Michael Neumann, an independent real estate agent in the Chicago area, says he used to worry about the confidentiality of offers he would pass to prospective clients via email. But having recently employed the[IMAGE] document management and signing process developed by ""DocuSign"":http://www.docusign.com and secured with Two Factor out-of-band authentication from ""Authentify"":http://www.authentify.com, Neumann no longer worries about who might be picking up the proposals he sends electronically.
""The application lets me drop documents into a secure envelope and indicate that the recipient must be able to answer the phone number I trust for them to open that envelope,"" Neumann said. ""If you can't answer the phone, you can't open the documents. It makes you wonder why no one tied these things together before.""
The combination of the DocuSign's e-signing process employing authentication and biometrics from Authentify was introduced June 30, 2010, the tenth anniversary of
[COLUMN_BREAK]the signing of the ESIGN Act. The first customers went live with the application in late July and in the first 90 days, more than 35,000 documents have been securely transmitted and electronically signed.
John Zurawski, VP at Chicago-based Authentify, notes that the security strength and audit trail are attractive features of the service.
""On the surface, it's as easy as answering any phone call,"" Zurawski explained. ""Behind the scenes, the call is synchronized to the Web interface while a voice recording and a voice biometric are captured. The voice technology creates a positive link to the person signing the documents. The audit trail is undeniable.""
Dr. Judith Markowitz, PhD., an internationally recognized consultant in the speech and biometrics industries, also tested the process.
""I found the DocuSign electronic signing process straightforward and very easy to use,"" Markowitz said. ""The fact that a security savvy company like DocuSign has incorporated Authentify's telephone based out-of-band authentication process is a validation of the value of voice and voice biometrics as an enabler in the electronic signature space.""
Authentify and Seattle-based DocuSign both say they are pleased with the initial uptake of the combined offering and are looking to further expand into markets where cloud computing and electronic documents are replacing the exchange of paper, but security and confidentiality are still requisite.