Fax Chronicle

  We put a lot into signatures.  We put flare, simplicity (X), grace, and in the end the stock of our identity into our signatures. Some of us pretend not to care, but we still treat the physical signature as an important stamp of approval or agreement. It is symbolic at special times like signing the paperwork on a new home or the birth certificate of your child. Replacing that with something digital is a daunting concept.

That’s not to say that digital signatures have not made progress in the last decade of existence. We are willing to rapidly click <I Agree> on a web page, so there while I believe we will get there, I am not sure if right now is the time. EchosSign provides esignature, fax, and contract management services, but in the end they are about replacing signatures and they have a big hill to climb, because when you replace signatures, then you are asking to be able to digitally prove your identity and to store it somewhere. You are asking them to believe that the person on the other end also agrees with the concept and that all courts will to or if other issues then come into play.

There are other aspects of fax of course that will as yet be necessary like document transfers, receipts for expense reports, etc. etc.

The two paragraphs below say not much of anything beyond the fact that EchoSign has been asked to speak at a enterprise conference. That said, this is a technology to watch. Someone will replace fax/signatures, but the question is whether this is the tipping point. Its all about winning the mind of the user and this while simpler and safer “feeling” than email is not seamless.  Why do we have to replace a multi-step process with a multi-step process. One is less physical than the other, but in the end, the mission of this application is to replace the sign-fax-sign-fax process for legal agreements (contracts) and that is tough to replace.  It is more about identity and the physical act of signing. You can’t just replace the physical act of ink from pen to paper.

What I do like about the company is the good job they are doing establishing their presence with the right amount of publicity and in the right places so far. It is a simple concept, but has significant potential for success if they can maneuver it properly. It is a delicate dance. 

If they aren’t doing every legal conference and partnering with every possible legal technology provider then they are missing it.

EchoSign has been selected to present at Dow Jones’ Enterprise Innovations conference in Redwood City, CA on July 18th. 

“The quest to be more efficient is always on the mind of corporations. Finding a better way to manage employees, data or products can make the difference in hitting financial goals and quarterly targets. As a result, the need for better technologies to improve enterprise applications, networks, storage and the datacenter is a constant. To give corporations as well as investors a view of the advancements being made in these areas as well as a look at where further improvements will come from, Dow Jones is bringing together the leading start-ups, venture capitalists and corporations for Enterprise Innovations.”

More to come I am sure. We’ll keep an eye on em.

Source: EchoBlog – E-Signatures, esignatures, fax, contract management: EchoSign Selected to Present by Dow Jones