Are Digital Signatures Legal? Understanding the Legality

The internet has long been an important equalizer in business, allowing companies to compete on a level playing field and achieve success at any size. While anyone can now learn from the best business blogs, small and medium-size businesses can stand out from the larger competition by being more responsive and connected, and big businesses can automate daily workflow and other internal processes.

But it wasn’t the internet alone that changed the way we do business. For example, online fax services not only provide a faster, more efficient way of transferring documents, but they also allow you to digitally sign your contracts directly from the screen of your smartphone or tablet. Electronic signatures such as these are legally valid and offer a convenient way to send signed documents to people in different locations, so you can stay ahead of the competition, no matter where you happen to be physically.

Why Use a Digital Signature?

Conventional wisdom says that convenience makes our lives better. Well, there’s certainly an argument for it making our work lives better. If we can work faster and more efficiently, then we can better serve the needs of our clients and customers. And that’s why digital signatures play such an important role in business today.

With an online fax service, you can sign your documents directly from the screen of your smartphone – without having to show up in person to sign them by hand. Internet fax services can be particularly helpful when multiple signees are in different locations or a scheduling conflict has slowed down the signing process, simply add a signature to a PDF.

With a ‘wet’ signature – meaning the signature was done by hand – you not only have to show up in person, but also print out your documents before signing them. Adding a digital signature saves you from having to print out large documents, letting you close deals no matter where you are. All you have to do is add your electronic signature to your document or fax, then send it back in seconds – no scanning or printing.

Digital signatures bring convenience to work life by letting you:

• Expedite the signing process
• Connect multiple people in different locations
• Increase responsiveness and efficiency
• Close deals faster
• Stay connected
• Save time
• Reduce paper waste

Are Digital Signatures Always Acceptable?

Signing a document digitally is a perfectly legal way to sign your important paperwork – excluding wills, trusts, power of attorney, and declarations given under oath, which require a ‘wet’ signature.

When using an online fax service, end-to-end audit trails – along with your final document – provide assurance that your digital signature was successfully captured and your contract is complete.  

Digital signatures are governed by both the United States Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce (ESIGN) Act and the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA), affording them the same legal protection as signatures done by hand.

Simplify Your Work Life

So instead of signing your documents the old fashioned way, grab your smartphone or tablet and add a digital signature with an online fax service instead. You can even fax your completed documents to another fax machine once you’re done. 

With the eFax electronic signature feature, signing your faxes digitally is as simple as swiping your finger across the screen of your cellphone or tablet – eliminating the inconvenience of having to travel back and forth to another location to sign your contracts by hand.