Theres only so many cheap ways to increase your business productivity. In the last decades, digitizing the paperwork has joined this list. This can be a real lifesaver – no more paper stacks towering all around the office, or file cabinets cluttering the path to your work desk. However, demand begets supply, leading to more and more e-Signature services storming the market. How does our todays subject, KeepSolid Sign, fare in comparison to its counterparts? Lets find out!
What is KeepSolid Sign?
Its an eSignature app that allows to fill, sign, and collaborate on contracts using your smartphone, computer, and other devices, without the need to print or physically put pen to anything. This speeds up the document work, makes it more secure due to the use of data encryption, and facilitates introduction of paperless office.
KeepSolid Sign has been released at the beginning of 2018 by KeepSolid Inc. Since then, developers have introduced a number of updates, bolstering the apps usability and security and expanding its functionality. KeepSolid Sign supports an array of platforms, including iOS, macOS, Android, Windows, web browsers, and even watchOS (Apple Watch).
Features
- Electronic signature:Electronic signature is data in digital form that is associated with a users personality and is used by him to sign. Most developed countries have employed some sort of legislation (e.g. the eIDAS regulation in the EU or the ESIGN act in the US) to ensure that eSignatures provide the same legal standing as common physical signatures.KeepSolid Sign can work with pretty much any type of contracts or forms, as long as they are uploaded in the PDF format. The service also presents a number of ways to create your own signature – from scribing one right within the app to scanning your handwritten signature with a camera.
- Secure storage:Working with eSignature services takes putting quite a lot of faith in them. After all, you entrust your and your partners personal and business information to a third party. Unless the electronic signature service takes proper measures to protect it, sensitive data such as banking credentials or commercial secrets can fall into malefactors hands. So, how does KeepSolid Sign manage this issue?It uses PGP and AES-256 encryption to secure both the data contained within users documents and their KeepSolid ID-related information. Encrypting the data means that its still possible to intercept, but nigh impossible to decipher, read, or use in any other way. Its worth mentioning that the US National Security Agency deemed AES-256 encryption to be secure enough to protect the US Government classified data. Meaning, it should also be more than sufficient for most businesses.
- Synchronization:Using this neat handy feature, KeepSolid Sign synchronizes all users documents across his or her devices that got the app installed. This negates the need to be roped to a single device while working on a contract – you can download it to your PC (from quite a bunch of storages, mind you!), review it on your tablet, and then sign it on your phone. Quite convenient, considering that many middle- to top-managers have to work on-the-go a huge chunk of their time.
- Collaboration and teamwork:A decent part of the inconvenience that comes with old-school paperwork involves collaborating with foreign companions. Our todays app tackles this problem with the ability to share documents via the internet. They can be sent to and received from other KeepSolid Sign users, or even people not registered in the service (though the latter is a bit less quick and secure). Thus, closing an agreement with overseas partners becomes as easy as designating the spaces in the document for them to sign and clicking the Send button.KeepSolid Sign brings to the table some teamwork-enhancing capabilities as well. Its subscription plans are designed to suit teams of various sizes (1, 5, 10, and more users). Administrators of such a team can manage their composition and other settings to maximize their units effectiveness.
- Offline mode:Okay, so you can conveniently work with your partners and colleagues online, thats all fine and dandy. But the higher you are in your companys management chain, the more likely you are to travel A LOT. Obviously, you cant expect to find an internet connection on every countryside or aircraft trip that you take. What can you do in the KeepSolid Sign app while offline?It turns out, quite a lot – almost every normal activity, actually. That is:
- Importing documents from the device storage
- Crafting a signature
- Adding annotations
- Inviting participants
- Creating templates
- Archiving documents
The only actions not available for users in the offline mode are those that, well, require you to be online. This includes sending and receiving documents, getting notifications, and document status tracking (more on that below).
- Document status tracking:Testing KeepSolid Sign, weve noticed that it doesnt take much time till your documents board starts running to dozens of files. Without some sort of tracking mechanism, it wouldnt be long before they became impossible to follow. The app addresses this issue by establishing a system of document status notifications such as Document received or Document signed. Additionally, it provides plenty of useful information about the files, like which participants have already signed them and which are still pending.
Pros
- Helpful for anyone managing/signing documents
- Intuitive minimalistic interface
- Flexible pricing
- Helpful customer support
Cons
- Doesnt support digital signatures, only the electronic ones
- Works with PDF format only
- There is no way to create a petition-style document to send people for simultaneous signing
- The web version currently support the sign mode only (theyre planning to patch this soon)
Conclusion
KeepSolid Sign feels like a geared up choice for both personal and corporate use. They deliver on the promised functionality and add a batch of handy features to sweeten the deal. Also, its nice to see the developers keep on working and polishing their service, adding new capabilities and keeping up with the times. All in all, we suggest that you try this app, especially considering they offer a 14-day, full-featured trial period (no CC required, by the way).