Before jumping off a bridge, the outfitters facilitating the bungee jump may ask you to sign a waiver – on an electronic device.
Waivers aren’t new. But the idea of using electronic waivers – instead of paper – is only a few years old. Paper, it seems, is becoming an anachronism in today’s litigious world.
Resmark Systems, headquartered in Salt Lake City, added in 2014, its version of digital waivers, called WaiverSign, to Resmark Systems’ portfolio of marketing and reservation software platforms that automate business and back-office processes.
As part of an upgrade of Resmark Systems’ integrated SAAS (software as a service) products, the company in 2018 relaunched its already healthy WaiverSign to meet the API (application program interface) demands of a changing client field.
By incorporating evolving technical and digital capabilities the enhanced WaiverSign platform allows for:
- a simplified onboarding process,
- more intuitive waiver creation and signing methods for the end user,
- the ability to define and capture customized information from each signer beyond standard contact fields,
- a fully responsive capability so that both the back-office interface, as well as public pages, adjust automatically to the screen size of a particular user,
- language options so clients can sign waivers in languages of their choice,
- opportunities for third-party integration, opportunities that the API for the new platform will allow,
- an upgraded and enhanced overall user experience.
“There are a ton of companies out there that don’t necessarily have the need for a full-blown reservation system, which by nature manages specific groups of people, so WaiverSign’s new Event Management features fill that gap with notifications to the event organizer, as well as easy access to a printable list of names for managing the event participants,” said Chip Broyles, VP of Business Development and Operations at WaiverSign and Resmark.
“There are so many industries from bounce houses to yoga studios that have specialized booking and management systems that work well for their environments. The piece they lack is a well thought out and intuitive waiver signing process. WaiverSign’s new API provides the framework for those types of relationships,” says Broyles.
Millions of adventure seekers from around the world have used WaiverSign before participating in high-adventure activities like zip lining across a canyon or rafting through rapids in the bottom of the Grand Canyon.
“In fact, riding these Class III to V rapids on the Colorado River through the canyon is exactly where WaiverSign got its start,” he said. He explained that sister company Western River Expeditions since 1961 has been delighting their guests with bucket-list experiences of seeing the Grand Canyon -- not from lofty points high on the rim, but instead right down in the heart of the canyon itself, riding the waves of the river as it continues to carve its way through the mile-deep chasm.
Like virtually all adventure tour operators around the planet, Western River Expeditions requires all of their guests to sign an Acknowledgement of Risk form prior to participation.
“For years this process was handled on paper,” says Brian Merrill, CEO of Western River Expeditions. “It was a tedious and cumbersome process. On top of that, half the time we couldn’t even read the personal information that the guests were sharing with us because of poor penmanship, so this required additional phone calls or other conversations to clarify. This ultimately meant more time, money and effort.”
In June of 2000, the United States Congress enacted the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (ESIGN), which ensured the validity and legal effect of contracts entered into electronically. Within a few years, Western River Expeditions began creating an in-house reservation software solution called Resmark, which allowed them to better serve their rafting customers by giving their guests the opportunity to purchase their Grand Canyon rafting trips online.
“The time had finally come to collect the required waivers digitally, since our online guests were booking and paying for their trips through our website anyway,” says Brandon Lake, CMO of Western River Expeditions and founder of WaiverSign. “WaiverSign was an immediate success!”
Since signing on the first WaiverSign customers, the range of companies has expanded beyond adventure to include spas, festival vendors, resort activity centers, tanning salons and more.