How to Use Electronic Signatures

Electronic signatures are the computer-generated, legally-binding equivalents of handwritten signatures. They uniquely identify the persons responsible for an action.

An electronic record is generated each time an action is signed. Electronic records consist of the name of the person(s) involved in the signing process. Electronic records are written to your SQL Server database and retained as a permanent record of a signed action. For more information on electronic records, see Electronic Signature Tracking.

When a task/task step action or form is configured to collect electronic signatures, the signatories must be the appropriate users. Only a user who is a member of the assigned group is able to sign.

Performing and Verifying Actions

Depending on how your forms are configured, a signed action may require a supervisor or another operator to verify or validate the action performed by the operator. The concept of "performed by" and "verified by" provides the foundation of understanding how electronic signatures work in Workflow.

An electronic signature is either a Perform Only signature or a Perform and Verify signature:

Perform Only Signature: The operator that performed the action must electronically sign for that action.
Perform and Verify Signature: The operator (that is, the performer) who performed the action must electronically sign for that action and another individual (the verifier) must electronically sign to verify that the action was performed. The electronic signature is not complete until both signatures are entered.

Note: The person who performs an action cannot be the same person who verifies that action.

A signature consists of two components that uniquely identify the signer: a user name and a password. When the operator completes a form and clicks Sign Form, the electronic signature collection panel appears where the operator and, if applicable, the verifier must enter these two identifiers:

User Name: Login name of the user performing the action or verifying the action.
Perform and Verify Signature: Password for the user performing the action or verifying the action.

Note: If an operator's Workflow user account was established by using Windows security, the Workflow user name and password are the same as the Windows user name and password. The user must also enter the Windows domain. However, on subsequent Windows account logins, the domain name is automatically entered.

An operator who performs or verifies an action can optionally enter a comment related to that action.