As we looked for better ways to support the various integrators and developers coding against our software, the AssureSign engineering team realized one of the typical ways we ourselves approach obtaining technical support is through forums and web searches.  So we introduce the AssureSign technical forum, located at http://forum.assuresign.net.

If you are an active user of DocumentNOW® interfaces, DocumentTRAK™ notification services, AssureSign for Salesforce, or have technical questions regarding AssureSign, please visit http://forum.assuresign.net.  You will be required to register in order to use the application.  If you have any questions about the use of the site, please contact your AssureSign account representative.

The AssureSign support staff will also be occasionally posting information on the forum, including sandbox update notifications and release notifications.  We may also solicit user feedback on proposed features and development plans. And your answers to any technical questions posed by other registered users are encouraged and will also contribute to the value of this site.

AssureSign version 2.1.2 is being prepped for release to the developers' sandbox the week of May 10.  

A large number of under the hood enhancements are being implemented to improve document processing throughput, particularly when documents are streamed in via DocumentNOW® services.  The Text version of the SubmitWithFile interface has been enhanced to improve throughput, however all submission operations should experience performance gains on the sandbox.  Changes will be made in stages, whereby first software will be upgraded followed later by additions to our sandbox hardware environment to improve your experience there.

Most visible operation of the application remains unchanged with this release, however we will be adding in features to allow for improved disclosure and compliance for specific jurisdictions.  For example, in consultation with your legal staff and your AssureSign account manager, it will be possible to configure templates to display custom disclosures based on your needs, such as in the case of specific types of transactions or to meet certain countries' requirements.  We are also adding in some powerful new features for document submissions, including the ability to configure template parameter regular expression checking server side and to return parameter regular expressions to your front-end application.  

Sandbox client contacts will be receiving notification regarding the upgrade.  The application is currently being qualified for production release in QA with an expected release to production in early June.

Electronic Signatures Provide an Accelerated Document Execution Process

AssureSign LLC, a leader in electronic signature technology, today announced it has entered into a partnership with Duck Creek Technologies, Inc., a leading provider of software and services for the insurance industry.

AssureSign and Duck Creek have collaborated to bring best of breed, unique solutions to market together with the integration of industry-leading electronic signatures into industry-leading policy administration and sales automation applications. This integrated solution enhances the customer acquisition and renewal process by increasing revenue and improving profitability while cutting costs.

As affirmation of this partnership, AssureSign will sponsor and exhibit at the Duck Creek Insurance Forum which will be held May 3-6 at the Wild Dunes Resort in Charleston, SC. Additionally, the companies will be demonstrating their integrated solution in Booth #709 at the ACORD LOMA Insurance Systems Forum, to be held May 24-26 at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, NV in Booth #821 at the IASA 2010 Educational Conference and Business Show, June 6-9 at the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine, TX.

“AssureSign is committed to providing customers with the latest technology and the simplest integration into their business process workflows,” says David W. Brinkman, chief executive officer of AssureSign. “Through our partnership with Duck Creek, insurance carriers and agents can easily create policies for signing electronically with robust tracking, workflow and reporting capabilities, for an improved and accelerated sales process.”

“The DCT partnership with AssureSign is another sign our commitment to lead the way in both ‘Speed to Market’ and ‘Superior User Experience’ for our Policy Administration customers,” according to John Roller, Sr. VP, Product Management at Duck Creek.   “Customers implementing new products with Duck Creek will find the ‘off the shelf’ integration saves them both time and cost-to-market.  End users of the system will find the resulting improved workflow and straight-through-processing a boost to productivity – using the ease of doing business as a lever for retaining current customers and closing new sales.”

Electronic Signature Solution Increases Efficiency and Expedites Authorizations

AssureSign LLC’s Electronic Signature Technology has been selected as the electronic signature solution by Western Computer Services, Inc. (WCSI), the Software as a Service (SaaS) provider of policy management and claims management for a growing list of Farm Bureau Insurance companies.

In general, Farm Bureau Insurance markets insurance products to business and consumers in some of the most rural areas of the United States. A significant challenge to serving these regions is securing the business after a quote has been given to a potential customer; most consumers don’t have fax machines, and travel in many parts of these regions, for both the customer and the agent can be quite time consuming and cumbersome.

AssureSign’s Web-services enable WCSI to embed electronic signatures into their insurance application, for seamless integration into their existing business process. Applications are routed to the insured’s email for signature or in the agent’s office, and the signed document triggers policy creation and delivery to underwriting and imaging for archival.

Since the entire AssureSign Electronic Signature process is tracked digitally, users have a complete forensic audit trail of the delivery and signing process. This enables users to know exactly when documents are received, when they are signed, and who has or has not signed them, providing users with complete control over the signing process. With the implementation of AssureSign, Farm bureau Insurance can follow the signing process from start to finish and receive notification the moment that signing is complete.

Implementing AssureSign Web-based electronic signatures greatly helped WCSI and Farm Bureau Insurance’s customers and their agents with the customer acquisition process. The sales process has become much more timely and efficient, and the costs associated with faxing and mailing documents has been eliminated.

Philip Teagle, Application Development Director for WCSI noted, “Incorporating AssureSign’s web based electronic signature into our policy processing systems has opened up new channels for our customer’s agents to be more agile in conducting business,  and has eliminated the need for distribution and maintenance of digital signature equipment for agents using our systems.”

“The true benefits of AssureSign electronic signature applications are recognized when they are deeply integrated with existing business applications, such as Farm Bureau’s web-based policy system,” said David W. Brinkman, president and chief executive officer of AssureSign LLC. “This integration allows for document creators to automatically create documents from within existing applications, triggering front- and back-end workflow, so the entire process saves the organization both time and money.”

Leading Provider of Electronic Signature Technology will Showcase Latest Product Offerings

AssureSign LLC, a leader in electronic signature technology, today announced that the company will be an Exhibitor at Microsoft Convergence 2010, the premier Microsoft Dynamics event, to be held April 24-27, 2010 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, GA.

AssureSign, a Microsoft Certified Partner, offers integrations for Microsoft Dynamics CRM, as well as Microsoft SharePoint. Integrations are also being developed for Microsoft Dynamics AX, Microsoft Dynamics GP, Microsoft Dynamics NAV and Microsoft Dynamics SL. With AssureSign’s integrated electronic signatures, Microsoft Dynamics users can realize shorter revenue cycles and greatly accelerated business processes, with the ability to map Microsoft Dynamics data into documents for signature. To see a demonstration and receive more information, please visit AssureSign in the Convergence Expo Hall in Booth #439.

Microsoft Convergence enables Microsoft Dynamics users to experience the Microsoft Dynamics community in action. This event offers a unique opportunity to network with peers, partners, Microsoft team members, and industry experts together to share ideas and knowledge – all in one place. Attendees will experience first-hand how they can use the power of Microsoft Dynamics and the full range of Microsoft products to optimize their business and improve their bottom line – now and in the future.

“AssureSign is committed to providing our customers the latest technology wrapped by the most robust  integration options for their business process workflows,” said David W. Brinkman, president and chief executive officer of AssureSign LLC. “We are excited to have the first electronic signature solution to provide Microsoft Dynamics users with a seamlessly integrated channel through which to ensure customer acquisition.”

Additional details and registration information about the upcoming Microsoft Convergence event in Atlanta is available at www.microsoft.com/convergence.

We are pleased to announce the launch of our new and improved website. The new site has been redesigned with a fresh new look to provide a more comprehensive source of information regarding AssureSign's latest products and services, industry applications, recent news and upcoming events. Additionally, the site enables visitors to "Demo It Now" and experience using AssureSign Electronic Signature Technology.

We invite you to visit the new www.assuresign.com today!

Building on the latest features released in our core SaaS application version 2.1.1, the AssureSign for Salesforce application has been converted to access the faster and more feature-rich V2 DocumentNOW® interfaces.

One powerful addition made possible by this conversion is the ability to submit documents stored in Salesforce that contain dynamically created JotBlocks™ (AssureSign signature and data collection locations and attributes).  Customers using proprietary or third party document creation processes can leverage this new feature by inserting the well-defined dynamic JotBlock tags into their documents.

Additionally, we have made it easier to integrate AssureSign with your custom objects, through providing a more complete list of available custom object fields in the parameter tagging help section, exposing custom object fields for manual selection, and providing specific custom object field mapping examples in our online documentation.

Existing AssureSign for Salesforce users will receive a notification on their application indicating when the new version is available for download; we anticipate the general release to occur on Wednesday, March 24.  AssureSign sandbox users who access their sandbox accounts in a development version of Salesforce may access the tool starting today:  please contact support@assuresign.com for information about downloading the fully functional preview version of the tool for your development environment. 

Dale W. Combs, co-owner of D Squared Holdings, Inc. and its related and subsidiary companies Third Party Verification, Inc. (3PV), AssureSign LLC and Marketing Systems Group, Inc. (MSG) announced that effective January 1, 2010 he has retired from his position as President and Chief Technical Officer.  Combs will maintain part-time involvement through mid-year while continuing his ownership interest.   Along with chief executive officer David W. Brinkman, Combs co-founded Marketing Systems Group in 1991.  Brinkman will continue to oversee daily operations of the businesses as President and CEO, while Combs will be involved only in high-level strategy and business decisions.

MSG continues to bring innovative solutions to customers, including its very first customer, signed in 1991, who is still a customer today. 3PV spun-off from MSG in 2001, and has grown to be the recognized market leader in third party verification services. 3PV was named to the Inc. 500/5000 list of fastest growing privately held companies in 2008. In 2006, AssureSign spun-off from 3PV, quickly becoming a leader in integrated electronic signature solutions via a software-as-a-service (SaaS) offering. The companies collectively have been named to the Orlando Sentinel’s Top 100 Companies for Working Families in 2006, 2007 and 2008.

“We’ve planned this transition for quite some time and I’m confident that Dave and his team are very capable of moving the business forward.  I have had the privilege of working with many talented and dynamic professionals and I will miss the organization a great deal, but it is time for me to move to a new chapter in my life,” Combs said. “I’m looking forward to spending time with family, and pursuing other activities including traveling.”

 “Dale and I have done a tremendous job building a world-class organization, and he leaves behind a very capable team.” said Brinkman.

Rigorous Certification Reaffirms AssureSign’s High Quality Operational Standards and Controls

AssureSign LLC, a leader in electronic signature technology, today announced that it has successfully completed an enterprise-wide Statement on Auditing Standards No. 70 (SAS-70) Type II audit, which assesses the operational effectiveness of internal controls within service organizations. The audit provides assurance that AssureSign employs uniform and reliable operational controls to safeguard customer data, meeting the strictest industry standard. AssureSign completed the SAS-70 Type I audit in June 2009.

The SAS-70 Type II certification designates that adequate controls and safeguards are in place and operating effectively in regards to customer data that is hosted or processed by AssureSign. These high quality operations are required today by all industries, particularly by organizations that deal with financial transactions or critical data.

The SAS-70 audit, issued by the Auditing Standards Board of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), defines the professional standards used by a service auditor to assess the internal controls of a service organization. It was developed for service providers who wish to demonstrate the establishment of effectively designed control objectives and control activities, and has become one of the most widely recognized auditing standards for service organizations.

The scope of AssureSign’s SAS-70 audit is not exclusive to its world-class, mission critical data center; it incorporates controls from every aspect of AssureSign’s operational process including: human resources, information technology physical security, information technology logical security, client provisioning and account maintenance, accuracy and timeliness of transaction processing, application development, testing and change management, and statutory compliance.

“Achieving SAS-70 compliance demonstrates AssureSign’s commitment to delivering value to our customers and exceeding their expectations. As a hosted services provider, it’s essential for our customers to have effective controls, standards and infrastructure in place to completely protect their data,” said Steven Cardillo, AssureSign’s chief financial officer. “We feel strongly that our processes and transactions fall under the same scrutiny. It is very important that our clients feel that we have their best interest in mind.”

“It’s important to AssureSign’s customers that we have safeguards in place to protect the security, privacy and sensitivity of their data, and completing an enterprise-wide SAS-70 Type II audit provides further validation and assurance of that,” said David Brinkman, AssureSign’s chief executive officer. “We are proud of this very significant investment in time and resources and know it significantly sets us apart from our peers and competitors.” 

New version provides seamless integration for dynamic document creation

AssureSign LLC, a leader in electronic signature technology, today announced the official release of the latest offering of its AssureSign product, AssureSign v2.1.1. With this new release, AssureSign delivers a higher degree of automation, enhanced document creation and dynamic template generation, producing the most cost-effective solution for AssureSign users.

AssureSign is a web-hosted service that facilitates the managed processing of documents in an all-digital, highly secure environment. Since its inception, AssureSign has had the ability to template the signature process using ‘JotBlocks’(AssureSign’s term for signature and data collection locations and attributes),  which has proven to be a powerful feature, opening the door to a limitless variety of uses of AssureSign’s DocumentNOW® integration interfaces.

While it has always been possible within AssureSign to dynamically create single use document patterns with distinct layouts, AssureSign v2.1.1 introduces a well-defined process that allows user to programmatically vary the signature areas in a way that best suits their existing processes.   Ultimately, this new release means AssureSign users will be able to further embed AssureSign electronic signatures into their existing web portal applications, CRM systems or any other back-office or desktop applications without having to manage an extensive library to templates and workflows.

AssureSign 2.1.1 is a result of client and partner suggestions and feedback. Requests included very low level programmatic control of the process, as well as simpler in-document tagging mechanism; and the ability to define information embedded within their streamed-in Word documents, as well as the ability to apply information to PDF documents using existing toolsets. The final solution provides all of these options and offers the flexibility to mix and match the features that suit each user’s needs.

“With the introduction of dynamic JotBlocks, AssureSign users have complete control over their document templates,” said David W. Brinkman, AssureSign’s Chief Executive Officer. “With dynamic JotBlocks, the process of integrating a new technology into an existing business process becomes seamless.”