The term esignatures can cover many different options, and is synonymous with phrases like electronic signatures, or digital signatures. They all cover any service or technology that allows you to apply a unique signature or stamp to a document or service. This can be constructed from available data (your IP address, for example), or can be generated using a signature capture device.
The most common form of electronic signature that people will be familiar with are the pads carried by couriers and delivery drivers, and used by a recipient to sign for the delivery of a parcel. These are simple devices, designed to capture your signature on a simple LCD screen, and save it as an image which can then later be queried and displayed on a website as proof of delivery.
Then there are services that claim to provide you with a digital signature. This signature is nothing more than a collection of data that, when gathered, is meant to prove that you were the person to submit the ‘signed’ document. This usually consists of your name, the date and time, the IP address where the ‘signature’ was captured, as well as a few other pieces of information depending on the signature service you are using. While not exactly a signature like the ones we are used to, this is nevertheless still legally binding as all of the data compiles to provide a unique identifier for the signer.
Here at Steadlands, we provide signature solutions that are more secure than the devices carried by delivery drivers, and more personal than the data collected by digital signature services. Our products allow you to securely apply your own, personal, handwritten signature into an electronic document. This can be done in Microsoft Word or Excel, or you can sign PDF documents with Adobe Acrobat, or using one of our PDF signing applications. While the majority of our hardware solutions were designed for use in Windows, we also support Linux operating systems, and will include Mac systems as of early 2016. We are also branching out into alternative signing solutions for mobile and tablet signature capture, currently available for the iPad range.