Keeping abreast of technology for court reporters, I feel, is extremely important, as I’ve mentioned in previous blog posts. Technology is definitely one of many distinguishing factors utilized by me and my colleagues every day. We strive to highlight and market our technology to our clients and potential clients as well. After all, the technology we use, ultimately, is of great benefit to attorneys and legal professionals, too!
Every electronic transcript produced in our office carries both an electronic and a digital signature so that our clients can be sure they are receiving a certified transcript and that no changes have been made to the document since our signing. We apply them to both the condensed and the full-page formatted files. You may ask, “What is the difference between the two?”
An electronic signature, according to Wikipedia, means “an electronic sound, symbol, or process attached to or logically associated with a record and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the record.” What that means, in layman’s terms, is simply that it is an image of your handwritten signature.
A digital signature as defined by BusinessDictionary.com is, “binary code that, like a handwritten signature, authenticates and executes a document and identifies the signatory.” In other words, the code ensures that the signer is, indeed, the one who originated the document. Here is an image of what my digital signature looks like on my certified transcript:
How to create an electronic signature is quite easy. Simply write your signature, scan it, and then use software to create a .jpg image. The digital signature, on the other hand, requires a few additional steps.
- First, one needs to select a company from which to purchase your digital signature. There are several options available. I chose VeriSign.
- Purchase your digital ID. Remember that digital signatures are good for one year only.
- Download and install the ID, per the vendor’s instructions.
If you choose to utilize VeriSign’s service as I did, please keep the following cautionary instructions in mind.
- Keep safe your challenge phrase. You will need it when it comes time for renewal or in the event you need to transfer it to another computer.
- Purchase the digital ID on the computer where you will be using the digital ID.
- Use Internet Explorer when purchasing your digital ID, even though the site has instructions for using other browsers.
When it came time for my renewal, I used Chrome, one of my favorite browsers. The company has browser-specific step-by-step instructions on their site for downloading the digital ID; right? So what difference would that make? Wrong! According to the support department, Chrome is not supported. Needless to say, I had to go through several additional steps to retrieve my renewed signature.
There is only email support with VeriSign, but they were so helpful and responded to my messages very timely. I have now placed all of my email correspondence from the support department and the instructions for replacing my digital ID in Evernote, one of my favorite apps, so that next year, come renewal time, I will remember to check for the correct steps before blithely proceeding to renew my digital signature!
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