CoSign Digital Signatures

Organizations throughout the world invest millions of dollars each year in automating their operations and business processes. As a result, electronic documentation permeates every aspect of the business workflow in industries ranging from engineering and healthcare to government and life sciences. Despite this, a hard copy is printed when a signature authorization is required on a document, requiring physical routing for signatures. The reintroduction of paper into the workflow increases organizational costs, requires additional time, and prohibits an organization from realizing the true benefits of a fully electronic workflow.

Digital signature solutions produce legally enforceable electronic records, closing the gap in going fully paperless by completely eliminating the need to print documents for signing. Digital signatures enable the replacement of slow and expensive paper-based approval processes with fast, low-cost, and fully digital ones.

By enabling a fully automated workflow, digital signatures reduce the expenses and time allocations that paper-based signatures require. A paper-based signature is estimated to cost an organization upwards of $6.50 each (including printing, scanning, archiving, routing and replacing lost documents). An average authorized signer signs two documents a workday. With 20 workdays a month, the monthly paper signing costs can surpass $260 per signer.

In addition, digital signatures are essential for organizations within regulated industries with formal approval processes, as well as companies that need to route documents requiring authorizations from multiple offices or customers and partners. Due to its seamless integration with leading workflow and Content Management Solutions, the CoSign® digital signature solution enables automated formal approval processes from within an organization's existing workflow systems. Read more about the digital signature business case.

CoSign works seamlessly with all common document formats such as Microsoft® Word, Excel®, Outlook®, InfoPath®, Adobe® PDF, AutoCAD®, Bentley® MicroStation, TIFF, and other document types. CoSign is standards-based (based on Public Key Infrastructure – PKI), avoiding vendor lock-in and allowing the document to be verified by anyone, anywhere, anytime without the need for proprietary verification software or third party support.

CoSign is available in two product offerings, CoSign Central and CoSign Desktop. CoSign Central is based on easy-to-use software that communicates with a centralized and secure digital signature server. It is quick-to-deploy and ideal for mid to large sized organizations, offering seamless integration with content management and workflow systems. For smaller organizations (up to 10 signers), CoSign Desktop is offered as a standalone solution that does not require any hardware component. Learn more about the differences between CoSign Central and CoSign Desktop.

Specifically designed to protect document integrity, the CoSign digital signature solution assists in compliance with numerous regulations including ESIGN, EU directives and VAT law, HIPAA (and JCAHO), the FDA's 21 CFR Part 11, and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

Continue reading about CoSign's legal compliance.