Tedious contract processes are a thing of the past - but how does it work to sign contracts easily and securely online? In this article, you will find out how contracts are signed online and how signatures can be obtained online. What is important, what are the quality criteria? But a spoiler first: simple and secure can, but do not have to, work together.
The electronic signature is here to stay
It's a question of attitude. Signing a document has a certain aesthetic component. You seal a decision with something very personal: your own handwritten signature. This signature is often rehearsed and refined over years and in most cases remains unchanged throughout a person's entire business life. The analog signature of a document is often associated with a meeting, there are several contracting parties and it often has a social aspect. You meet, shake hands, sign a document and then store it in a more or less secure archive. In most cases, you are satisfied and go your separate ways again.
The other side of the coin is obvious. Regardless of whether you want to map internal signature processes or external ones. It requires a very high level of resources, which can be spared with the help of digital signatures. The digitalization of decision-making processes has already arrived even in very "long-established" industries and business areas. In a private context, the electronic signing of contracts has already been widespread for some time and is supported by state eIdentity providers in many European countries.
Accordingly, the integration of signature solutions in the corporate context is very often initiated by individual voices within the company, who have long been familiar with the advantages of electronic signatures in the private sector. Many government online services enable citizens to sign contracts digitally. Ultimately, this leads to entrepreneurs also wanting the benefits of these online signature solutions for contract processing in their own company.
How does the digital signature work?
There are more and more new, often small and free freeware signature tools circulating on the Internet, which are often very easy to register and use. It works in the same way as with larger tools: You have saved a digital document yourself locally, upload it to a web browser tool and sign it. With some tools, the document can also be downloaded and then sent on. In contrast, there are complex signature platforms that are often integrated into a comprehensive document management system, CRM or ERP system. This also enables the much more complex external signature or remote signature. This means that I can also release a self-signed document for signature, define complex signature sequences and workflows, etc.
Solutions that specialize specifically in the comprehensive signing of PDF documents and enable the highest security standards and, above all, very simple user guidance are becoming increasingly popular, especially in the professional environment. The digital signing of PDF documents via the web browser can basically be divided into three essential components.
Contract management:
As mentioned, the gap is wide here. The minimum criteria for a web tool is the ability to upload documents (most applications automatically convert files into the common PDF format) and download them again after signing or store them as securely as possible. Comprehensive tools also enable the intelligent management and overview of all important documents in one central location.
The digital signature of documents:
The core element of all online signature tools is the application of the digital signature to a contract document. Applying a valid digital signature to a PDF document is a technical process that must be clearly distinguished from simply inserting an image of a manual signature without any further technical measures!
In particular, a valid digital signature allows subsequent changes to the document to be recognized. Technically, the content of the document is firmly linked to the applied signature for a digital signature. The visual appearance of the signature on the document is primarily informative and not relevant for the (technical) validity. sproof sign, for example, supports the insertion of images of a signature or the manual signature on the screen, but also creates a complete digital signature in the background. Qualified digital signatures are another level of digital signatures. With these, the signatory is verified by a trust service provider. These are organizations that carry out a comprehensive identity check of a person or organization and link the identity to the signature during the digital signing process. Qualified digital signatures therefore have a special legal status equivalent to a handwritten signature.
Signature management & workflows:
The full potential of signature platforms becomes apparent when it comes to sending secure and compliant signature requests to others. For example, sproof sign makes it possible to delegate various tasks (e.g. signing documents, viewing documents, forwarding documents) to different people. Communication takes place within the WebApp on the one hand and additionally via email communication on the other. This means that nothing can get lost. Automated delegation also makes it easier to manage signature processes and meet deadlines and time limits. It is also possible to define substitutes, set absence notes, specify signature sequences and define the standard that should be used for signing.
Quality first. - The quality criteria of web-based signature tools
The benefits of digital signatures are many and varied. Here is a list of the most important quality features of advanced e-signature tools:
Availability and security of the cloud:
Online contracts are available anytime and anywhere as long as you have access to the internet. The 24/7 availability is the great advantage of secure cloud solutions. However, great care should be taken to rely on a secure and protected storage environment that is protected against unauthorized access, loss and misuse. With cloud applications, special care must be taken to ensure that the tool is hosted 100% on European servers.
Binding nature of digital signatures:
In addition, attention should be paid to how you can or must prove your own identity. A simple electronic signature (EES) offers no legal protection and should never be used for signatures in a corporate context. For the highest level of security, the qualified electronic signature (QES), which is the standard in the European area in accordance with the eIDAS Regulation, should be used. In fact, the choice of signature provider is of particular importance and a certain basic knowledge of the three different signature standards is required in order to best map the use cases in your own company.
Verify applied electronic signatures:
Another great thing is that e-signatures are verifiable forever and ever. The information about every step of the signature process - from start to finish - including the applied signatures and the unique identity of the signatories are inseparably anchored in the pdf document for all time. Comprehensive e-signature solutions (such as sproof sign) allow verification directly on the platform.
Collaboration:
Signing is a team affair. Sign internally or obtain approvals from external stakeholders. It is important to be able to manage your team very easily with an admin account. It should be very easy to add new users and it must be very easy to increase the pool of available signature units.
Compliance:
It is mandatory for companies to comply with applicable laws and regulations, especially with regard to secure and legally compliant document and data storage in Europe. A few tools (e.g. sproof sign) rely on the very high PDF/A document standard.
Conclusion:
It's time to sign. Web-based e-signature services are an interesting and useful way to simplify business processes and save time and effort. In a business context, it is important that it meets all relevant requirements for the respective use case.
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