Electronic signature technology is already the industry standard for executing business contracts in almost every industry. Professionals in real estate, legal services, investment management and insurance, particularly, have adopted use of this technology to transact efficiently. As e-signatures have now reached mainstream levels of adoption, where does the technology go from here?
E-signature technology offers much more than just the ability to get a document signed remotely.
E-signature technology also provides businesses with the opportunity to completely reinvigorate decades-old business processes, enhance productivity, and automate mundane work flows.
People use e-signatures every day without even realizing they’re “e-signing” — signing on an electronic signature pad at grocery store check-out, replying to an email with a typed confirmation of terms, or putting in a PIN code for a debit card transaction, for example. Most people have no doubts about the legality of these everyday “e-sign” transactions.
Recently, we were asked to discuss the RPost electronic signature service in view of “European Directive 1999/93/CE on electronic signatures,” a Directive aimed at creating common standards for legal recognition of electronic signatures within EU member states.
RMail just released an RMail app integrated into Box (formerly Box.net) that extends document delivery options with a familiar email user experience. Box’s RMail application allows users to send files attached to Registered Email™ messages from within their Box account, for the most legally robust record of who sent what documents to whom and when by email, with time-stamped proof of document content delivered to the recipient’s inbox; as well as HIPAA compliant email encryption and electronic signing options providing auditable proof of recipient consent or signature on documents sent by RMail from Box online file storage. RMail is offering these services from within the Box interface free for the first ten documents sent per month, with file sizes up to 200MB per transmission.
As you begin to transact more business electronically, consider the often boilerplate notice provision that you are using in your contracts. For every contract that you e-sign, there may be many contract notices that you must deliver (pricing, terms, quantity, product delivery, specification, addendum, breach notices and changes).
