He discusses how electronic signature and electronic contract execution can help you run your business more efficiently, saving you time. You can improve the time to close, lower your costs and reduce data errors using electronic signature and online contract execution.

Learn how to do business at the speed of light, not at the speed of trucks.

Since our 9.1 release of the latest electronic signature and electronic contract execution (ECE) services, we’ve seen lots of questions come through the pipeline.

We hosted a town hall for our users to experience the new electronic signature and online contract execution functionality of the DocuSign 9.1 release.

Tom Gonser, our VP of Product Strategy, covered changes in sending & signing as well as exciting new features. For those of you who weren’t able to make the town hall, we’ve made the recording available online.

For additional information about the DocuSign 9.1 release, take a look in the launch center, which includes:

• Summaries of the release, API upgrades and more
• Videos of the signing and sending process
• Webinar with Tom Gonser, VP of Product Strategy and DocuSign Founder

Given our focus on customer service, we’ve created a store of resources around DocuSign’s electronic signature and ECE services. We continuously add new content, so please keep checking back. If you’d like to see something addressed, let us know!

Blog – We share information about what’s happening at DocuSign, new releases, sponsorships and what we’re learning. We also share what’s going on with our customers and how they use electronic signature and online contract execution to save time, make more money, and be more green. The DocuSign blog is a place for sneak peeks and conversations about electronic signature.

Twitter - We’re on Twitter as @DocuSign. We’ll share what we’re reading, what we’re writing and point you to the right resources or information you want. Also on Twitter? We have @tgonser, Founder/VP of Product Strategy, @KenCavallon, Business Development, and @mikebz, Client Services. If you’re interested in cloud computing, scalability and DocuSign Connect for Salesforce, talk to Ken Cavallon. Want to know more about the DocuSign Developer Center, API or how to integrate DocuSign into your existing workflow and processes? Mike Borozdin is your man.

Forums – Are you a user or a developer? You can find questions, answers and discussion from user and developer perspectives. Feedback threads are also available for your input. Tanya, our customer service manager, Bob DeSantis, VP of Sales and Business Development, Tom Gonser, Mike Borozdin, and others answer your questions. By checking out these discussions, you can learn from previous users’ and developers’ experiences.

Resources – We answer questions like “How does it work?” “Who uses and accepts electronic signatures?” “Is it legal?” on our resource page. You can find white papers, case studies, demos and videos, podcasts, webcasts and other documentation.

Support - Our dedicated support page provides you with information about the 9.1 release, see product videos, get information about live training, access our knowledge base, reset your password, and more. Need help? Try our live chat support, email service@docusign.com or call +1-866-219-4318. Our support hours are from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM (PST), Monday through Friday, excluding major US holidays.

Let us know what you think about the new release – in forums, in the comments, on your own blogs… and check out our electronic signature and online contract execution resources that best meets your needs. We love comments, conversation and feedback.

I’ve been building online contract execution services for a long time, and recently noticed a trend – for some strange reason, several companies have announced ‘biometric mouse-signing’ capabilities.  These companies are touting this new capability as if it were something special that has not been tried before. Before I tell you OUR story, let’s look into what THEY are saying..

First, they are saying that ‘now‘ you can use your PC mouse to make a ‘legally binding’ signature. A legally binding e-signature really doesn’t have much to do with what the signature LOOKS like; it has to do with a process of showing intent, authenticating the signer, locking down the process, etc. Using your mouse to make a signature has very little to do with this, other than frustrating the signer.

You see, it is EXTREMELY HARD to use a mouse to actually ‘sign’ anything that remotely looks like your signature. It is hard enough on those damaged signature pads at the store! Why is using a mouse so challenging? When you sign your name with a pen, you engage MANY small muscles in your fingers designed for minute movements and pressures against a surface with the right friction[1]. This explains why you can manipulate such small curves. Signing your name with a pen is a delicate thing.

When you use a MOUSE however, you use large muscles – all the way up to your neck! These are NOT able to make minute movements, and most likely, you have not tried it more than a few times because it is just too hard to get your mouse-signature to look anything like your signature. Anyone who has tried knows this.

My mouse ‘signature’ & The second time[2]

When you learn to write your signature, over and over through the years, your small muscles get ‘memory’. This important factor explains why some signature pads can actually collect the ‘biometric’ data about your signing – the pressure, speed, and stroke. Impressively, you will sign close to the same way every time. So ‘signature pad’ vendors actually do collect ‘biometric’ data. If they have a known good writing sample to begin with, this can have some value in case of a dispute.

What I REALLY don’t get is the word ‘biometric’ being used with this ‘new’ mouse-signing process. Unless I am missing something, there is nothing ‘biometric’ about scribbling with your mouse. No data is being captured, and there is no known good writing sample for comparison purposes. Even if we COULD, we don’t have the muscle memory because we don’t sign with mice.

So, why do I say it is the worst of both worlds? Well, signing with a mouse is frustrating – you spend way too much time trying to get it right, when you will never really be satisfied – AND it has no biometric value. In short, you end up putting your poor signer through an exercise of futility with absolutely ZERO benefit…

Some may be asking, “How do you know this?” or “What makes you the expert?” In 2003 when we started DocuSign, this is EXCACTLY what we tried, and EVERYONE hated it. Since it had no value AND everyone hated it, we decided to stop torturing our signers.

So, take some advice – if you are asked to sign with your mouse, you are just being tortured – cancel out and tell the person who sent it to you to use DocuSign.

[2] I can tell you that there is NO WAY I’d let my signature out looking like either of these. Neither is remotely close, and they make me look like I am 7 years old.

We absolutely love hearing stories, seeing blog posts and comments, and participating with our customers about how DocuSign can help them attain cost savings and accelerate their business processes.

Earlier in the week, we shared with you an article from our customer, Yamaha. Yamaha’s use of DocuSign for electronic signature and electronic contract execution (ECE) has resulted in measurable, attainable cost savings.

We also had one of our customers share his tips for being more effective, one of which includes using DocuSign’s e-signature solution to accelerate his business. In the year since we’ve seen this blog post, Making Realtors’ Lives Easier with DocuSign from Kevin Boer at 3 Oceans Real Estate in Menlo Park, we’ve moved from Pioneer Square to Downtown Seattle. What hasn’t changed is our focus on our customers.

We’ve seen tweets and retweets flying about the twittersphere about what we’re doing (and no, that’s not a lisp!). Because we love hearing these stories and seeing the impact DocuSign has for our customers, we’re looking for customers and users who would like to give us input into a new release. You’ll be among the first to try it out and by sharing with us your feedback, we can make a electronic signature and online contract execution product that can better meet your needs.