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Archive for the ‘Electronic Signatures’ Category

Electronic Signatures behind Online Music

Monday, July 20th, 2009

tryxo PMP Worldwide published a great interview with ContractPal customer Natalie Vandersluis, CEO of Tryxo Entertainment. Natalies is one of the most innovative players in the entertainment industry. If you haven’t discovered Tryxo you need to. They are like iTunes for independent artists/music.

In the interview Natalie highlights how Tryxo uses ContractPal to get contracts signed using electronic signatures all over the world…

“The process of signing up and uploading songs is simple and fast (based on your Internet connection) and we provide a simple online contract signing procedure which allows us to work with artists from all over the world.”

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Where’s the Risk in Electronic Signatures?

Wednesday, June 24th, 2009

Document magazine has a very informative article on the risks of using electronic signatures. The article is written by Gregory T. Casamento and Patrick J. Hatfield from Lcoke Lord Bissell & Liddel LLP.

I like the article because it does a good job of addressing a common mistake that businesses or organizations make when considering or creating an electronic signature solution. That mistake is to view the requirements for an electronic signature solution solely as technical, to be solved by the IT department. Ignoring the other requirements, or risks as identified in the article may result in a electronic signatures that are not enforceable.

Companies like American Express and Dillards have learned the hard way that their internally built systems did not stand up in court, although technically they did have electronic signatures.

The six risks identified are Authentication, Repudiation, Compliance, Admissibility, Adoption and Relative. Check back in the coming days as we go into how to mitigate each of these risks.

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Posted in Electronic Signatures, Legal | No Comments »

ContractPal Launches Electronic Signatures for Google Apps

Wednesday, June 17th, 2009

Orem, UT (PRWEB) June 17th, 2009 — ContractPal, a leading provider of on demand electronic signature solutions, today announced that its ESIGN compliant, software-as-a-service platform now integrates with Google Apps. This latest platform release allows Google Apps customers to leverage the powerful ContractPal platform for legally enforceable electronic signatures and business process rules. Google Apps customers can now utilize secure ContractPal web applications to complete, sign and process documents online or over the phone.

“Google Apps makes it very easy to create and share documents online, but when those documents needed to be signed they dropped to paper - outside of Google Apps. Now ContractPal makes it easy to get those documents signed and processed either online or over the phone without having to drop to paper,” says Rob Hicks, CEO, ContractPal. ”Our customers have been able to cut the time and cost of getting a document signed and processed by over 50%. We are excited to provide these cost and time savings to the Google Apps community.”

This latest release builds on top of 7+ years of electronic signature experience in an online on demand platform. This platform provides much more than just electronic signatures. The ContractPal platform includes over 1,000 APIs, wizards, web services, single-sign-on, voice signatures, payment processing, data validation, XML connectors and much more. It is all you need to get a document completed, signed and processed.

About ContractPal
ContractPal is an online, on demand, Software as a Service (SaaS) platform built specifically for completing, signing and processing documents online. Our SaaS platform delivers fully customized electronic signature enabled web applications for a fraction of the time and cost of building a web application from scratch. ContractPal allows you to quickly integrate your documents, your user roles and your business processes into a custom web application that is secure and guaranteed ESIGN compliant. For more information, visit www.contractpal.com.

Contact Information
Brad Curtis
ContractPal
www.contractpal.com
801.494.1861 x115

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SaaS to the Rescue

Monday, April 6th, 2009

Recently, Dillards learned first hand why using an electronic contract automation Software as a Service like ContractPal is important (Kerr vs. Dillard Store Services).

On their Intranet, Dillards offers various employment related agreements including an arbitration agreement. An employee, Yolanda Kerr didn’t want to sign the agreement. Apparently a manager, who had the rights to manage Yolanda’s password reset it and somehow during the process, the arbitration agreement got signed.

The Kansas US District Court considering the matter held that the agreement was unenforceable because Dillards couldn’t meet their burden of proof to establish that Kerr had signed the agreement. Not only did the court hold that Dillards couldn’t prove the Kerr signed the agreement but also that Dillards couldn’t prove that she may have done so by accident or mistake.

Whether the arbitration agreement was enforceable wouldn’t have been an issue had Dillards used ContractPal. Employers who use ContractPal don’t have access to change user passwords. Only employees can reset their own passwords, and when dealing with personal agreements like employment related agreements, agreements can be associated with personal profiles to improve their enforceability. In addition, an agreement on ContractPal cannot be signed by accident or mistake. Agreements are directly presented to users in a fully enforceable signing ceremony.

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Hollywood Gets Electronic Signatures Wrong

Thursday, April 2nd, 2009

I had the chance to watch the latest episode of 24 last night (thanks to hulu.com). In the episode one of the bad guys offers to show where a biological weapon is in exchange for immunity and the President agrees to the deal. Since they have no time to waste they decide to have the President sign the immunity order online!

You can imagine how interested I am to see how Hollywood, with all of its imagination and creativity, gets a document signed online. Drum roll please….

Hollywood’s answer to getting an important document signed is… to have a Webex session where they share the immunity order online and then have the President sign it ”digitally”. The President signs it using one of those signature pads that you sign at the grocery store. How disappointing.

Here is where Hollywood got it wrong.

1. Urgency - If you have someone on the phone and need to get an agreement signed quickly DON’T make them go find a computer with an internet connection for a Webex session. Use a voice signature with the person on the phone to get the document signed. It is faster and ESIGN compliant.

2. Digital vs. Electronic - The President signed the immunity agreement with an electronic signature, not a digital signature as they stated. We can get into the differences between the two another time.

3. ESIGN Compliance - One of the requirements to be ESIGN compliant is that all parties have to be provided with a copy of or have access to the signed agreement. It didn’t look like that was the case here.

I am sure Webex paid a lot of money for its product placement in the episode. Too bad that it was a 2nd rate solution.

If you need to get an agreement signed and you have your customer on the phone, use ContractPal’s voice signatures to save time and hassle.

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Tags: enforceable agreement
Posted in Electronic Signatures, Voice Signature | No Comments »

Don’t Use a Pickup when a Dump Truck is Needed

Friday, March 27th, 2009

The other day I saw a guy driving a pickup so loaded with dirt that sparks flew from the back bumper every time he went through a small dip in the road. I followed him for a while until he was forced to pull over. His back axle broke.

Seeing this, I immediately saw the analog to our business, electronic contract processing. The guy in the pickup should have hired someone with dump truck to carry his load.

I see people attempting to build contract applications using the equivalent of a pickup when they need a dump truck.

Take I9 forms for example. I have heard of several employers building their own electronic systems. Hopefully, they won’t find out that they’re driving a pickup that breaks down. Successfully implementing an electronic I9 form requires compliance with 27 different, and frequently onerous governmental requirements, many dealing with auditing, electronic signatures and their application, system availability and workflow.

To those doing this, I can only shout–your pickup is likely to break. And when it does, you’re likely to get fined and could even end up in jail. Why do that when you can use ContractPal to deliver what you need in record time and for less money than you would have spent, and without the endless worries.

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Posted in Electronic Signatures, Forms, Legal | No Comments »

Paper is “easier and safer” than electronic signatures…. NOT!

Monday, March 16th, 2009

HRTechNews.com has a post on their blog today that reminded me that I have lots of work to do in converting the masses to the better life of electronic signatures and online agreements.

The blog recounts the case of Kerr vs. Dillard Store Services, Inc. In this case the company argued that the employee had signed an agreement to arbitrate discrimination claims. The company used their own email and intranet system to post the agreement and capture the employee’s electronic signature.

But the employee successfully argued that she had not signed the agreement. She said that her manager, who had reset her password, signed it. The company admitted that was possible and the judge agreed with the employee.

So, what is the lesson learned from this? HRTechNews stated that “In most cases, it’s easier and safer to have legal documents signed on physical paper.”

What???!

Using online forms and electronic signatures is not only easier and safer than paper but it typically costs 50% less AND provides a better user experience!

The lesson that should be learned here is that if you are taking your forms and agreements online, and you should be, make sure that you are tapping into expertise that will ensure your electronic signatures are enforceable.

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Tags: electronic signature, enforceable agreement, linkedin, online contract
Posted in Electronic Signatures, Legal | No Comments »

ContractPal named as a finalist of the 2009 IQ Awards.

Wednesday, March 11th, 2009

The IQ Awards celebrate innovative products, processes and procedures. We were named as a finalist in the IT Security category. That is a good fit with our secure, ESIGN compliant electronic signatures. But since our platform is so flexible we just as easily fit in Software, Business Services, Online and Green Business. It all depends on what problem you want solved! Here is the press release…

Utah Business and Wasatch Digital iQ are pleased to announce the finalists of the 2009 IQ Awards, the second annual innovation recognition program that highlights some of the most exciting and innovative products, processes and procedures coming out of Utah’s bright minds.

This year, 30 exceptional companies were selected as finalists in nine categories, recognizing the most innovative as well as creative ideas and solutions in technology. These tech-savvy businesses are pioneering a space in their industries – or creating a whole new one. Join us in saluting the innovations that will change the way the world lives, thinks and works.

The finalists will be featured in the February 2009 issue of the magazine and the winners will be announced at a luncheon sponsored by Utah Business on January 28.

Thirty companies in ten categories have been recognized as finalists for the 2008 Awards. Ten awards recipients, one in each category, will be announced at the awards luncheon and ceremony on January 28, 2009.

2009 IQ Award Nominees

IT Security: ContractPal, Sendside Networks, Spearstone

Software: Omniture, AtTask, InsideSales.com

Hardware: Inthinc, ATK, Celio Corporation

Business Services: Twelve Horses , ProPay, U.S. Translation Company

Data Management: eFileCabinet, Cemaphore Systems , Digital Gateway

Human Resources/Business Training: VitalSmart, EnticeLabs, Wi5Connect

Online: Interbank FX, MediConnect Global, Overstock.com

Green Business: Orbit Irrigation, AquaTrack, I-O Corporation

Consumer Products & Gadgets: Control4, Amber Alert , Provo Craft

Marketing: OrangeSoda, mediaRAIN, Blendtec

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Tags: Awards
Posted in ContractPal News, Electronic Signatures, Green | No Comments »

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