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 learn how to sign contracts online or how to obtain signatures on the web. What is important, what are the quality criteria? But a “spoiler” in advance: Simple and safe can work, 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 the entire business life. Often the analogue signature of a document is associated with a meeting, there are several contracting parties and it often has something sociable about it. You meet, shake hands, sign a document and then store it in a more or less secure archive. Most of the time people are satisfied and go their 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 wasted with the help of the digital signature.
The digitization of decision-making processes has already arrived even in very “long-established” industries and business areas. In the private context, the electronic signing of contracts has been widespread for some time anyway and is supported by state eIdentity providers in many European countries.
According to the study, the integration of signature solutions in the corporate context very often comes from individual voices in the company that have long since become familiar with the advantages of electronic signatures in the private sphere. Many government online services allow citizens to sign contracts digitally. Ultimately, this means that entrepreneurs also want the benefits of these online signature solutions for contract processing in their own companies.
How does the digital signature work?
There are more and more new, often small and free freeware signature tools that are circulating on the Internet and often keep registration and use very low-threshold. It works like larger tools: You have saved a digital document locally, upload it to a web browser tool and sign it. With some tools, the document can also be downloaded to be sent on afterwards. On the other hand, there are complex signature platforms that are often integrated into a comprehensive document management system or CRM or ERP system. This also makes the much more complex third-party signature or remote signature possible. This means that I can also release a self-signed document for signature, define complex signature sequences and workflows, etc.
Especially in the professional environment, 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. 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 (in most applications, files are automatically converted to the common PDF format) and to download it again after signing or to store it as securely as possible. Comprehensive tools also enable intelligent management and overview of all important documents in a 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!
A valid digital signature allows in particular the detection of subsequent changes to the document. This is not the case with the simple insertion of images.
Technically, for a digital signature, the content of the document is firmly linked to the attached signature. In this case, the visual appearance of the signature on the document is primarily informative and not relevant for (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.
Another stage of digital signatures are qualified digital signatures. In these cases, the signatory is verified by a trust service provider. These are organizations that carry out extensive identity verification of a person or an organization and link the identity to the signature in the course of digital signing. This means that qualified digital signatures have a special legal status that is equivalent to a handwritten signature.
Signature Management & Workflows
The full potential of signature platforms is evident when it comes to sending secure and compliant signature requests to others. For example, sproof sign makes it possible to delegate different tasks (e.g. signing documents, viewing documents, forwarding documents) to different people. Communication takes place on the one hand within the WebApp and on the other hand also via communication via e-mail traffic. So nothing can be lost. Automated delegation also makes it easier to manage signature processes and meet deadlines and deadlines. In addition, it is possible to define representatives, set out-of-office messages, specify signature sequences and define the standard with which signatures should be made.
Quality first. – The quality criteria of web-based signature tools
The benefits of the digital signature are very diverse. Here is a list of the key quality features of advanced e-signature tools:
Cloud Availability and Security
Online contracts are available anytime and anywhere, as long as you have access to the internet. 24/7 availability is the great advantage of secure cloud solutions. However, great care should be taken to ensure that a secure and secure storage environment is relied upon, protected from unauthorized access, loss, and misuse. For cloud applications, it is especially important to ensure that the tool is 100% hosted on European servers.
Binding nature of digital signatures
In addition, attention should be paid to how one can or must prove one’s 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 measure of all things in Europe according to 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 be able to map the use cases in your own company in the best possible way.
Verify attached electronic signatures
Another great thing is that e-signatures are verifiable forever and at all times. The information about every step of the signing process – from start to finish – including the attached signatures and the unique identity of the signatories is inseparable 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 matter. Sign internally or obtain approvals from external stakeholders. The important thing is the ability to manage your team very easily with an admin account. It should be very easy to add new users and the pool of available signature units must be very easy to increase.
Compliance
It is an obligation for companies to comply with applicable laws and regulations, especially with regard to secure and legally compliant document and data storage in the European area. A few tools (e.g. sproof sign) rely on the very high PDF/A document standard.
Result
It ́s time to sign. Web-based e-signature services are an interesting and useful way to simplify business operations and save time and effort. In a business context, it is important that it meets all relevant requirements for the respective use case.
