Digital Document Management with Eversign SAAS - everSign PHP Document Signing package blog

How did we live without it

Digital signatures evolve

Software as a Service

Solutions all in one place

Download the  everSign PHP Document Signing class

Introduction

In today's global economy, conducting business is no longer just a handshake between neighbors. Customers, clients, vendors and even employees can all be located in different parts of the world. As more and more business was conducted over greater distances, it became problematic to get legally enforceable agreements in place between all the parties involved.

How did we live without it

I am old enough to remember the days of faxing a document from one party to the other until all the signatures where in place. By the time everyone received back their copy, you could hardly tell what the agreement was since the copy became more and more degraded with each fax of a fax.

The other option we had was to overnight the document from one party to the next who would sign their part in front of a notary and send it on. In the end we did have original signatures on an original document, however at what cost? In addition to the obvious high cost of overnight delivery service, we also had all those wasted hours getting everything notarized.

As we all became connected through the internet, e-mail became the way we communicated with each other. We could attach a document, however our 'signature' was simply a reply that we agreed to the content of the attached document. Was it legally binding... toss a coin and take your chance.

Digital signatures evolve

In the new millennium, most governments addressed the issue by passing laws which made electronically signed documents legally binding. The office software providers kept up by making it easier for us to attach a digital signature to digital documents.

Finally we had a way to conduct business digitally in a digital age. Some problems still existed though. I will highlight one issue by saying, I know I saved that file somewhere. Finding a digital file when you need it can be a chore unless you are extremely organized. I save everything and it all gets backed up, however finding it a year later can be, how can I put this, problematic.

Another problem we faced was that the digital document had to be in a format that every other party could read and sign. Yes, there is one company, that shall remain unnamed, that makes a fortune from its office solutions since it has the lions share of the market. My problem here is that I have to keep shelling out money to keep the software up to date, just in case a client is using a newer version that my older version would not be compatible with. I don't know about you, but I would prefer to keep my profits in my pocket.

Software as a Service

For anyone who does not know, SAAS stands for Software as a Service. What this means is that the software is licensed as a subscription service where subscribers interact with it remotely, normally through the internet.

We will be taking a look at the everSign SAAS which provides solutions to better manage digital documents. You can find their Web site at https://eversign.com/. To avoid turning this article into a book, this will be a brief overview, however I do recommend you take a look at their Web site if you want more detailed information.

Solutions all in one place

We must have a standardized way of producing documents. everSign allows you to generate documents in many different formats. You simply upload the document and overlay the interactive portions, like signature and initials fields, where you need them on the document.

We need an easy way for each party to sign the document. Each signatory receives an e-mail with a link to the document. They follow the link and are presented with a wizard that allows them to move through each of the fields that require their action.

We need to be able to complete the document. After all parties have completed their portion, the complete document is imported into the Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format and e-mailed to all parties involved.

We need to be able to protect the integrity of the document. Every action on the document is processed securely with encryption, logged and time stamped. Once the document is completed, methods are in place to ensure it can not be altered or tampered with.

We must be able to access the document. Each party does receive their copy, however the original is stored securely on the everSign servers so that we can access it and the audit trail should we ever need to.

Download the  everSign PHP Document Signing class

There you have it, all our needs are met. In addition, there are many additional features which allow us to fully customize the document. Too many to mention in a short article, however I personally like the ability to add custom messages for each signatory, send reminder e-mails, have multiple businesses in one account and the variety of interactive fields I can place on a document.