Electronic signatures: sign digital documents digitally

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Make signatures part of your digital process

Signing documents such as contracts and authorisations is a critical part of everyday business. But if your business is already creating, sharing and storing documents digitally, it makes no sense if you have to print them out to sign them, then convert them back to digital.

If the people who need to sign a printed document are in different locations, the document has to be transferred among them in the correct order. There may be security risks associated with carrying or posting physical paperwork containing sensitive information; and business processes may get held up while the document makes its rounds.

Digital signatures for digital documents

To keep paper out of your business processes, take advantage of digital signature and e-signature solutions that help to speed up business processes, while keeping documents safe by restricting access to authorised individuals.

Using an electronic signature solution, individuals simply create their signatures using their finger or their mouse, or upload an image of their signature.

When a document is ready to be signed, you start the signing process, indicating the signing order. Everyone — including third parties — who needs to sign receives a notification that the document's on its way. As the document owner, you're notified as each person signs and once the e-signing process is complete, so you can move it to the next step.

DS Smith

EAST Grain

GETICA OOH

Sutherland

How do I sign a document electronically?

You can sign a document electronically with a single click at your PC or using a mobile app on your tablet or smartphone. Depending on the electronic signature software you use, you may be able to sign multiple documents with a single action. You can do this with Konica Minolta's Digital Signature Book, for example.

How are electronic signatures authenticated?

Electronic signature authentication generally uses the PKI protocol. E-signatures are also usually time-stamped so that, if a document is changed after it's been signed, the e-signature is invalidated.

When are electronic signatures valid?

Electronic signatures are legally valid and have the same legal effect as their written equivalents as long as certain requirements are met. These include:

Making sure all parties agree to using electronic signatures
Recording the process by which the signature was created in the software used to create it
Retaining records of the electronic signatures and making them available for accurate reproduction

How do electronic signatures hold up in court?

For electronic signatures that hold up in court, look for a solution like Konica Minolta's Digital Signature Book that complies with eIDAS, the EU regulation on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the European Single Market.

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