Adobe Sign is a cloud-based service for collecting e-signatures that allows users to send, sign and track documents. It can be used to create web forms, templates and workflows that make managing document signatures and authorizations more routine and completely electronic.
Features
- Electronic Signatures
Signing with Adobe Sign is faster, safer and more accessible than using traditional paper processes. - Legally Binding
Electronic signatures are legally binding in the US and most countries. - Mobile Friendly
Send, manage and track documents using the Adobe Sign mobile App in iOS and Android. - Templates, Workflows and Web Forms
Create reusable documents for your most common signature and approval processes.
Available to
Receivers and Signers (Faculty, Staff or Students; no account necessary)
Anyone can receive and sign documents created with Adobe Sign. Documents that require ODU faculty, staff or student signatures should be sent to ODU email addresses. You do not need to request an account in order to be able to receive and sign a document.
Senders (Faculty and Staff with an Adobe Sign account)
ODU faculty and staff can request an Adobe Sign account for "Sender" privileges. Senders can create and send documents for signatures, as well as track the progress of those documents. Senders can also create templates for documents they use frequently. Faculty and staff who are granted Adobe Sign accounts will be prompted to log into Adobe Sign to complete documents from other ODU senders.
To request an Adobe Sign account:
- Email the ITS Help Desk at itshelp@odu.edu
- Include a brief justification of your need for Adobe Sign. (How do you intend to use it?)
Faculty and staff with specific needs can have Group Administrator privileges which allow them to manage group settings for their work group including modifying workflows, templates and web forms for an entire work group. These elevated permissions are granted by request for the needs of specific business units at ODU. To obtain these permissions, email the ITS Help Desk (itshelp@odu.edu) detailing the users under your authority that will need accounts. Work groups will be built in Sign according to appropriate business unit alignments.
Once your form has been signed and finalized, download the final document and store it in an approved location (see the Regulated Data Storage Matrix).
Usage requirements
Adobe Sign should be used to collect legally binding signatures on documents with limited internal steps, particularly where you are the sender and final recipient of the document. Once a document has been signed, it is locked to any further changes.
For University documents that pass through multiple offices and have a complex workflow, consider using Forms @ ODU.
FAQs
Adobe Sign provides and collects electronic signatures. E-signautres provide an audit trail and a tamper-proof process by preventing changes to the document once it has been signed. Electronic signatures can be verified by corporate IDs, phone or, most commonly, email. Most ODU use cases rely on this technology.
Full digital signatures are based on trusted third party certificates, and the signature is encrypted on the document.
Adobe Sign supports both signature types. Your recipients do not need a digital signature, though it's okay if they use one.
While AdobeSign is a 'cloud-based' solution, it is not for official long-term document storage. In fact, documents in the cloud will be deleted after one year. You should download and store your final documents on the drives you currently use, based on your existing practices. (If you wish to change your document retention practices, contact records@odu.edu for a consultation.) Consult ODU's Regulated Data Storage Matrix for more information about how and where to store institutional data.