users’ are provided with an option to generate different styles of signatures. That can be done by typing your name and hitting the enter button, in which the system will automatically generate the signature. In addition to this, you can write your signature using the mouse, or upload a scanned image copy of your signature. You can use any of these signature techniques to generate the signatures and store them in the database for future references.

By using the above types of signature systems, you can help your business securely and safely obtain signatures, safeguard valuable business data, and eliminate the risk of fraud.

Author Bio:

Kevin Peterson is a content marketing enthusiast, freelance writer at SutiSoft, specializing in Business, ERP, Technology and Cloud/SaaS trends.