Aljex Software has reached agreement with Sertifi Inc. to offer electronic signature capabilities on Aljex’s Internet-hosted transportation management software.
Sertifi is a provider of on-demand electronic signature and agreement execution solutions. The company, founded in 2005, hosts the documents on its servers, giving Sertifi the capability to verify the validity of the signature.
“We’re a third party,” said John Stojka, co-founder. “We have the time and date of a signature, and since the event happens on our servers, we can authenticate both the sender and the signer based on their email addresses.”
When necessary, users can specify additional levels of verification to include questions only the signer could answer, Sertifi said.
Aljex users will now be able to email documents such as rate confirmations, quotes, or contracts, and have the documents electronically returned quickly with valid signatures. Sertifi will make the documents available to users so it will be easy to track and view which documents have been signed.
“It’s time consuming to print agreements, sign them, and fax them back to the sender. The sooner our clients have their rate confirmations and quotes back, the better,” said Tom Heine, CEO of Aljex Software. “Also, many drivers are on the road and don’t have access to a fax machine. E-signatures are definitely the future.”
Documents can be signed and returned from a home computer, laptop, tablet, or any iPhone or Android phones.
According to Sertifi, here’s how the system works: An Aljex broker emails, say, a rate confirmation through Sertifi where a new layer of computer code is added to the PDF that enables the signature process. The document, which now has an interactive window to accept a signature, is emailed to the carrier. The carrier can enter a signature in handwriting applied by finger or stylus on a touch-screen device like an iPad or Android tablet. Perhaps more importantly, it can be entered in text using a PC keyboard or any text entry device. Either way, the signature is validated and is legally binding.
