Finding the right E-signature online solution provider needs proper research and information about the services and system requirements. It is one of those decisions in which user-friendliness, maximum protection, proper documentation solutions, and legal validity are equally important. Therefore, it can be confusing to choose the right solution provider with maximum features and the most affordable rates. However, if companies know the procedure to engage a digital signature vendor, the life of business owners becomes easy. Therefore, we have decided to help you choose the right electronic signature online solution for your organization. For that, we have decided to provide you a handy checklist that you can check before finalizing the right candidate to buy electronic signature services.
Let us go through it!
E-Signature Online vendors must offer the procedure of identity authentication features.
It means that the signer must provide identity authentication through a system. It is the only way through which he can provide shared information, validate it accordingly, and access some specific documents to get information. Overall, under identity authentication, the following features must be available:
- When a company hires digital signature online services, it wants to develop a procedure through which only authenticated users can access the documents. For that, they need to prove themselves before initiating the electronic signature procedure.
- The solution must also have a system through which the management can assign the responsibilities, minimize the access of users according to their designation, and allow them to use the application on their smart devices or not.
- It is also necessary to define the solution through which the management can allow those users to use documents, who do not need to sign.
Your electronic signature solution must have audit trail features.
It means that your electronic signature online vendor must offer the features of audit trail. This feature helps you keep an eye on all the signers and their activities throughout the procedure. More importantly, the authorities should have all the proofs and pieces of evidence through which they can prove their opinion regarding the procedure of digital signature. It also helps create customized contracts and get approvals from all authorities with the information regarding their signatures, location, time, and system on which they perform this task.
Therefore, when you hire an electronic signature vendor, you must have answers to all the following questions:
- Can your digital signature app track all the events, which are involved in performing the signing process?
- Can the system record all the tracking details by storing them?
- What kind of information, your electronic signature record, and store?
- What is the procedure behind recording and storing the audit trail?
- Is the information protected, and there are no chances of tempering?
The Features of the electronic signature online app must be according to the law.
It is important because the companies run their business operations and financial activities according to the law. Therefore, the signing procedure must also be as per the rules and regulations defined by the governments. The legal experts think that it is necessary to inform all the users about the digital signature process. With that, you should guide them about the procedure, which they need to follow. For that, the following questions must be in your mind before hiring an electronic signature solution provider:
- Can you present a properly visible and appropriate notice to all users about engaging digital signature solution providers for signing the documents?
- Are your users interested to use a digital signature app, or they have declined it?
- Have the users shown their consent to use an E-signature online?
- Have you audited the response or consent of the user?
There should be the Features intent and signature of the users to indicate their intention.
When the users get the notification or reminder to take an action and sign the documents digitally, they need to show their intention. If it is so, the system must have a record of it. To ensure all these actions, you must have the answers to these questions:
- How do we prompt that the user is ready to sign the document?
- Can we identify the intent of the user through the digital signature app through notification or communication channels?
- How can a user view the document?
- What will be the format of the document before signing, after signing, or after converting it into the printed version?
The Features signature must be associated with the data or record as proof of the connection.
While explaining this term, you must be informed that there is a connection between the document and signature. It means that the user must be informed about the data or record against which he is signing. The digital signature solutions have such a record through which the signers know what they are signing. However, you need to ask the following questions from E-signature online solution providers about this procedure:
- What is the procedure behind linking digital signatures with the document?
- Do you rely on all those standards, which have been adopted to develop an association of the signature?
- Do you embed a digital signature permanently, or there is only an attached image over the document?
The integrity of the Features document and signature must remain the same throughout the process.
In simple meanings, we want to keep all the organizations inform that the digital signatures belong to only that particular document, which is in front of the user. If the version of the document has been change, the system must take notice of it and ask the signers to sign the document once again. It is the only way through which the integrity and sanctity of the document remain intact. Therefore, while hiring an eelectronic signature solution provider, you should ask the following questions about the sanctity of the documents:
- What is the process of protecting the documents after applying all the signatures?
- Does your digital signature solution record all the tempered evidences through which someone has made the changes after the signature process?
- Does the system record all the signing activities from start to the last to confirm that the document’s integrity is the same?
Do not choose those vendors that use an ongoing contract.
It is necessary because some vendors in the market validate signatures through an ongoing contract and cannot verify the signatures independently. Therefore, you need to ask the following questions regarding validation from your service provider:
- How do you format the documents and signatures that are produce?
- Can a human read the documents and signatures independently?
- Can we access the documents and signatures by using free PDF software?
- Does your system make a digital signature a permanent part of the documentation?
- Can your system provide all the integrity that is require for the document inherently?
- Do you validate all the signatures by yourself or need to go to your services provider to produce once again for validation?
- Do you follow all the standards relate to the compliance of the international documentation and cryptographic standards?
The validity of the Features signatures must be according to the standards today but for the future.
Long-term signatures are those that should be prove not only today but also in the coming years. For that, E-signature online solutions providers must follow all the require standards. The reason is that authenticity and accuracy can be require even after decades. Therefore, the experts think that you must have the answer to the following questions relate to long-term standing signatures:
- Does your system validate long-term signatures?
- Are you using the technology that is proven to be according to the international standards for developing electronic signature solutions?
- Do you use the system that is one of the best for signing proprietary?
- Are all the establish cryptographic tools involve in preparing your digital signature system?
The Bottom Line
Hiring a digital signature solution provider is a task that you need to perform with all the attention that is required to introduce digitization in your organization. The reason is that you are shifting all your manual documentation processes to digital solutions. Therefore, it must have all the solutions that you may need in performing your documentation tasks effectively. We have included all those questions, which must be in your mind in this document. We are hopeful that after reading it, you will give DocSign Pro a chance to become your partner in signing the documents digitally. It is because we have answers to all the questions that we have mentioned in this document for your assistance.
