Aljex Software and Sertifi announced the integration of Sertifi's electronic signature solution with Aljex's Internet-hosted transportation management software.


Now Aljex users can email documents such as rate confirmations, quotes, or contracts and have those documents returned with valid signatures. It can be done quickly and easily without faxing or the use of printers and without leaving the Aljex working screens. Sertifi retains customer documents on its servers. Users can track and view documents to see which have been signed, which have not, and set up email reminders to help speed the process.

"It's time-consuming to print agreements, sign them, and fax them back to the sender. The sooner our clients have their rate confirmations and quotes back, the better," said Tom Heine, CEO of Aljex Software. "Also many drivers are on the road and don't have access to a fax machine. E-signatures are definitely the future."

With the integration of Sertifi into Aljex hosted software, brokers and other load assigners can email a document to, say, a carrier or driver. The signed document will be emailed back as an attached PDF right to the person who sent it.

A driver can easily sign and return a Sertifi document from an iPhone or Android phone as well as a home computer, a laptop, or a tablet.

Here's how it works: An Aljex broker emails, say, a rate confirmation through Sertifi where a new layer of computer code is added to the PDF that enables the signature process. The document, which now has an interactive window to accept a signature, is emailed to the carrier.

The carrier can enter a signature in handwriting applied by finger or stylus on a touch-screen device like an iPad or Android tablet. Perhaps more importantly, it can be entered in text using a PC keyboard or any text entry device. Either way, the signature is validated and is legally binding.

"We're a third party. We have the time and date of a signature, and since the event happens on our servers, we can authenticate both the sender and the signer based on their email addresses," said John Stojka, co-founder of Sertifi.

When necessary, Sertifi users can specify additional levels of verification to include questions only the signer could answer.

Aljex users who sign up for Sertifi can customize the service in other ways. For example, they can choose the length of time documents are stored on the Sertifi servers. "On the Sertifi web site, customers can see all the contracts they've sent, whether they've been signed or not. They can set up tools to help them get signed quicker. If they've sent out a rate confirmation to a carrier, we can send that carrier an email reminder every hour until the document is signed," Stojka said.